Max McCready

MAX McCREADY 

Max McCready was raised with his sisters Betty and Margaret in a house in Dunmurry, just outside Belfast. Living only yards from Dunmurry golf course, he could be seen regularly honing his golfing skills around the original 9 hole course. Club members from the 1940s remember his practice routine regularly comprised driving off the par 4 9th tee into the greenside bunkers.

Max joined the RAF with his good friend Bill McCrea, serving as a navigator and flying combat missions over Europe during WW2. Max was a keen sportsman, playing badminton for the RAF but particularly excelling at golf.

In England, Max was a regular competitor at the Sunningdale GC and he played as an Irish international in 1947, 1949 and 1950. In 1949 Max won British Amateur Championship at Portmarnock and in 1950 he defended his title well, reaching the last 16 of the championship.

Walker Cup honours also fell to Max, initially with his selection as non-playing reserve in the 1947 Great Britain and Ireland team at St Andrews. This was followed by selection, at the age of 31, for the Walker Cup team in 1949, held that year at Winged Foot, New York under the captaincy of RAF hero Laddie Lucas, where he partnered Jimmy Bruen Jr. in the foursomes. Two years later in 1951, Max again played for the Walker Cup team, this time at Royal Birkdale under another captain formerly in the RAF, Raymond Oppenheimer.

(Max McCready Full Bibliography)