That was 1973 - and the men at the 26-crib community south of Oamaru played an annual New Year's Eve tournament.
''So a couple years later, I said: 'Would you look after the kids? I want to take the ladies out golfing,''' Mrs McMullan (84) said.
Since 1981, on January 2 the Gemmells Crossing ladies golf club tournament has followed the men's tournament at nearby Waitoa Park Golf Course.
Mrs McMullan has played every year, bar one.
In the early days, when the men looked after the children during the ladies tournament the men were liable to take the children on a ''picnic''.
''They'd go to the Maheno pub,'' Mrs McMullan - the last of the original members of the ladies golf club - said.
Nowadays, the men keep the children closer to home, and three generations of McMullans were among the 15 golfers from Christchurch to Dunedin who played yesterday.
''Some of them are serious,'' Mrs McMullan said.
''It's one of these things - you're frightened if you stop it it won't get started again.''
For the second year in a row, Olivia Mason, of Christchurch, took the cup.
Mrs McMullan gave all the players a handicap of 50 and worked from there ''depending on how they play'', keeping a record of every player's scores over the years.
