“Charlie boy is sightly mad, Charlie boy is crazy, Charlie boy is hopping mad, that’s poor Charlie Macey.”
Throughout history Crowborough has been home to many notable characters, but few, if any, can match the eccentricity and exploits of one Charlie Macey Jnr.
For Charlie, who was assistant professional and professional at Crowborough Beacon Golf Club for 33 years, became famous for his extraordinary and outlandish fundraising stunts and challenges.
Take, for example setting the world record for “the longest hole in golf” when he and friends teed off from Crowborough and played shot after shot through the East Sussex countryside before holing out at the 18th in Eastbourne – one very long hole of golf. And then there was the “race” along 60 miles of Hadrian’s Wall pitting golfers against a team of archers.
But he didn’t restrict his escapades to golf. He completed several “walking backwards” challenges including the 51 miles from Westminster to Brighton, was a ballroom dancing champion, and raced the train down Snowdon in Wales – a race which he won.
Add to this the fact that he held the pogo-stick world record – more than 12,000 jumps – until 2011, and you have one very wonderful individual indeed.
I am grateful to Phil Parker and Crowborough Beacon Golf Club for the more detailed explanations of Charlie’s endeavours which follow. They are excerpts taken from the book published in 2020 to mark the 125th anniversary of the club.
Background
Charles Allan Macey Jnr., (9th January 1914 – 9th August 1993) served Crowborough Beacon Golf Club as Assistant Professional and Professional for 33 years. Young Charlie assisted his father from 1928 until the early years of the Second World War until Charlie Senior finally retired in 1941. There was no break in the family connection and Nellie Macey looked after the shop in both world wars, becoming honorary Pro.
Unique teaching method
Charlie Jnr had a novel teaching method. He used to line up the juniors and have them swinging to Strauss waltzes played on the gramophone. His ideas were published in a 1957 golf instruction book ‘Golf through rhythm’.
The longest hole in golf
In August 1959, Charlie and the De La Warr Club participated in the World’s Longest Hole in aid of the Golf Foundation. Five club members G. Donald, F. Cuttall, J. Bailey, R. Meaney and Charlie played from the 1st hole at Crowborough Beacon across the Weald of Sussex, over the South Downs and finally holed out in the 18th hole at Eastbourne Downs Golf Club.
896 teed shots were recorded (including a free drop from a cow pat), 60 lost golf balls, 37.1 miles registered on the surveyor’s wheel and the time taken was 16 hours 15 minutes. 47 fields were crossed, 14 roads, 2 railways, the river Cuckmere and the South Downs. The players were soaked to the skin, crippled by blisters and one had the seat of his trousers removed entirely by a vicious dog.
More golfing adventures
Far more gentle, and for a wartime charity, Charlie also played 12 rounds in a day (949 strokes) taking 15 hours or 4.4 strokes a hole. On another occasion, using only a hollow plastic ball Charlie took 341 for 18 holes. Out in 165, back in 176, Charlie’s best holes were eights at the 13th and 17th. The 5th and 7th each required 27 strokes but the maximum distance of the airstream ball was only 10 yards. This was in response to a wager by a member who thought it couldn’t be done in under 300 strokes.
Hadrian’s Wall
By way of variety he organised a team of golfers against local archers along 60 miles of Hadrian’s Wall to raise money for Guide Dogs for the Blind and Crowborough Hospital.
Walking backwards
By way of variation, he walked backwards from Crowborough to Lewes in just under four hours. He also completed 50 miles from Margate to Maidstone, and covered the 51 miles from Westminster to Brighton Aquarium in 11 hours 45 minutes.
Pogo stick world record
Charlie would do anything for charity. A wager was laid with odds of 20-1 that he couldn’t keep bobbing up and down for 1,000 jumps or half an hour on a pogo stick. The parquet floor of the Bricklayers Arms was pitted with 12,000 indentations as he bounced on the spring-loaded pole for 95 minutes. The following is an extract from the Guinness Book of Weird records:
“In December 1953 Charlie set out to make 1,000 consecutive pogo hops in order to win a £1 bet. Instead he pogoed 12,000 times starting in the street at Crowborough but, when it started to rain, moving indoors to a pub where he covered about seven miles bouncing around the tiny wooden floored room, all the while singing his theme song “Charlie boy is sightly mad, Charlie boy is crazy, Charlie boy is hopping mad, that’s poor Charlie Macey.”
The event features in a Pathé news video: https://www.britishpathe.com/video/pogo-stick. This record stood until 2011.
More cross-country golf
In 1959, like his father before him, Charlie was made an Honorary member of the Club, retiring from the position of professional in 1961. A few years later, in the winter of 1964, Charlie was up to his old tricks again. He organised another expedition of cross-country golfing; this time from the golf course in Forest Row to the 18th hole of the Crowborough Beacon Golf Course – only this time, the golfers would have adversaries in the form of two experienced archers.
Thus, a few days after Christmas Day in 1964, a group of men quietly assembled in the thick snow at Forest Row and began their duel. The golfers got the match started, driving red-painted golf balls through the snowy sky and the archers, Crowborough residents Trevor Scott and Trevor Hopkinson, returned fire from their quivers.
Without a break in play, the men pressed on through the snow and made it to the Crowborough club. There was only a difference of 19 shots between the teams. The Beacon’s professional golfer, David White, had the honour of putting the 18th, for the archers, it fell to Trevor Scott to burst the balloon attached to the flag with one last arrow.
The archers were declared the winners, firing their way from start to finish in 84 shots and only 12 lost arrows, against the golfers 102 shots and 30 lost balls. The match did have a serious side, though – proceeds from the game all went to the Friends of Hellingly Hospital.
And there’s more!
If all that is not enough, how about racing the railway train down Snowdon and winning, playing the most northerly course in the world in Lapland, driving off the crest of Mont Blanc and getting knee deep trying to propel red balls in the Matterhorn snows – Charlie did it all.
Then there was Charlie the champion ballroom dancer. His medals and certificates for tripping the light fantastic with wife Ruby are in the Club’s archive.
The final chapter
Charlie Macey was a wonderful human being who put himself last and others first – which may explain why he liked walking backwards! He finally retired from the Golf Club in 1975 and then worked in the local area as a postman. He died in 1993 and in his will left £10,000 to the Club which was put to good use in renovating the Macey Room as a committee room and various other works around the Clubhouse.