John S. Gilholm Sr. began a near fifty year long career as the golf professional at the Country Club of New Bedford on July 15, 1910 according to the Board of Governors Minutes from that date. It states that "Mr Williams reported that Mr Gilholm has been engaged for the remainder of the season at $40 per month" There was no further mention of exactly what Mr. Gilholm was hired to do or why he was to be paid $40 per month.
In fact members had their doubts about hiring the young twenty one year old Gilholm - that is until they saw him play! Once his playing ability was established, he was quickly hired as the new “golfing professional”.
Johnny, as he was called, made a firm distinction between a golfing professional and a professional golfer. As quoted in 1963, he felt strongly that: “The former plays the game almost solely for money. Invariably he takes out of it more than he puts in. The latter is a different breed. He is the builder and the booster of the game. Sort of golf’s goodwill ambassador in the world of sports. He never gets to ride the gravy train of the gold-paved tournament trail. He is too taken with catering to the needs of the golfer and the golf club, giving lessons and helpful hints, conducting weekend tournaments. In general the golfing professional is the backbone of the game.” *78 Such was the wisdom of our longest serving golf professional
Born in Aberlady, Haddingtonshire, Scotland, his family moved to North Berwick when he was still a young boy. John was very proud of the fact that he learned how to play the game with the first club he ever made. At age nine he crafted a club head and attached a hickory shaft by melting an old guttie golf ball and using it to glue the two together. He then walked over a mile to get a ball with which to play.
Johnny learned the game on a golf course which the North Berwick villagers built for themselves. They were not allowed to play on the privately owned links so they made a nine hole course near the Peffer Burn. “After playing this course one was compelled to walk in. You couldn’t play the course home nor did it wind up anywhere near the first tee.” *78
While still a youngster, Johnny became a pupil of Bernard Seyers, the golf professional at the North Berwick Golf Club. Under Seyers’ tutelage he developed his skills, became an excellent golfer and played in several professional tournaments. Around this time John also served an apprenticeship as a carpenter and cabinet maker. John spent twelve hour a days as an apprentice and then added three more hours hours learning the art of club making with Seyers. He kept this fifteen hour schedule up for eighteen months!
In the end John Gilholm never did put his cabinet making apprenticeship into action and he decided to focus instead on golf and crafting golf clubs. He produced hand made hickory shafted golf clubs for our membership and CCNB is fortunate to possess a few of his original designs. John S. Gilholm Sr. evolved to become a man highly respected among his peers and he contributed greatly to expanding the game of golf in New England.
It should not be overlooked that John Gilholm was quite an accomplished golfer. He held the course record at the Country Club of New Bedford in the early ‘20s shortly after the new eighteen holes were finished. His round of an even par 70, going Out in 36 and Back in 34, was outstanding given the hickory shafted clubs and the types of golf balls available. He also held the scoring record at the Reservation Golf Club in Mattapoisett shooting 31 for nine holes around the same time beating the old record held by Dave Whiteside.
Given their broad experience with the game of golf and how it was played, Scottish immigrants were frequently tapped for their knowledge of almost everything relating to golf. It was rather common practice to hire Scotsmen as either “golf professionals” and/or greens keepers. Therefor, despite having no experience in maintaining a golf course, the Board attempted to employ Mr. Gilholm to do just that! Having worked for the Club for a mere two years, the March 18, 1912 Minutes reflect that "Mr Gilholm declined the position of greens keeper".
Apparently his services met with the Club’s approval because by April of 1912 the Board discussed an "- arrangement with Mr Gilholm whereby the latter have privileges of the grounds and be allowed to give lessons to members and to collect payment from them". Further it is noted on July 1, 12 the retention of Mr Gilholm as professional was approved and his employment continued on 2/14/13 at the same rate as the previous year.
John S. Gilholm experienced the Country Club of New Bedford as a nine hole links when he arrived in 1910 and was there to oversee the expansion to eighteen holes in 1922. Although no known plans for the expansion have yet been uncovered, it is rumored that his name appeared alongside that of the architect Willie Park Jr. on at least one set of plans that were recently lost. One can imagine that perhaps there was some collaboration on the project between these two Scottish gentlemen since they were both from the southeastern part of Scotland. Willie Park Jr. came from Musselburgh and Gilholm grew up in nearby North Berwick where they likely played the same courses in that region. The much younger Gilholm would most certainly have been very aware of Park’s reputation as both a gentleman and a two time Open Champion.
Mr. Gilholm witnessed the original clubhouse burn to the ground in 1922. The Morning Mercury reports that he was one of the first people on the scene to quickly man a hose with member Minor Wilcox. Their attempt to extinguish the fire, which started in the boiler room, was thwarted by heavy smoke which kept them from entering the building. They were forced to spray water through a basement window with a hose that lacked sufficient water pressure and even though they were quickly on the scene their efforts were inadequate.
Ultimately, like his Irish contemporary Greenskeeper Michael O’Grady, Mr. Gilholm took up residence in one of the houses owned by the Club. There he raised two children John Jr. and his sister Nancy. John S. Gilholm Jr. learned the game of golf from his father and would later succeed him as the golf professional at CCNB.
In addition to his son and daughter, John Sr. helped to raise his grandson Barry McDonnell. Barry began his career as a caddy at CCNB and learned to play golf from his grandfather. He ultimately left the New Bedford area to become a teaching professional in California. There he was a behind the scenes mentor to his star pupil - a young Ricky Fowler. Barry served as the swing coach for this well known touring professional until his death in May of 2011. Ricky Fowler was Rookie of the Year in 2010, but with the loss of his coach the following year his career success stalled.