PERCY Huggins, who died earlier this month aged 88, delighted in recounting how golfing contacts had transformed him from a failed navigator into an accomplished pilot during World War II. On a broader level, he will be remembered as editor of Golf Monthly from 1957 to 1981 and the last surviving founder-member of the Association of Golf Writers.

Winner of the Distinguished Flying Cross for a daylight bombing raid on Brest Harbour, Huggins had volunteered for the RAF in the hope of becoming a navigator. But, by his own admission, he made elementary mistakes on maths questions.

He recalled: "I thought I had ruined my chances until the wing commander learned I was a golf writer and had met Alf Padgham (the 1936 British Open champion), who was the professional at his club. I was recommended for training, not as a navigator, but as a pilot."