Bobby Locke: the triumph and the tragedy

This prolific tournament winner graced the great golf courses of the world in his distinctive style of dress with great charm. But there was tragedy in the offing.

- Graham Jooste

Arthur D’Arcy Locke was born in Germiston in 1917 and educated at Benoni High School. At the age of 18 he stunned the golfing fraternity by winning the 1935 South African Open at Parkview, as an amateur!

The years 1936 and 1937 saw Locke rake in more amateur awards, including the coveted Lucifer Empire trophy. It was during this period that he picked up the nickname ‘Bobby’ because of his admiration for Bobby Jones, the great US golfing champion.

Locke turned professional at the age of 20; he won both the Irish and New Zealand Open titles in the same year. However, his blossoming golfing career was cut short by the outbreak of World War II, and he was conscripted into the South African Air Force (SAAF) in 1940. His first posting was to the SAAF headquarters at Voortrekkerhoogte near Pretoria.

His advanced training took him to various airfield centres, including Randfontein, Nigel and Vereeniging, where he earned his wings as a pilot of twin-engine bombers.

(Interestingly, the SAAF was the second-oldest air force in the world. It was started by General Jan Smuts, who had also recommended such a force to the British during World War I, which was established as the Royal Flying Corps, later to become the Royal Air Force.)

For the next two years, Locke was stationed at Pietersburg, Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, Wonderboom, Tempe, Port Alfred and Pretoria as a pilot instructor. He had received qualifications in general flying, instrument flying, navigation, and bombing and gunnery. He excelled in the handling of the Airspeed Oxford and the Avro Anson twin-engine light bombers.

MILITARY ACTION