Events

The second forum for the year will be held at

Portsea Golf Club    Monday, 3 August 2026

This forum is to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Portsea Golf Club Est. 1926

Following lunch and a presentation at 11.00 am there will be an opportunity to play 14 holes of golf, either hickory or modern.

Please follow the link below to register for this event.

https://golfsocietyaust.com/event/golf-historians-forum-portsea-golf-club/

The President and committee hope to see you at Portsea on Monday, 3 August 2026.

Regards
Doug Turek
Forums Convenor
E: forums@golfsocietyaust.com
M: 0412 487 303

A TERRIFIC DAY FOR HICKORY GOLF at Frankston Golf Club ⛳️

First played in 1983, the Society’s Annual Hickory Golf Day is one of the oldest events on the Society’s calendar.

On Sunday 16 August, a full field of members and guests embraced the spirit of the occasion, with some excellent golf played:

🏆 Doug Turek won the Frank Shepherd Trophy with 42 Stableford points, just one ahead of Adrian Lindgren on 41.

🏆 Kim Hastie claimed the Burtta Cheney Trophy with 30 points, with Heather Brodie runner-up on 28.

Guest Christian Lale-Demoz matched the day’s best score with 42 points to take guest honours.

Defending champion Andrew Thomson mounted a fine defense with 38 points, but the Frank Shepherd Trophy changed hands this year.

The scores tell only part of the story. The real pleasure was seeing a full field enter into the spirit of the day, old clubs back in play, newcomers made welcome and plenty of laughter shared along the way.

This is history, heritage and hickory at its best

We give thanks to John Trevorrow and Tim Taylor who helped bring together such an enjoyable occasion.

Join the GSA for more opportunities to put golf history back into play.

It is with sadness, that I advise the passing of two valued members in Peter Gompertz and Peter Stickley

Peter Gompertz – passed away last Thursday June 25^th with his family by his side

Peter took on the Editor role of The Long Game in 2009 and enthusiastically managed our informative and popular newsletter till retiring from the role in January 2017. He served on Committee from 2011 till 2017.

A past member and Director of Long Island GC serving for three years.

Peter was a member of the ‘British Golf Collectors Society’ joining in 1987. He served for three years on the BGCS Committee and for several years he wrote a regular piece titled a “Letter From Oz”  for their  quarterly magazine the Through the Green.

He was a founding Honorary Curator of the ‘Open Museum’ at Royal North Devon Golf Club.

Peter was a passionate, and lifelong collector, of golf books.

Peter Stickley – passed away in the early hours of Sunday morning June 28^th

He joined the Society in 2013 and was an active member and generously gave his time to speak at Golf Historians Forums and write up articles for The Long Game.

A true gentleman, who had a long and varied life in golf, starting with his early years as a caddy at Metropolitan GC working under the late Brian Twite. That was followed by a  part time  job in the Pro Shop at Box Hill GC. He spoke fondly of these times

His professional career outside of golf was some forty years in Real Estate.

Peter was an Agent& Auctioneer with a particular interest in Mornington Peninsula and rural properties

For many, a connection to Peter was through hickory golf. Pete was an avid collector and knowledgeable restorer and if you had the opportunity to visit him at Martha Cove you came to appreciate his passion for the world of hickories.

The Society extends sincere condolences to Paula and the Gompertz family, and to Irene, sons Tim & Andrew, daughters Janelle & Melinda and the extended Stickley family.

Kind Regards,

Kim Hastie
President – Golf Society of Australia

Website: golfsocietyaust.com

Our second dinner for the year will be held at Yarra Yarra Golf – Monday 22 June 2026

We are pleased to have Golf Society member Richard Hattersley as our Guest speaker

Richard’s father Harry Hattersley one of Australia’s finest Amateur in 1930’s

             “How having a champion Australia amateur golfer for a father led me to a lifetime in golf”

“Harry Hattersley’s career spanned a remarkable forty-year period, beginning in 1925 when he first represented NSW whilst still at school.

His first Australian Amateur Championship victory in 1930 was the start of a great career and heralded the beginning of a golden decade for Australian golf.

In spite of losing my father just after I left school, I was privileged to be involved with the Royal Sydney Golf Club for twenty years and have many stories to share with you.”

A full report to follow shortly

2026 Don Lawrence Trophy Report

The Don Lawrence Trophy is one of the Golf Society’s oldest events, and a field of 32 players enjoyed perfect autumn weather for the 2026 contest.

Players gathered at Woodlands GC on May 12th to vie for the Trophy which honours the late Don Lawrence. Don was golf writer for The Herald and The Age newspapers, a foundation member of the GSA committee in 1982, and served as GSA president 1992-94.

The format is 4BBB Stableford, and this Trophy is keenly contested. Historic Woodlands, at the southern edge of the famed Melbourne Sandbelt, was in great condition and scores were impressive. Winners of the Don Lawrence Trophy were Spring Valley pair John Scheffer and Cec Bailey with 45 points. They pipped the defending champions John Mann and Simon Hibbins, who were runners-up with 44 points.

John Scheffer was in good form, winning both men’s NTPs. The women’s NTPs went to Woodlands member Kay Mahlook and Roz Farrell, a guest from Huntingdale. Prizes for best front 9 score went to John Mann/Simon Hibbins with 24 points, and best back 9 score of 23 points c/b was won by Woodlands and esteemed GSA members Graeme Grant and Kay Mahlook.

A special guest at this year’s presentations in the clubhouse after play was Suzanne Timms, daughter of Don Lawrence. Suzanne and her husband Terry brought along a number of items of Don’s memorabilia, all of which demonstrated the esteem that the golf world held for Don. During his golf reporting, Don was credited with creating the nickname the Golden Bear for Jack Nicklaus.  One of the items was a framed article by Ron Reed from Sports Extra. Its tells the lovely story how the famous and lucrative moniker came about.

The Golf Society thanks the Woodlands golf shop and clubhouse staff for hosting the event so successfully.

John Trevorrow

A bit about the career of Don Lawrence…

https://golfsocietyaust.com/wp-content/uploads/about-Don-Lawrence.pdf

2025 Winners John Mann and Simon Hibbins 

Regards

Marty Maguire
Don Lawrence Co-Ordinator
Golf Society of Australia
Email  events@golfsocietyaust.com