Veterans Golf Club

The Sussex Inlet Veterans Golb Club plays a Nine hole competition every Tuesday at the Sussex Inlet Golf Club Ltd. course comencing at 8.00am and a B.B.Q. day on the last Saturday each month commencing at 9.00am. All affiliated Veteran golfers are welcome to come along and enjoy the hospitality of the members.

Bookings are essential. Booking sheet is available at the Golf Club.

For further information phone 02-4441 2259.

1981 ===== 2001

I proudly dedicate this story to all the past and present committee members for their achievements over the last twenty years. I hope this document will become of historical significance in the future for all our members.
Frank Wood

Veterans golf came into being when the Australian Veterans Golfers Association Limited was formed as the result of a meeting in Sydney on 7th July 1965 with the election of directors, from major Sydney Golf Clubs.
Slow progress was made until the meeting of 15th December 1966 when a new group of directors were elected to office. Membership of veteran golf clubs became open to men over 55 years  of age who were members of a golf club affiliated with the NSW Golf Association and who held an Australian Handicap.
The immediate response from eligible golfers was considerable. In the early eighties  the number of veteran golfers across Australia exceeded 23,000 including  more than 11,000 in NSW.
Today there are many organised  veterans " Week of Golf " for those touring golfers throughout the  length and breadth of the state which can be very satisfying. In the 1980's MSC members were given the opportunity to qualify to  represent the area and to compete with other areas at Bankstown Golf  Club Sydney. Many of our members have qualified and  have participated. Sponsors were St. George Building Society and State Bank and on arrival each member received a show bag containing their companies promotion tees- pencils-green repair- and various brochures.

Lucas and Tait purchased the present golf course property during 1975 resulting in the closure until 1976 when the Golf Club was able to negotiate a lease with the owners and the golf course was officially reopened on 17th  November 1976. We are truly indebted to Lucas and Tait for their ongoing support and confidence in the management of their property under the Sussex Inlet Golf Course Committee and  now the Board of Directors.

The beginning of this story is the first official Sussex Inlet Veterans competition played during 1981 on the Lucas and Tait property. The formation of the veterans took place in 1981 with a total membership of  35 comprised of male and female members. From this group a foundation committee was formed.
 The committee was as follows;
 President:  E.Smith
 Secretary:  A. Johnson
 Committee:  J.Dickman, V. Rasdall, G. Foster, E. Van Dyck, N.Godfrey, N.Mackey, B. Caddy.
This committee was strongly supported by many active residents.
Extract from the Presidents Report ( L.A. Cairns)  of the Sussex Inlet Golf Club 12th October 1980.
Quote  "I welcome the conception of the veterans association within our club and give it all my support.
Since its introduction the fields have grown and competition is keen."

Membership for male members was a minimum age of 55 years  and required to be a member of the Sussex Inlet Golf Club. Our veterans played a weekly nine (9) hole competition on Tuesdays. Ladies were invited to play but required a minimum of five to play in their own event otherwise they would combine in the men's event.
Competition fees were 50 cents per member. The club had a healthy bank balance of $176.00. Tea, coffee and biscuits were always on prior to an event and have been retained to this day.

The 1981 Veterans championship winners were;-
Men:  G.Foster Associates :  L. Paine.

Initially the committees met at the Club house in the 24' X 30' public service room. There was a separate starter shed and toilets. On other occasions the meetings were held at Norm and May Godfreys  home at River Road, always followed by afternoon tea.

To expand our golfing activities the committee made an application to affiliate with the Mid South Coast Veterans Golf Association and was accepted. The main objects and aims of the MSCVGA was to bring together the nine golf clubs in the mid south coast district whose members wish to compete for the Hyde  (9Hole) and Matherson  (18 Hole) shields and has created many ongoing friendships over the years. Though our veterans have not been successful to be in the winning circle the challenge is enjoyed by all who participate. Over many years of the M.S.C.V.G.A. competitions held at Sussex Inlet a special mention to May Godfrey and Elva Daintry for the expertise in checking the score cards, to June Hepple for managing the popular raffle, and the many ladies who supplied tea, coffee and biscuits to the veteran visitors on arrival and made sandwiches on completion of the event. This practice has continued over the 20 year period. We must not forget those dedicated spotters on the fairways for their contribution. This club should be and is proud of the standard set on these special days held once a year. " Thank you all." In 1999 President A.Gray and his committee proposed that those members representing the club at these competitions should wear a specially designed club shirt. The shirts to be purchased and paid for by the competing members. This was enthusiastically accepted by the members.

Our veterans also had a strong association with St. Georges Basin Veterans Golf Club in which a bowling club member Mr. J. Woodward in 1981 donated a shield to be played for on a 2 home and 2 away 9 hole stableford competitions, this became the Woodward Shield. Many years later in 1996 to encourage our ladies to compete Elva Daintry donated a shield known as the Daintry Shield to be played for under the same conditions as the Woodward Shield. Both of these Shields are being contested each year. The annual aggregate stableford points winner retains the shield for the ensuing year.

To promote our veterans club invitations were forwarded to surrounding golf clubs to play in our first open day  which was held in 1985.
 The competition consisted of stableford events ;
 18 Hole Group  A  55 to 65 years  9 Hole Group  A  50 to 60 years
Group  B  66 years plus  Group  B  61 years plus
These dual events proved very popular on the day.

Numerous working bees over many years with a 'Dads Army' of volunteers made up of men and women helped to clear the fairways of debris. Morning  tea always provided was very welcome. It was nothing to see a member removing fallen tree limbs and dead wood from the fairways while an event was in progress among the ever present kangaroos and wallabies.  To use up the timber on the course Arthur Johnson and Norm Godfrey constructed a B.B.Q. for special days. Originally the first Saturday of each month was catered for by the ladies who supplied home made cakes and all the ingredients for members lunch and afternoon tea. When the members explosion took place in 1990 (135 members) the last Saturday was introduced for our BBQ day. The BBQ cooks and our ladies combined to produce an excellent meal for the members and any visitors. These days were also enriched by Col Downs playing his accordion and having a sing along by the members. Following Col's accordion the members were entertained by Ian and Bula McLeod and later on Bob and  Lillian Meyers joined in and formed a singing quartet. A special mention must be made to the many years of work that Alex Thomson has provided in carting and spreading soil and turf particularly to the old 8th now the 17th fairway.

The Christmas presentation night  occasion 1986 was catered for by Blands catering service and was held in the RSL Sub Branch hall with Wick Blakey on piano playing for dances and singalongs followed by a special presentation by Eddy Van Dyck to the four-ball winners May Godfrey and Jack Murphy, kneeling like royalty they each received a  tea service prize. This proved a great success and set the mode for future Christmas events being held at Sussex Inlet Bowling Club or RSL Club. Meals, dancing, even barn dance prizes. All our past and present committees over the years have endeavoured to return benefits to the members subject to available finances and viability of our Veterans Golf Club on all our special events.

In 1989 to upgrade the Treasurers monthly report to the committee the treasurer Wal Jones introduced a Profit and Loss statement.

In 1988 and 1990 the veterans gratefully received two donations from Mr. A. Johnson, in memory of his wife, the first for a Perpetual Trophy and the second for a Wyn Johnson Memorial Shield for match play events for men and ladies which commenced in 1989. Arthur was also a Life Member of the Sussex Inlet Golf  Club. On his 90th Birthday the committee supplied a birthday cake with a golf course design, the green was in the middle of the cake with a relighting candle which played Happy Birthday. The candle represented the flag stick. Arthur departed this life 25th February 1998 a thorough gentleman and a stalwart of this club. On his passing his family made a substantial donation to the golf club who negotiated to purchase the 2nd motorised golf cart. Arthur would be proud that this tangible item will assist many veterans to still enjoy a round of golf. The plaque on the dashboard reads ;
  " Donated by
  the family of the late Arthur Johnson
  Life member and Gentleman"

Peter Sullivan enjoyed playing golf with his veteran friends, and after much persuasion joined the golf club and the veterans. Peter understood the benefits of having a motorised golf cart for those members having problems  walking the golf course. On his passing he donated his golf cart to the club. A plaque positioned on the dashboard reads;
  "Donated by
  the late Peter Sullivan
  a very good golfer "
This cart is an open air unit due to a misjudgement by Peter on returning home from golf one day he misjudged the height of his garage door and wiped off the top and windscreen.

Frank McIvor loved playing golf with the veterans on Tuesdays and was the biggest contributor of golf balls into the dam at the 6th hole. On his passing the family made an application which was approved by the directors to have his ashes spread over the 6th dam. This dam was named in memory of Frank and a plaque is positioned nearby which reads;
  " Frank McIvor Dam
  6-2-1934  17-8-2000"

Another member remembered but not officially is Bill Spinks who passed away while doing voluntary work on the 17th green one Monday morning in 1994. This hole is often referred to as " Spinkses hole" by some the older members.

The history of the veterans club would not be complete with out the Melbourne Cup day. This has been a special day since 1982. A stableford or canadian foursomes shot gun start followed by a BBQ, many sweeps and a hobby horse race. Not a lot of winners but there is value for money if you play the hobby horses. There is also a "best hat" parade and it is a very brave member who will judge the best hat.

In 1983 the committee introduced our first  Monthly Medal. Winners received an engraved medal. In 1994 Wal Jones was successful in winning the first Medal of Medals receiving an open order for $50.00 and purchased a pair of golf shoes. The prize for future M of M was an engraved medal. Due to membership increase, 170 members in 1994, two divisions were formed for men and one division for ladies. In 1993 a veterans 18 hole competition for men was commenced on a Thursday however due lack of support it had to be discontinued.

To create a jovial atmosphere the committee introduced in 1992 a Naggers Shield contested for by married couples, both members of the veterans. The club has maintained a  40 couple membership since 1996 . With increasing population in the area  the future of the shield is assured. The shield incorporates a frying pan  mounted on a shield and is strongly contested, the winners look forward to having their names engraved on the mini shields mounted around the shield. To celebrate mothers day a cake was purchased on the nearest Tuesday to the date for all our members to participate. "Well done committee."

In 1993 to add more shields to our trophy room the committee felt that the executives should have a challenge so they introduced The President Vs The Captain Shield to be played for annually. Those players on the winning team each receiving a golf ball prize.

With so many new members joining the veterans the committee in 1993 purchased name badges for every member. This prompted the committee to draft a constitution and for all new members to receive a copy on their acceptance into the veterans club.

In 1993 President J.Brown with his committee organised a trip away to Rosnay Golf  Club at Auburn, Sydney. the package consisted of a coach up and back, accommodation, 2 rounds of golf, and lots of friendship. Rosnay returned the visit the following year and have continued to return each year to enjoy the hospitality of our veterans. Our club visited to Rosnay again in 1994 and 1995 but due to lack of support has since lapsed.

In 1994 the committee voted to purchase and donate to the Golf Club a High Pressure Water cleaning unit and  an industrial Air Compressor to assist in the maintenance of the course machinery. Also donated to the Club were 30 new heavy duty plastic chairs.

A Notice of Motion was presented to and passed by the 1994 A.G.M. for ladies attaining the age of 50 years be eligible for membership of the veterans club. Prior to this ladies were only playing by invitation only although they still played in their own competition.

When the Golf Club expanded its clubhouse building in 1995 the veterans having a very substantial bank balance designed and donated a permanent score board for the the new room of the club which fitted nicely with the honour board generously donated by Mr. Robbie Abrahamsen previously located in the public service room.

In 1995 under the guidance of our then captain D. Middleton with the match committee redrafted a set of rules and regulations originally prepared by a former captain and committeeman W. Jones. This became a major step for all our members to become conversant with the rules and their responsibilities in all our competition events.
These rules have and are constantly been amended  to suit changes that occur.

In 1995 President R. Hooper with his committee organised a very successful day visit to Jamberoo Golf Club followed by further visits to Jamberoo in 1997 and 1998 and in 1999 President A. Gray and his committee organised a 3 day visit to Crookwell Golf Club which was highly successful.

 In the beginning handicaps were maintained by the captain and were book keeping entries, at the time by N. Godfrey who had previous experience when a member of Bankstown Golf Club. He handled the duties very capably for many years and has been followed by many capable handicappers including G. Wood  who managed the job for many years. 1995 saw the club change over from manual recording and adjusting of veterans 9 hole handicapping to a computer programme originally designed for the AGU 18 hole Handicapping system modified for 9 hole competitions.  This programme is still being used for the veterans handicapping. It is the responsibility of the Captain and the Match committee to ensure that all events are played strictly in accordance with the rules of golf and any local rules. Members have always vigorously contested the event of the day, the nearest the pins and the crows nest which is within 1 metre and especially when the nest holds 12 balls. The captain is also responsible for the adjustment of players handicaps after all competition events. The most common remark is "when will I get a shot back?" On the more pleasant side the captain has the pleasure of the presentation of prizes to the winners, runners up and the ball run down at the end of each days event. The winners and runners up now receive shopping  vouchers redeemable at the Golf Club's Pro shop or from nominated local shops most of whom support the Club with donations of goods or discounts for the Clubs special event days. This system is an excellent way to promote the local stores.

Countless  members, too many to mention here (see attached sheets ) have served on committees for many years and  have contributed their time in many ways  for the benefit of our veterans golf club which has been very much appreciated.  It was indeed a pleasure the day we conferred life membership on Mrs E. McDougall for her many years of outstanding contributions to the club. Thank You Ellie.

The most successful area of raising additional funds over the years has been the 50 cents  chook and ball  raffle. Thank you to all members for their ongoing support not forgetting those raffle collectors B. Goodlett and E. McDougall. Originally the raffle prizes were donations from N.Godfrey of fresh caught  Blackfish caught from our river near the Badgee bridge.

Over many years our championship winners and runners up received trophy stands which were not very popular. Therefore the committee introduced K-Mart gift vouchers with a 1 year expiry date. In the early days event winners received unknown trophies as the members donated various items such as pottery, glassware or anything suitable for the occasion.

We must acknowledge since 1993 the generous donation from the Golf Club each year of monogrammed veterans club jackets presented to our Div.1, Div 2 and Ladies championship winners.

On behalf of all the veteran members the committees have made an annual donation to the RSL on Anzac Day towards the purchase of books for our local school's library to commemorate the spirit of Anzac. A club member attends the ceremony  and places the books on the memorial at the RSL club.

During the year 2000 the committee under President A. Gray donated $200 to the oncology dept. at Nowra Hospital and $100 to Sussex Inlet Junior Golfers.

What are wild cards ?  Following the presentation to the winners on the Tuesday event the captain fans out all the non winners score cards and cards are selected at random to give the non winners a chance to win a golf ball. You must be at the presentation to collect.

One of our longest serving committee person is our Treasurer B. McCarthy who has occupied this office since 1990. His financial guidance has been outstanding. The veterans owe much to Bob for his dedication to this office. "Many thanks Bob"

Owing to the Goods and Services Tax being introduced in 2000 the Golf Club Ltd had to increase the green fees to $3.50 per member which makes our competition fee now $5.50.

So after 20 years from a start of 35 members we have passed the 200 members mark.
All the committee members from our inception have given an invaluable contribution to our veterans golf club.

Visiting MSC veterans have been impressed by the golf course changes over the last 20 years. To highlight before and after changes find attached the course layout in the 80's and  90's .

The attached sheets list the committee officers for the years 1981 - 1991 and the graphs show progressive membership of the club, competition fees including green fees which show the depth of the veterans golf club.
 

 Yours in Golf

Frank Wood

Considerable research has been necessary and every endeavour has been made to factually record our committees progress over the last twenty years.

This page was done in conjunction with Ron Hooper ( Computer Club-Webmaster, at the time) who sadly passed away in September 2002 - with Golf Club approval Ron's ashes are at " home" near the 9th Hole.

All above information as last advised by the "Vets"