The Crafter Family

Joan Weymouth married William (Ewart) Crafter on 26th May 1930.  Joan was the daughter of Mahalia Rumbelow and Henry Matthias Weymouth.

Ewart had a number of occupations including gardener, welder, panel beater and shop assistant. He joined the Royal Australian Air Force on 29th October 1940 and his posting on discharge on 1st November 1945, was as Corporal at 6 Service Flying Training School, Mallala. Joan and Ewart had three children; Murray, Brian and Nannette.

Murray Richard Crafter was born in Adelaide in 1930 and married Sheila Mary Burton in 1951. They have four children. Murray Crafter was highly respected as one of the best professional golfers in Australia during his playing life.

Brian William Crafter was born in Adelaide on 27th December 1931 and married Margaret Heather Hall. Like his brother Murray, Brian was highly respected as a playing and teaching golf professional. He was also well known and respected for his commentary at major golf tournaments both in Australia and overseas.  Brian and Margaret had two children; Jane and Neil, who’s success in the sport of golf is detailed below.

In 1952 there was a dispute between the two finalists, Brian Crafter and Fred Thompson. Crafter won the match at the 38th hole but at the 35th hole he had lifted and dropped his ball away from a staked tree. Thompson objected and the matter was not fully resolved until just before the 1953 event, confirming Crafter as the winner.

Young Brother Leads Golf Titleholder

• The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954) 

•  Wed 24 Oct 1951 

Brian Crafter (left), younger brother of the titleholder Murray Crafter (right), took the honors in the qualifying rounds of the State professional golf championship yesterday. Stormy weather rained scores bnt Brian's 80-79 led the field, five strokes ahead of Murray, whose card was next best. Between the brothers is Willie Harvey, who will play Murray today. Brian will play G. Vesthorp.

Jane Crafter was born in Perth, WA, on 14th December 1955 and started playing golf at the age of six. She has based herself in Florida, USA and enjoyed a highly successful professional golf career over many years. She won her first US LPGA event in 1990 and won the Australian Ladies Masters twice. 

Jane credits her father Brian as one of the individuals most influencing her career.  She is a women's golf television commentator for ESPN, NBC and the Golf Channel. Design consultant for Crafter & Mogford Golf Strategies (golf course architecture). Jane was honored in 2004 as South Australia's Greatest Ever Sports Star by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Research Foundation. 

She still plays golf, comments for the LPGA on TV with NBC and ESPN and writes for the Golf Digest Magazine. Inducted into the South Australian Sports Hall of Fame and also the South Australian Golf Industry Hall of Fame in 2011. 

She became U.S. Citizen in April 2007 (dual citizenship with Australia) and her hobbies include gardening, cooking, wine and photography. Collects golf and pharmacy antiques. 

1x Unofficial Win: JC Penney Mixed Team 1987 with Steve Jones. 

3x International Wins: 1992 & 1996 Australian Ladies Masters, 1997 Women's Australian Open. 

As an amateur, won the 1978 New Zealand Amateur and 1980 Belgian Amateur. Runner-up in 1977 Australian Amateur and 1980 Canadian Amateur. 

Jane has represented Australia in international competition 10 times.

Neil Ewart Crafter was born at Broken Hill, NSW, on 19th July 1957. He was also an excellent golfer who has taken over a business started by his father Brian in the 1960s. 

Neil Crafter is a 1980 graduate of the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor Degree in Architecture, where he was a member of the University golf team and was selected numerous times in the All-Australian University team.  Neil has an illustrious record as an amateur golfer, representing Australia on four occasions, including the 1984 World Amateur Teams Championship, the Eisenhower Cup. He is also a four-time South Australian Amateur champion.

The Golf Strategies Company designs and reconstructs golf courses and, in recent years, has expanded into Asia where they have designed courses in Malaysia, China, Vietnam and India. Neil is a director and principal golf course architect.

Neil is a founding member of the Society of Australian Golf Course Architects and has over 25 years experience as a golf course architect, and combines his expertise and design training as a building architect with his golfing understanding to practice as a golf course architect.  In 1997 he was elected President of the Society of Australian Golf Course Architects until his retirement from this position in 2003. Neil was co-editor of the Society’s annual journal ‘Golf Architecture’ with Paul Mogford for its first 10 years, a publication highly regarded in the world of golf architecture. He is also a golf architecture historian, with particular interest in the lives and works of Dr. Alister MacKenzie and Alex Russell. Neil remains a Full Member of the Society of Australian Golf Course Architects and has participated in recent golf course study tours to Scotland and the United States.

In addition to its Adelaide and Perth offices, Golf Strategies opened an office in Melbourne in 2002, headed up by Paul Mogford, to service our growing number of golf design projects in the eastern states of Australia. Golf Strategies original focus was on the design of new golf courses in Asia, and we now have a number of courses completed and open for play in Malaysia and China, with further projects under active design in Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam. 

Kooyonga Golf Club

Crafter + Mogford principal Neil Crafter has a long family association with Kooyong Golf Club, situated in the sand belt of Adelaide’s western suburbs. Neil’s father Brian was the assistant professional at the club for some years in the 1950s and Neil began his involvement there as a caddie in 1965 at the age of 8, before joining the club as a junior member in 1970. Neil’s sister Jane, a highly decorated LPGA professional, also joined the club around the same time. After becoming a golf course architect, Neil advised the club for some years in the 1990s and has since 2012 guided the club from a landscape and golf design perspective.

https://www.golfstrategies.com.au/kooyonga-golf-club

Glenelg Golf Club

Neil Crafter, in conjunction with his father Brian, worked with the club through the 1980s to improve their course. In 1998, the club asked Neil Crafter and seasoned SA professional and tournament promoter Bob Tuohy to work together to develop a comprehensive redevelopment plan for the course and eliminate the kikuyu fairway turf in the process.  

https://www.golfstrategies.com.au/gleneg 

Neil Richard Avery

Graham Ewens