BALLINA Golf and Sports Club general manager Mark Whiting was halfway through an interview with Inside Golf when he excused himself to answer a telephone ringing in the background. Soon he returned to apologise for his short absence. “The office manager had to take her dog to the vet so while I’m talking to you […]
BRETT Holland, the general manager at Coolangatta & Tweed Heads Golf Club, is not one to allow the grass to grow under his feet. More than a decade ago, as GM at Murwillumbah Golf Club, he recognised the golf industry was in decline and implemented major changes at the northern New South Wales club. Today […]
One of Sydney’s busiest golf course makeover companies, James Wilcher’s Golf by Design, has won the contract to rebuild Strathfield’s new-look layout, with work recently beginning on the project. The GBD Master Plan for the project was released late last year and the new design will feature both the 18th and eighth holes finishing near […]
WHAT do St Andrews, Augusta National, Pebble Beach and Royal Melbourne have in common? They all use Tru-Turf greens rollers to produce perfect putting surfaces. The Gold Coast-based company has revolutionised the way greens are cared for and even has the US PGA Tour singing its praises. Mind you, it wasn’t always smooth rolling. “When […]
IN the mid-1980s, Mark Holland quit professional tennis to start a career that has led to managing some of the best golf clubs and resorts around the world. For the past 30 years, he has plied his management skills in the Middle East (Abu Dhabi and Kuwait), Singapore, Korea, Indonesia, Macau, Fiji and Australia where […]
AUSTRALIA’S only organic golf course is up for sale. Originally created to provide a place for recreation while preserving the environment, Kabi Organic Golf Club (KOGC) at Boreen Point in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, has matured into a challenging and picturesque golf course. Designed by renowned golf course architect Graham Papworth, the golf course is […]
A groundbreaking move by three of Melbourne’s top ranked golf clubs to establish a ‘super club’ could shine a light into the future of club golf around Australia. Huntingdale Golf Club, Patterson River Golf Club and the Sandhurst Club, after extensive preliminary investigations, have advised that the clubs will enter into a Heads of […]
Eagle Ridge, a Mornington Peninsula 18-hole golf course and wedding venue, has been sold for an undisclosed sum to a Melbourne-based family. The Russo family, who have owned Eagle Ridge since 1995, began a public sale campaign several years ago. Fielding interest locally and from abroad, the Russos were looking for the right purchaser to take the reins […]
Walkinshaw Sports Pty Ltd last month announced the acquisition of wholesale golf business Cooperative Golf Services (CGS). This will see all existing international distribution agreements held by Cooperative Golf Services for this region now fall under the Walkinshaw Sports banner. Walkinshaw Sports have taken this strategic move at a testing time in the golf industry, […]
HEADLAND Golf Club general manager Ben Dobson has returned from his fact-finding mission to Melbourne’s Kingston Heath Golf Club armed with a plethora of good ideas. Dobson, who has been at the helm at Headland for seven years, spent three valuable days at Kingston Heath shadowing general manager Gregg Chapple. There, he was able to […]
NO golfer, irrespective of his or her handicap, walks off a green after a three putt feeling good about themselves. And while The Brisbane Golf Club cannot guarantee a golfer’s most detested deficiency never occurring on their greens, club captain Terry Campbell is adamant the probability has greatly decreased now the course has Ultra Dwarf […]
IAN Cottle, general manager of Burleigh Golf Club on the Gold Coast, doesn’t believe it takes too long to play a round of golf. “I enjoy the four-or-so hours it takes to play a round,” he said. “Sometimes when playing nine holes you can feel like you are just getting warmed up.” Inside Golf caught […]
Golf in the southwest of Victoria has received a major shakeup with 24 clubs in the area settling into their membership as part of the newly formed Western District Golf Association. The association came into being after three former districts – South Western District Golf Association, Women’s Golf Western District and Corangamite District Golf Association […]
ON COURSE Golf members partnered with Callaway Golf in 2014 to raise funds for Movember – the organisation that raises vital funds, promotes awareness for prostate and testicular cancer and supports mental health through Beyond Blue. The tally was an impressive $35,000 making the two-year combined total $85,000. Members from both companies joined forces to […]
The gates at Ocean Dunes on King Island will swing open before the end of the year, according to the man responsible for building the stunning 18-hole golf course. Graeme Grant – former long-time superintendent at Kingston Heath in Melbourne and one of several directors at Ocean Dunes – said the front nine and the […]
DAVID Scott is a shining example of the emerging new age of PGA golf club professionals in the Australian golf industry. Scott, the Deputy General Manager of Riverside Oaks – one of Australia’s biggest and leading golf resort-residential-playing complexes—is a graduate of the PGA’s International Golf Institute and the follow-on PGA club Traineeship. In less […]
MEMBERS of The Eastern Golf club in Melbourne were recently treated to a sneak-peek of their new Greg Norman-designed golf course, currently under construction in the Yarra Valley. As part of the club’s ongoing going commitment to communication and development transparency to members, the club hosted an Open Day on site in Yering in December. […]
HE’S held a number of interesting jobs in his working life, but Magenta Shores Golf and Country Club general manager Roger Morris reckons his current position is right up there with the rest of them. Morris started his career working in international hotels before landing key positions at The Australian Golf Club and Castle Hill Country […]
Just four months into the top job at The Heritage Golf and Country Club, General Manager Wayne Sutherland has vowed to give the club’s members the best value golf and lifestyle offering since the venue’s inception in 1999. The Heritage was sold again recently for a reported price tag just shy of $18 million and […]
WHEN Melissa Ellis took on the general manager’s role at Castle Hill Country Club two years ago, a few bold members gave her the moniker “non-golfing sheila” but it didn’t take long for the sobriquet to wear off. “I came from a non-golfing background so when I first started here that’s what they called me, […]
IMG, owner and promoter of the Australian Masters, has announced that BetEasy will be the naming rights partner of the Australian Masters. The BetEasy Masters will be played at The Metropolitan Golf Club from 20-23 November, 2014 when world No. 2, Adam Scott will attempt to make history as the first player to win the Gold […]
Callaway Golf has announced that longtime Staff Professional Phil Mickelson has signed a multiyear extension with the company. “When I joined the team at Callaway 10 years ago, I knew I was making the best decision of my career,” Mickelson said. “And I feel even stronger about that decision today. Backed by innovative technologies, industry-leading […]
AS a nightclub bouncer, prison officer and pub manager, Aaron Muirhead knew a thing or two about keeping people in check. But having spent close to a decade in irksome jobs he decided to change careers and now works as the general manager at Nudgee Golf Club in Brisbane. The prison system and the pub […]
With two Open Championship titles, 91 professional victories, 20 US PGA Tour Titles and 30 Top-10 finishes in major championships, Greg Norman is certainly no stranger to success. But for a man who spent 331 weeks as the number-one-ranked player in the world, was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame and who was […]
Golf Services Management Pty Ltd has secured the management contract for the Rosebud Park Public Golf Course on the Mornington Peninsula with Rosebud Park & Recreation Chairperson Elaine Bertotto and Golf Services Management Director Ian Denny, signing off on the long term lease. Golf Services Management will undertake responsibility for the provision of golf management […]
The PGA of Australia, Golf Australia and Golf Victoria have joined forces on a new project which could lead to the most significant contribution to industry collaboration in decades. Over the last 12 months the three administrative bodies, led by their respective Chief Executive Officers Brian Thorburn, Stephen Pitt and Simon Brookhouse, have been actively […]
SYDNEY’S Lynwood Country Club and Castle Hill RSL Club Group have announced the commencement of formal partnership discussions to pursue opportunities for amalgamation. Like many clubs across Australia, Lynwood has been challenged by the ongoing financial viability of the club, with increasing cost pressures, cashflow challenges and difficult trading conditions. And they are not alone: […]
COULD more dialogue between the game’s governing bodies and public golf course operators be a solution to growing the game? It’s a view put forward by Matt Day. The general manager of Perth’s Wembley Golf Course says the attitude towards public golf courses needs addressing and sees an opportunity for Golf Australia and the PGA […]
The Board of Golf Management Australia (GMA) has confirmed the next GMA National Conference will be held on the Gold Coast from Monday 31st August to Thursday 3rd September 2015, at Jupiters Gold Coast. GMA President Damon Lonnie said “The 2015 Conference follows on from a very successful educational programme delivered at the 2013 Conference […]
A driving range near Hobart has fallen victim to a major theft of its golf balls for the second time this year. Close to 6,000 golf balls were stolen from Golf Park Hobart on Cranston Parade in Cambridge on Friday May 31 and taken away in bright-coloured plastic tubs. Police suspect at least two people […]
The Victorian Golf Industry came together on Saturday 21st June to recognise the outstanding achievements and contributions of individuals and clubs to the sport in 2013. Representatives from the PGA of Australia, Golf Victoria and Golf Management Victoria gathered at the Southern Golf Club to witness Kel Llewellyn being inducted into the Victorian Golf Industry […]
Ocean Dunes Golf Links on Tasmania’s King Island has suffered a timing setback and isn’t expected to open until mid-2015. Director Graeme Grant, who is also spearheading the course’s design and grassing, has revealed slow progress over summer and autumn has forced him to abandon earlier hopes of opening the course by February 2015. “That’s […]
It’s no longer a major surprise to hear that golf courses in Australia are selling, moving or merging in what is an unsettling time for our golf industry. Melbourne clubs like Chirnside Park and Eastern, which have relocated their courses further away from the CBD, may be set up for brighter financial days but their […]
One of the most common items of feedback received from golf clubs relates to clubs being able to positively plan their futures. With this in mind, GMA has undertaken a great deal of work with corporate specialist Tony Sernack to create and publish “The Green Book – The Essential Guide to Strategic Planning for Golf […]
There is a common misconception about Facebook among people I talk to in golf clubs. Many think when they publish a post on their business Facebook page that everyone who has liked their page will see it. This is, in fact, far from the truth! A few years ago the percentage of your Facebook fans […]
The ongoing health of Australian golf clubs is the focus of a new report released by Golf Australia and Golf Management Australia. The 2013 National Golf Participation Report, which replaces the previous Annual Golf Census, has identified clear trends in the areas of club membership, golf participation and club financial viability. Among the report’s key […]
When the tournament marshals surrounding the 18th green on the final day of the recent Volvik RACV Ladies Masters at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast raised their “Quiet Please” signs for silence as Cheyenne Woods completed her significant victory in the event, it might well be the last time in the immediate future that […]
A recent study has found that laser rangefinders can shave up to 30 minutes off a round of golf for mid- to high-index players. The study, conducted by California-based National University Golf Academy and Bushnell Golf, measured the speed of play of students with handicaps ranging from six to 18. Tested over two days at […]
BEING a golf club manager and a rules expert can be equally challenging, says Scott Wagstaff. Scott is the general manager at Carbrook Golf Club in Brisbane’s southeast and each year acts as a rules official at the Australian Open so he should know. The 37-year-old, known as the Shark Whisperer by some of his […]
CAIRNS Golf Club’s past president Paul Chirio says the Tropical North Queensland club is in safe hands following the appointment of Nerida Wilson as the club’s first woman president in its 90-year history. “The club has had its financial challenges in recent years, but with Nerida at the helm, and with a new board, we […]
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