The area of land now occupied by Gordon Golf course was part
of a parcel of land called "The William Moore Estate", an area of
three and a half miles (960 acres) extending from De Burgh's
Bridge, near Fullers Bridge. The Moore Estate was a Trust Estate
with three beneficiaries, including the Congregational Church,
and a Christopher Bowes Thistlethwayte was named in his
Uncle's will to act as Managing Trustee. Mr C B Thistlethwayte
was an Alderman and President (Mayor) of Ku-ring-gai Council
from 1925 to 1927, and during this period a golf course was
constructed at Lynn Ridge. The Trust ran the links as a public
course. The land occupied by the course was originally the site of
a pig farm, dairy and market gardens. A cricket pitch was used
by locals, and picnics were regularly held on weekends.
In 1935, Mr C B Thistlethwayte's son, William, successfully
tendered for the lease of the Golf Course from the Trust, and
IN THE BEGINNING
4
until around 1952
managed the operations
of the course, making
many changes and
improvements.
William Thistlethwayte's
brother, Arnold, in his
`Reminiscences of Gordon
Golf Links', records that
when the course was
being laid out, he
remembered being
allowed to knock down
some scrub on the first
hole with a new
Caterpillar 30 tractor.
He could hardly reach
the pedals and just
steered with the levers.
