That was the headline in local newspapers throughout the country in late August 1927.

So what was the cause of the sensation at the Boys’ Amateur Golf Championship that year?

Held at the Edinburgh Burgess Golf Course it was the appearance at the Championship of a boy who at the age of 17 was 6ft 4.5 ins tall and weighed 14 stone.

At the time the average height for a fully grown man in the UK was 5ft 7ins.

The boy was Richard Ellis and he was from High Wycombe and played golf at Flackwell Heath Golf Club. Due to his size, he had to take with him his own bed and bedding because one long enough could not be found in the city of Edinburgh.

The “sensation” did not end there. In a prelude to the Championship, a match between England and Scotland Boys had been arranged.

Richard Ellis captained the England team and in a three-ball match he played a round of 69, which was three strokes better than the record for the course. He shot 3’s at all the short holes, an “eagle” at the tenth, and a “birdie” at the eighteenth, making 36-out and 33-in.

Richard was born in 1910, the son of Richard and Winifred Ellis, his father being a Despatch Clerk in a chair manufacturing factory in High Wycombe.

The family lived in Rectory Avenue, off Amersham Hill. After leaving school Richard junior became a Quantity Surveyor. He served in World War 2, probably in the Military Police, becoming a Sergeant.

He was wounded in November 1944, probably during the Allied advance through France and Germany. In 1946 he married local girl Nancy Ryall and the couple went on to have three children, Stephen, Marian and Judith.

If there are descendants of this Ellis family still living locally I would like to ask them to please get in touch, as I am particularly keen to learn more about Richard’s service in WWII.

Please email deweymiked@aol.com or phone 01494 755070.