[President, Ian Rennick]
The Golf Society of Australia was launched in February 1983 with a 'hickory' golf day at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
Discussions and planning had begun in early 1981 after the idea of forming a society to research and preserve the history of golf in Australia was put forward by Dr Ken Shepherd. Several meetings took place, and a Constitution and objectives were drawn up, which have formed the basis of the Society's activities.
These objectives are:
- establishment of a golf museum
- collection of golf memorabilia
- regular golf days
- dinners with guest speakers
The proposal to form a Museum was taken to the Australian Golf Union (AGU), the governing body of golf in Australia. AGU By-Law No 10, forming a Museum Committee, was then passed, the membership being the Committee of the newly formed Golf Society of Australia.
The objectives of the Museum Committee are:
- To collect or otherwise acquire any items of historical golfing nature
- To decide and determine the standard and quality of items relating to golf which are of a historical nature and eligible for display as museum pieces
- To categorise and arrange historical golf items as museum pieces
- To compile, publish, decipher and annotate any golfing literature, illustrations or photographs for the purpose of recording the history of golf
- To compile and amend from time to time a list of historical golfing national records
The relationship forged with the Australian Golf Union continues with
Golf Australia, the organisation formed in 2006 following a merger with Women's Golf Australia.
The Society also has strong links with state golfing bodies. Contact details are available via the
Golf Australia website.
2010 Committee:
- President: Ian Rennick
- Secretary: Paul Burgess
- Treasurer: Dick Kirby
- Committee:
- Daryl Cox
- Janet Hibbins
- Elizabeth Hodgkins
- Norie Macleod
- Paul Rak
- Keith Wood AM
- Golf Australia representative:
Alex McGillivray, Manager - Industry Development