Charles Hezlet

Charles Owen Hezlet, DSO (16 May 1891 – 22 November 1965) was an Irish amateur golfer and part-time soldier. He was runner-up in the 1914 Amateur Championship and was in the British Walker Cup team in 1924, 1926 and 1928.

Military career Hezlet was commissioned into the part-time Antrim Royal Garrison Artillery (Special Reserve) in 1911, served during World War I and won a DSO while commanding a siege battery in 1918. He ended the war with the rank of major. The citation for his DSO, which appeared in The London Gazette in July 1918, reads as follows:

He was re-commissioned on the outbreak of World War II and on 1 December 1940 he took command of the newly-formed 66th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, at Belfast. Shortly afterwards he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and commanded the regiment during the Belfast Blitz, He remained in command until May 1942, after the regiment had crossed to Kent to train for active service overseas.

Golf career In 1914 he was runner-up in the Amateur Championship, losing 3&2 to James Jenkins. He was also runner-up in the 1923 and 1925 Irish Amateur Open Championship and the 1923 Welsh Open Amateur Championship. He won the Irish Amateur Open Championship in 1926 and 1929 and was in the Walker Cup team in 1924, 1926 and 1928. He was also a member of a team of four amateurs that played in South Africa in 1927/28.