Leonard Nettlefold (16 October 1905 – 4 October 1971) was an Australian businessman and amateur golfer. He won the

Australian Amateur The Australian Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It has been played annually since 1894, except for the war years, and is organised by Golf Australia. Having traditionally been a match play event, from 2021 it has ...

twice, in 1926 and 1928, and won the

Tasmanian Open The Tasmanian Open is an annual golf tournament held in Tasmania, Australia. History The Tasmanian amateur championship was first played in 1902 as a 36 hole stroke-play event. From 1910 the stroke-play acted as qualifying for a match-play stage ...

and the Tasmanian Amateur, eight times each.

Early life

Nettlefold was born in

Bellerive, Tasmania Bellerive is a suburb of the City of Clarence, part of the greater Hobart area, Tasmania, Australia. It stretches from Kangaroo Bay, bordering Rosny Park, along the shoreline of Bellerive Esplanade to Kangaroo Bluff, then to Bellerive Beach, an ...

on 16 October 1905, the son of Robert Nettlefold, golfer and assurance agent. He was educated at the

Hutchins School The Hutchins School is an Anglican, day and boarding school for boys from pre-kindergarten to Year 12 in Hobart, Tasmania. Established in 1846, Hutchins is one of the oldest continually operating schools in Australia. Hutchins is a founding-m ...

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

Golf career

In 1922 he finished joint runner-up, with Eustace Headlam, in the

behind his father. The leading four qualified for the Tasmanian Amateur, but both Nettlefolds lost their semi-final matches, Len losing to Headlam. Nettlefold spent most of 1923 on a world tour with his parents. The

was not played from 1923 to 1929 but there continued to be a 36-hole qualifying stage for the Tasmanian Amateur, with the leading 8 playing in the match play. After missing 1923, Nettlefold led the qualifying in 1924. In the match play he beat his father in the semi-final and then beat C. H. Richardson 11&10 in the final to win his first Tasmanian Amateur title, having been 10 up after the morning round. In 1925, Nettlefold played in his first championship meeting, in Sydney. He played well enough in the

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

to qualify for the

, losing in the quarter-finals 8&7 to

Harry Sinclair Harry Alan Sinclair (born 1959) is a New Zealand film director, writer and actor. In his early career he was an actor and member of The Front Lawn, a musical theatre duo. He went on to write and direct several short films, a TV series and th ...

. Later in the year he was tied for third place in qualifying for the Tasmanian Amateur. He again beat his father to reach the final but lost to Hugh Smith by two holes. In July 1926 Nettlefold played in the South Australian Amateur at Royal Adelaide. He was one of the eight qualifiers and met his father in the first match-play round, winning 3&2. He went on to reach the final before losing to

Legh Winser Cyril Legh Winser (27 November 1884 — 20 December 1983) was an Anglo–Australian cricketer, golfer, colonial secretary and orchardist. Born in England, Winser briefly played minor counties cricket for Staffordshire, before emigrating to Aus ...

3&1. He then travelled to Melbourne to play in the

Victorian Amateur Championship The Victorian Amateur Championship is the state amateur golf championship of Victoria, Australia. It has been played annually since 1899, except for the war years. Two players have won the championship six times, Michael Scott between 1904 and ...

, losing to Alex Russell in the semi-final. Nettlefold returned to Adelaide to play in the championship meeting. He finished tied for 11th place in the

, which was won by

Ivo Whitton Ivo Harrington Whitton (9 December 1893 – 2 July 1967) was an Australian amateur golfer, who, along with Greg Norman, is the only Australian to have won the Australian Open five times (1912, 1913, 1926, 1929 and 1931). Early life Whitto ...

. In the

that followed, he met Whitton in the final, winning by two holes. Nettlefold only finished second in the qualifying for the Tasmanian Amateur, but won the championship, beating Terence Brown 5&4 in the final. Nettlefold and his father travelled to Europe again in 1927, arriving in late April. He played in the

Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

in late May, reaching the quarter-finals before losing 4&3 to William Tweddell, the eventual winner. He played in the 1927 Open Championship in July, on the

Old Course at St Andrews The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course in the world. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links ...

. He qualified after rounds of 80 on the Old Course and 75 on the New Course. He took an early lead after a first round of 71, although he was pushed back into second place at the end of the day by Bobby Jones's 68. He then had further rounds of 81, 85 and 81 to finish tied for 52nd place. In early August he was the runner-up in the Swiss Amateur. Nettlefold returned too late to defend his Australian Amateur title but in time to play in the Tasmanian Amateur. He led the qualifying but lost in the first round of the match-play to Eustace Headlam. The 1928 championship meeting was held at Royal Sydney. After the first day of the

Nettlefold was one stroke behind the three leaders. He faded a little on the last day but finished alone in fifth place, the leading amateur. The following week he won the

, beating Stan Keane in the final. He had a remarkable win in the semi-final against

George Fawcett George Fawcett (August 25, 1860 – June 6, 1939) was an American stage and film actor of the silent era. Biography Born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1860, Fawcett graduated from the University of Virginia. His initial inclination was to be a ...

. Fawcett was 5 up with 7 holes to play, but Nettlefold won at the 38th hole. After returning to Tasmania, he tied with his father for first place in the qualifying for the Tasmanian Amateur but lost 8&7 in the final to Terence Brown. In 1929 he reached the quarter-finals of the

, losing 3&2 to Mick Ryan. He won the Tasmanian Amateur for the third time, leading the qualifying and then beating

in the semi-final at the 19th hole, and Hugh Smith 8&7 in the final. In 1930 Nettlefold had his best chance of winning the

. He was in second place, a stroke behind Frank Eyre, after the first 36 holes. He scored 74 in the third round, to be level with Eyre, and six ahead of the rest of the field. However, he took 87 in the final round and finished tied for 5th place. In the

he lost in the quarter-finals to the eventual winner, Harry Hattersley, a match that went to the 38th hole. Earlier in the year he had reached the final of the

, losing 2&1 to Mick Ryan. He won both the

and the Tasmanian Amateur in 1930. Nettlefold travelled to Sydney for the 1931 championship meeting but had little success, losing by two holes in the first round of the

to Clive Nigel Smith. He won the

but lost 3&1 to Terence Brown in the final of the Tasmanian Amateur. Nettlefold reached the semi-finals of the 1932 Australian Amateur at Royal Adelaide, losing 3&2 to Reg Bettington. He also won the Tasmanian Open and the Tasmanian Amateur. He reached the quarter-finals of the

at Royal Melbourne in 1933, losing 3&1 to

Jim Ferrier James Bennett Elliott Ferrier (24 February 1915 – 13 June 1986) was an Australian professional golfer. After compiling a fine record as an amateur golfer in Australia during the 1930s, he moved to the United States in 1940, turned professiona ...

. He finished down the field in the Tasmanian Open and, although he reached the final of the Tasmanian Amateur, he lost 5&4 to Peter Brown. Nettlefold won both the Tasmanian Open and the Tasmanian Amateur in 1934. He qualified for the

at Royal Sydney but lost again to Ferrier, this time in the first round. After 1934 Nettlefold played less golf outside Tasmania, although he continued to have success domestically. He won the

in 1935, 1936, 1937 and 1947 and the Tasmanian Amateur in 1936 and 1939, completing 8 wins in each event. In 1938 Nettlefold travelled to Britain as part of a four-man Australian team which included Harry Hattersley, Tom McKay and Mick Ryan. The team arrived in mid-May and played in

The Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

at Troon. Nettlefold had been ill and lost in the first round. The team stayed for the

1938 Open Championship The 1938 Open Championship was the 73rd Open Championship, held 6–8 July at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. In terrible weather conditions that caused scores to soar, Reg Whitcombe prevailed by two strokes over runner-up J ...

in early July but Nettlefold failed to qualify. Nettlefold made an

albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Paci ...

-2 at the 517-yard 16th hole at

Portmarnock Portmarnock () is a coastal town in County Dublin, Ireland, north of the city of Dublin, with significant beaches, a modest commercial core and inland residential estates, and two golf courses, including one of Ireland's best-known golf clubs. , ...

during the second round of the

Irish Open Irish Open may refer to: *Irish Open (golf), a golf tournament on the European Tour ** Irish Senior Open, a golf tournament on the European Seniors Tour **Ladies Irish Open, a golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour * Irish Open (darts), annua ...

but only just qualified for the final day. Nettlefold was president of the Tasmanian Golf Council from 1947 to 1960 and a Tasmanian state delegate to the

Australian Golf Union Golf Australia is the governing body for the sport of golf in Australia, formed in 2006 after the Australian Golf Union (AGU) and Women's Golf Australia (WGA) agreed to merge.

for periods between 1932 and 1956.

Later life

In the mid-1930s, Nettlefold became managing director of the family motor-trade business. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served as an intelligence officer. He received a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

1960 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1960 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those ...

. He died following a heart attack, on 4 October 1971, in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, returning from a trip to the United Kingdom. He left an estate valued at more than A$1,200,000.

Tournament wins

*1924 Tasmanian Amateur *1926

, Tasmanian Amateur *1928

*1929 Tasmanian Amateur *1930

, Tasmanian Amateur *1931

*1932

, Tasmanian Amateur *1934

, Tasmanian Amateur *1935

*1936

, Tasmanian Amateur *1937

*1939 Tasmanian Amateur *1947

Team appearances

Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches The Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches were an amateur team golf competition for men between the states and territories of Australia. The event started in 1904 when New South Wales played Victoria. Until World War II the event was played a ...

(representing Tasmania): 1921, 1924, 1925, 1928, 1930, 1947, 1948, 1949

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nettlefold, Len Australian male golfers Amateur golfers Left-handed golfers Sportspeople from Hobart Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire 1905 births 1971 deaths Sportsmen from Tasmania People educated at The Hutchins School 20th-century Australian sportsmen