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The latest Australian golf news

There’s money in toting a golf bag

There’s money in toting a golf bag

BEING a good caddie on the PGA Tour can be financially rewarding – just ask Steve Williams who caddied for Tiger Woods from 1999 to 2011. Many tour bag toters earn hundreds of thousands of dollars annually and their bosses don’t mind paying them handsomely because it means they are finishing high up on leaderboards. […]

Is it equitable to pay the winner of the FedEx Cup $US15m?

Is it equitable to pay the winner of the FedEx Cup $US15m?

BUNKER-TO-BUNKER…. Inside Golf writers have their say! By Michael Davies TO me, trotting out $US15 million to the winner of the FedEx Cup verges on the obscene. And I reckon if you asked the players off the record, they would agree. They seem to be just going through the motions at this event each year. […]

Club memberships on the rise

Club memberships on the rise

ONE club boasts an incredible 159 per cent jump in membership. And that’s just a part of a golf membership ‘boom’ that has come about due to the Covid-19 pandemic in New South Wales. The golfing landscape has changed dramatically in the 18 months as golf has become the real ‘go-to’ sport with so many […]

Small club delivers big for charity

Small club delivers big for charity

CORAL Cove Golf Club surprised even itself when it held its third annual charity golf day to raise much-needed funds for the Challenge Foundation.  The #DoingitforJarrod fundraising event is held in memory of former PGA professional Jarrod Lyle at courses across Australia to raise funds for families affected by cancer.  Anyway, more than 120 players […]

Pinjarra GC ladies chip in for good cause

Pinjarra GC ladies chip in for  good cause

DESPITE the wet and wild weather conditions, more than 90 women travelled from Royal Perth, Lakelands and Floreat in the north, High Wycombe in the east and Collie in the south to play in Pinjarra Golf Club’s annual Ladies Charity Golf Day. More than $2,600 was raised from competition entry fees, raffles and trade table […]

Beginner programs deliver the goods

Beginner programs deliver the goods

THINK about the last time you tried something new – maybe a gym visit, a pottery class or even golf. What inspired you? What deterred you? Golf Australia’s Jayden Zeinstra is certain that one of those answers would be “the deliverer”. “Deliverers have such an impact on our experiences, even more so for beginners,” Zeinstra […]

Cops escape to Top End for Aussie champs, fun

Cops escape to Top End for Aussie champs, fun

A LARGE contingent of interstate police golfers managed to escape the winter cold and pending lockdowns in late July to take part in the Australian Police Golf Championships (APGC) in winter-warm Darwin. It was the first APGC held in Darwin for 23 years. Originally planned to be played in South Australia, the event was moved […]

Shelly Beach Covid Cup

Shelly Beach Covid Cup

By Kim Burke LOCKDOWN golf is different in every club and at the picturesque Shelly Beach GC on the NSW Central Coast it has necessitated a nine-hole competition and social play only to cater for its 1200-plus membership.  The women’s committee, through their 250-plus closed members Facebook group, decided to add a bit of fun […]

WA’s Melville Glades attracts women, girls

WA’s Melville Glades attracts women, girls

IN these harsh Covid-19 times across Australia, golf in all its forms – private and social club memberships, public course participation and those people who would normally be travelling throughout the country or overseas, are turning to golf. This is particularly so in Western Australia which, according to Golf WA CEO Gary Thomas. The State […]

Only the best for Keperra Bowl

Only the best for Keperra Bowl

MANY leading golf tournaments (professional and amateur) are being cancelled or pushed back, but not the Keperra Bowl which has been played annually at Keperra Country Golf Club in Brisbane for the past 16 years. The prestigious Keperra Bowl, a 72-hole Golf Australia Order of Merit and R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking Event, is scheduled […]

We Tried it! Golf Skate Caddy

We Tried it! Golf Skate Caddy

By David Ross I HAVE been playing golf for too many years to remember and have walked hundreds of golf courses across Australia pulling a buggy as well as driving in all brands of golf cars on the market, and I’ve seen the improvement of all battery-operated vehicles.  Anyway, recently I had the opportunity to […]

BUSINESS OF THE MONTH : Paradise Motor Homes – striving for two decades to be an overnight success

BUSINESS OF THE MONTH : Paradise Motor Homes – striving for two decades to be an overnight success

ONCE upon a time, motorhome companies were considered at the ultra-end of the niche spectrum.  Add the word luxury into the mix, and it sharpened the market even further.   Even before the recent significant disruptions to the world as we knew it, we were noticing a shift in our customer base – from almost […]

Golf resort living for the ‘un-retiring’

Golf resort living for the ‘un-retiring’

FOR many golfers, retiring to a golf resort is the ultimate “un-retiring” lifestyle.  Not only can you walk to golf, but you’re surrounded by hectares of green space that you never have to mow. Less house and garden maintenance means more time for golf – and, of course, socialising afterwards! Living Choice Parkwood, overlooking the […]

Couple on course for their best lives

Couple on course for their best lives

KEEN golfers David Goss and Nancy Young are among the first deposit-holders to find their dream retirement apartment at The Ninth Middle Ridge beside Toowoomba Golf Club’s historic course. The couple play the course two or three times a week and Nancy is a life member after serving as the first female president of club. […]

Golf’s boom: how do we keep it going … and growing?

Golf’s boom: how do we keep it going … and growing?

By Karrie Webb WITH golf booming over the past 18 months during the Covid-19 pandemic, with participation and membership numbers up for the first time in years, now is not the time for status quo but for progress and change.  Golf has always been slowly reactionary rather than being proactive in elevating and changing our […]

Should golf be an Olympic sport?

Should golf be an Olympic sport?

Bunker-to-bunker ….. Inside Golf writers have their say. By David Newbery FOR me, the current format doesn’t cut it so it’s a no. Besides, golf at the Olympics doesn’t mean much to the world’s best players. If the Olympic golf event was held in the same week as the Masters, Open Championship, US Open or […]

Ryder Cup excitement builds

Ryder Cup excitement builds

By Michael Davis and David Newbery IT was not until the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in 1998 that most Australians were able to witness firsthand what being part of a team means to golfers who usually play individual events. The event was in its infancy but you could have cut the air with a […]

Outback Queensland awaits golfers

Outback Queensland awaits golfers

THE 2021 Outback Queensland Masters only recently completed its 1900km journey across Outback Queensland, but players are already planning to take part in the 2022 tournament. Next year’s event will again take players across outback Queensland … all the way to Birdsville on the edge of the Simpson Desert where a $1 million hole-in-one prize […]

Minjee lands first major in Evian

Minjee lands first major in Evian

IT is a tag that has only been bestowed upon a handful of golfers throughout the history of our game – “the best golfer to have never won a major championship”. It is one that both Lee Westwood and Colin Montgomerie have learned to live with and one Phil Mickelson, thankfully, shed in 2004 after […]

Super day for Muree GC’s super

Super day for Muree GC’s super

WHAT is a course superintendent’s plan of action when he has a wish list for new equipment, including a much-needed turf cutter? Well, in the case of Muree Golf Club’s super Robert Baker you casually mention it to a club member whose wife just happens to be a staff member and keen golfer. That is […]

Robert Allenby set for next chapter

Robert Allenby set for next chapter

CHAMPION golfer Robert Allenby, oftentimes a mysterious figure in golf circles, announced his return to golf after turning 50 in July … and falling out of a boat. Allenby has hardly played any golf in the past year, but he made his PGA Tour Champions debut at the Senior (British) Open at Sunningdale in England […]

PGA life membership for Mark ‘Gibbo’ Gibson

PGA life membership for Mark ‘Gibbo’ Gibson

PROFESSIONAL Mark Gibson recently joined an elite group of individuals when he was awarded life membership of the PGA of Australia. Gibson’s name now sits comfortably alongside the likes of Norman von Nida, Peter Thomson, Kel Nagle, Charlie Earp, Paul King, Alex and Dave Mercer, Peter Senior, Graham Marsh, Rodger Davis, Ian Baker-Finch et al. […]

Drewitt negotiates tour rollercoaster ride with aplomb

Drewitt negotiates tour rollercoaster ride with aplomb

YEAH, I know, I’m always waffling on about the thin line that separates tour stars striding down a fairway with wall-to-wall fans cheering on an impending victory and another two years of play for millions. It’s a combination of an adjective and an amount of money – the equally talented pros anxiously creeping down the […]

Massive mini-golf facility for Oxley GC

Massive mini-golf facility for Oxley GC

Historic near unanimous vote by the members of Oxley Golf Club in Brisbane has paved the way for a significant development project at the club. Following nine months of planning and investigation, the club recently started the construction of a unique mini-golf facility, which will be positioned on what was the par-3 ninth hole. The […]

Lady president a ‘first’ for Boonah Golf Club

Lady president a ‘first’ for Boonah Golf Club

Boonah Golf Club members recently elected its first female president in the club’s 93-year history. Ms Bernice Dover, 66, was elected unopposed, together with a new management committee, at a special general meeting. Ms Dover, a former human resources professional with some 30 years experience nationally and internationally, said she wanted to “build the club’s […]

Hickory event heads Down Under

Hickory event heads Down Under

Certainly the pandemic and travel restrictions has changed golf and how it is played all around the world. Even organisers of the National Hickory Championships, which have been played in the US for 23 years, were forced to make changes to allow “foreigners” a chance to compete. For those that could not play at the […]

Cranbourne’s triple treat

Cranbourne’s triple treat

By Michael Davis It’s big news when anyone has a hole-in-one at your club. But at Cranbourne, in Melbourne’s south-east, they’re claiming what must be some sort of a record after three members scored aces in eight days – two of them in three days. Steven Leigh and Mark Hammerschlag landed their gems on the […]

Pandemic keeping golf industry healthy

Pandemic keeping golf industry healthy

By Michael Davis No matter what level we play the great game of golf, everyone is aware that in Covid times it is increasingly difficult to obtain a tee time. Now the boom in Australian golf, which has been quite anecdotally, has been confirmed by the release of official AusPlay statistics. They show that golf […]

PGA silver lining has faded, but there’s still plenty to play for…$HOW US THE MONEY

PGA silver lining has faded, but there’s still plenty to play for…$HOW US THE MONEY

Many thoughts have been aired about the plight of the Australasian professional tour. Many years ago, the legendary Peter Thomson said Australia was just a nursery. Of course, there are others who bemoan the current state of the Australian Open – once considered by some as the world’s fifth major. Yet others wail that the […]

Steph’s star shines once again in Europe

Steph’s star shines once again in Europe

Sydney star Steph Kyriacou, who took the world by storm in 2020 winning the Australian Ladies Classic while still a 19-year-old amateur, has taken the next step in her graduation to top echelon of the women’s game winning as a professional at the “Big Green Egg Open” on the Ladies European Tour. Steph’s progression in […]

$$$ and sense

$$$ and sense

There’s gold in them thar hills” warbled Frankie Marvin some nine decades ago. And today it’s a golden era for professional golfers good enough to make it on to the richest golf tour – the US PGA Tour. Unlike all other sports where athletes retire long before the age of 40, professional golfers on the […]

Marc Leishman shoots 65 after emotional reunion

Marc Leishman shoots 65 after emotional reunion

By Cameron Morfit, PGATOUR.COM Hadn’t seen parents for nearly 18 months due to pandemic, Australia lockdown Marc Leishman sinks a 17-foot birdie on No. 17 in Round 1 at WGC-FedEx St. Jude It was a nice round that got him right in the thick of it despite having traveled across 14 time zones. But Marc Leishman’s 5-under […]

Display apartment opens at golf course retirement community

Display apartment opens at golf course retirement community

An exciting milestone in the creation of Living Choice Parkwood, a 200-apartment retirement community to be built at Parkwood Golf Course, was celebrated on 22nd May when the village’s first display apartment was unveiled to the public. Living Choice Parkwood, described as ‘Golf resort living for the un-retiring’, is Living Choice’s 11th retirement village and […]

John Coote – six decades a champion

John Coote – six decades a champion

Inverell Golf Club’s John Coote recently racked up his 18th club championship title, but what’s extraordinary is he has won the title in six successive decades. The 68-year-old won his first championship at the northern New South Wales club in 1977, aged 25, and continued his good form winning the championship in the ’80s, ’90s, […]

Club champions in four decades

Club champions in four decades

Headland Golf Club has produced a rare double in 2021 with both men’s and women’s club champions – Adam Richards and Josie Ryan – winning their respective titles over a four-decade period.  Arguably, it’s a first for a Queensland club with a playing membership of 1000-plus.  Josie joined Headland in 1992 but did not contest […]

Parish fires up for another open victory

Parish fires up for another open victory

BILOELA’S Golf Club Dylan Parish is on fire. The Central Queensland golfer racked up another open title – the Yeppoon Men’s Open Championship – to go with wins at Baralaba, Gladstone, Gracemere, Town of 1770 and Rockhampton golf clubs this year. Parish carded rounds of 72-67 for a 139 total to take out the 36-hole […]

Five Monash golfers breaking their age

Five Monash golfers breaking their age

Most golfers are in two minds when asked what they would prefer . . . a hole in one, or a par round during their golf careers. But there is another ‘Holy Grail’ in golf and usually it is far beyond the likes of most golfers. That is breaking your age around a golf course. […]

Volunteers make a difference at Dunedoo

Volunteers make a difference at Dunedoo

As you drive into Dunedoo, a tiny town west of Sydney with a population of about 800, the sign says: ‘Where the people make the difference’. And that was tested to the utmost when their golf course was ploughed up by a vandal on a tractor one night recently, destroying the nine-hole golf course. Enter […]

13th Beach women create club history

13th Beach women create club history

A skilled team of women golfers from 13th Beach Golf Links on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula created club history last month when it won the Division 1 pennant for the first time in the club’s short history. The club celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. For the past 19 years, the 13th Beach Golf Links women […]

Will White new pro at Launceston

Will White new pro at Launceston

By Michael Davis New Launceston Golf Club professional, Will White, had a feeling things would work out for him when he moved from the Sunshine Coast to Tasmania a few years ago. The first week he was there, he met his now wife, Jen, and they have since had a son, Bodhi, 10 months. “As […]

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