Early life in Victoria
Ray was born in 1937 and took up golf at age 13, starting on a handicap of 16. By 1955, he was down to scratch. In Victoria, Ray won the championship at Box Hill Golf Club nine times, before joining Patterson River club and winning the championship once.

Ray’s successes at Southport
Ray Croxford has won the Club Championship at Southport seven times – 1967, 1968, 1972, 1983, 1984, and 2000. This makes him the most prolific winner of the Men’s Championship, eclipsing E.F. Doyle’s six championship wins.

Ray has won a plethora of other titles including the Senior Championship, the Pegler Shield, the E.F. Doyle Memorial Trophy, five Mixed Foursomes Championships, and the Foursomes Championship eight times, including in 1988 with his son Trent.

Legacy
Ray is respected in the club by those he has helped on their golfing journey. He is a supporter of the junior golfers, as well as many of the members. He has also been very supportive of new members to the club. The Business Women have great admiration for Ray as he is a great supporter of the women who play golf at Southport, and as a result, his trophy is highly valued.

The women will be competing for the Williza Park Trophy in coming weeks. The competition is run over two weeks as a Four Ball Best Ball competition in teams of two.

This trophy was donated by Elizabeth Fraser, a long-time member of the Club. Elizabeth joined Southport Golf Club in 1988 and she died in 2018. As well as being a keen golfer, Elizabeth was an avid horse breeder. Elizabeth owned the Williza Park stud in Clagiraba, which continues to be a thoroughbred and racing enterprise.

Elizabeth Fraser was a great supporter of the Golf Club and she left a generous bequest to fund prizes in the name of Williza Park. Her bequest also assists in providing prize money for the Women’s Club Championships.

In 2022, Tony and Nancy Stenton established the World Carpets Cup, with first place receiving 3000 Southport dollars in sponsorship to the winner’s trophy account. The tournament is held over five qualifying rounds. Each player’s best three scores are calculated to determine the top 50 players. In the manner of the Fed-Ex Cup, the top 50 players then contest a sixth round to determine the top 16. The top 16 play off in the final round and receive a share of the 10,000 Southport dollar pool in their trophy account. The Stentons also generously contribute $2000 to refreshments on the final day.

Tony and Nancy Stenton, through their company World Carpets, have been prominent sponsors at Southport Golf club over a period of 20 years. Since 2005, they have sponsored Associates’ functions. In the early years, that sponsorship was worth $2000 annually for the Women’s Foursomes Championship. Now they also sponsor the Women’s Monthly Medal rounds. Seeing the need, they also donated the digital clock at the breezeway.