North East golf turned out in force to mourn the passing of David Beardall, writes Alan Hedley.
A former president and captain of Northumberland County and a Wallsend Boys Club legend who helped launch the careers of Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley, Michael Carrick and Steve Bruce, David was also a stalwart of the Scouting movement and a talented director of the Newcastle Gang Show.
Golfers will remember with fondness David’s passion for the development of players including the likes of 1986 British Amateur Champion and Walker Cup player David Curry and three-time European Tour winner Kenneth Ferrie – he would often caddy for them and was on Curry’s bag when he won his British Amateur title.
Players, past and present, alongside England Golf officials and several presidents of both Northumberland and Durham, attended David’s funeral at a packed West Road crematorium and a wake held in his honour at City of Newcastle Golf Club afterwards.
Born in 1938, David was raised in Benton and attended Kings School in Tynemouth. He worked as a TV salesman before studying to become a youth leader at Leicester College in 1965 and taking up that role at Wallsend Boys Club. He was also instrumental in setting up the Forest Hall scout group and became a prime mover in the staging of the Newcastle Gang Show. David was a member of the Backworth, City of Newcastle and Northumberland golf clubs and was a stalwart of the Northumberland Junior Golf Association and the England Golf Junior Committee. He was presented with the Gerald Micklem Award by England Golf for his contribution to the sport in 1990. He also served on the EGU’s tournament committee and was instrumental in bringing the England Under 18 Carris Trophy to the Northumberland Golf Club.
Although he didn’t play much in his later years, he did play off a two handicap and at the age of 44 he was the second youngest Northumberland president.
