WALK into any golf club clubhouse and one of the first things you’ll notice is the honour boards that adorn the walls.
But in an ever-changing world of technology, some clubs are disposing of time-honoured boards, West Perth Golf Club being one of them.
The club’s president Alan Jones said jettisoning the boards was “the end of a bit of history or a new beginning”.
The honour board, listing club champions and office bearers going back many years, had been a fixture at Hamersley Public Golf Course.
But the course facilities are being rebuilt and unfortunately there’s no space in the new building for this type of physical fitting.
So, to the rubbish dump went the lovely jarrah wood board, measuring about 2m by 1m.
The City of Stirling, which owns the Hamersley Public Golf Course and is redeveloping the facilities, said it was looking to install digital honour boards in lieu of physical displays to recognise the notable achievements in club history.
These digital boards can be programmed on a rotational basis and look realistic in displaying club history, the City explaining other sporting clubs had moved to this technological solution and away from physical boards.
Whilst this may take getting used to, in the long-term club history won’t be “thrown on the scrap heap” and will still be recognised appropriately on site – albeit in a new format.
“It’s a shame but the club had no choice but to throw out its honour board,” said club captain Kevin Somers. “Fortunately, information from the honour board has been loaded onto the West Perth Golf Club’s website for posterity.”
Kevin said West Perth Golf Club’s members played golf on Sunday mornings, mostly at Hamersley Public Golf Course.
“We play 30-plus games at Hamersley and 18 games elsewhere,” he said. “The only Sunday we don’t play is the Sunday nearest to Christmas.
“We are a mixed club and for most of the year the men and the women play in the same competition every week.
“The only time that doesn’t happen is at club championships where we have men’s and women’s gross and nett winners. Their names go on the honour board along with the Player of the Year.”
Chief writer David Newbery has been living, breathing and writing and editing golf for more than 30 years. His extensive knowledge of the game comes from covering golf around the world. Hired by Inside Golf in 2009, David previously worked as the editor of The Golfer for 25 years and before that worked for numerous daily newspapers in Australia and overseas. The Brisbane-based journalist describes his golf game as “a work in progress”, but has had the privilege of playing golf with some of the game’s best players including nine-time major winner Gary Player. David enjoys travelling, reading, music, photography and spending time with family and friends – on and off the golf course. 
