The final Society dinner for the year will be held Riversdale Golf Club on Monday 16 September – 6.30 pm for 7 pm start
We have been able to secure Graham Marsh as our speaker and member Tony Rule has kindly agreed to conduct Q&A session with this Aussie golfing legend
A Life in Golf’ as a player, administrator and golf course architect. …..
Graham Marsh was born in Kalgoorlie WA. In 1969 he turned professional and won more than 64 tournaments on all five of the world’s major tours.
Graham was voted Australian Sportsman of the year in 1977 and awarded the MBE in 1984.
Graham was also Chairman of the PGA Tour of Australasia for six years.
Graham Marsh Golf Design (GMGD) has been responsible for a number of the world’s leading residential, resort, private, and tournament golf courses, the result of his in-depth knowledge of the game and the intricacies required in golf course design.
Please join us for what is sure to be an enjoyable evening as we chat to Graham about his life in golf.
Details
Cost: Includes 2 courses and wine at the table. Pre-dinner drinks at member’s expense
RSVP: Monday, 2 September 2024
Please send the requested information below to: info@golfsocietyaust.com
Payment: Payment must be made prior to the event. Direct Transfer is preferred for Bank details please contact the Honorary Secretary
Postal: Honorary Secretary 7A Canberra Grove Beaumaris Vic 3193
President’s Trophy – The Royal Melbourne Golf Club – Monday 29 July 2024
Report The President’s Trophy drew a good-sized field of 30 players to Royal Melbourne GC on July 29th. The late winter afternoon was cool and light drizzle was persistent, but despite the weather there were some excellent scores returned on the famed West Course’s front nine.
The format for the President’s Trophy is 9 holes of stroke, with the top four qualifiers going on to sudden-death matchplay on the East Course to determine the winner. All players must choose only seven clubs for their day.
As the scorecards were collated, all players gathered for afternoon tea in the clubhouse’s MacKenzie Room in front of a welcome open fire.
RM historian and life member Moira Drew led the field with an excellent Nett 33.5. Fellow RM member Andrew Thomson was next with Nett 34, and he played off in a match against Mango Maguire, who played excellent golf in the qualifier, carding one over par for a Nett 34.5.
Four players returned nett cards of 37, and a countback determined Toby Cumming as the final qualifier, who faced Moira Drew in the first match. Toby won on their opening hole with a steady par four, and awaited the winner of the other match.
Andrew Thomson’s bag on the day contained a modern driver and six antique hickory clubs: a lofted spoon, three irons and a putter. He and Mango halved their first hole and moved to the difficult par-4 second.
Mango made a creditable bogey 5 after taking a penalty from an unplayable lie off his tee shot. Andrew was on the green in three with a stroke in hand, and holed a difficult second putt to win the match with a nett 4.
Toby and Andrew moved to the third hole for the deciding match. Both found the right-hand rough off the tee, and were in greenside bunkers for three. Escaping wet bunkers with an antique niblick is a difficult proposition, and Andrew went long into another trap. He sportingly conceded the hole and the President’s Trophy to Toby, as darkness began to close in on the match and the spectators who had gathered to watch the contest.
Player and spectators returned to the clubhouse for the presentations and a sumptuous post golf spread
Society President Kim Hastie thanked Royal Melbourne for its hospitality and for hosting another enjoyable day’s golf at its sublime venue.
The inaugural Victorian Hickory Shaft Championship has been run and won on the wonderful links of Barwon Heads Golf Club on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula.
After a couple of successful events at Barwon Heads GC, in the past two years, we thought it appropriate to hold the 2024 Championship there.
John Trevorrow reports ..
A big field of 33 golfers turned the clock back a century competing in the Victorian Hickory Shaft Championship at historic Barwon Heads GC on May 19th.
This inaugural championship, organised by the GSA, brought together entrants from Victoria, NSW, South Australia and Tasmania to the historic coastal links laid out by J. Victor East in 1921.
The championship was contested in 18 holes of stroke play on a cool, windy Sunday with scudding clouds that delivered a brief shower.
Conditions were challenging for scoring and just three of the 33 players were able to beat 90 off the stick. The men’s 2024 champion is Harry Green from Kingston Heath with 86. Women’s 2024 champion is GSA president Kim Hastie from Metropolitan GC with 111. Runners-up were Bendigo GC’s Justin Ryan on 89 countback, and Truda Rail from Strathfield GC on 114.
Winners in the handicap division were Matthew Delahunty from Spring Valley with 74 nett, and Truda Rail 88 nett.
The inaugural championship was marked by a great spirit of camaraderie, new and renewed friendships and a shared enthusiasm for hickory golf.
We give thanks to Barwon Heads for their wonderful hospitality and wish the club all the best with the clubhouse redevelopment
More images from the event can be found in the Gallery page
Women’s & Men’s Victorian Hickory Shaft Champions Kim Hastie and Harry Green
Women’s Runner Up & Nett Winner Truda Rail with GSA President Kim Hastie
Matthew Delahunty Men’s Nett winner with Champion Harry Green
The previous day several players enjoyed the Par 3 course on a gorgeous Autumn afternoon some finishing as the sun was setting
First played in 1996, the Don Lawrence Trophy commemorates and celebrates the outstanding contribution to sports journalism by one of the Society’s earliest members.
2024 winners are Sam Forsyth and Ben Jarvis
Runners up Renny Cunnack and Greg Bain
A full report will be in the next issue of the Long Game
It is with great sadness I advise the passing of Robert (Bob) Wade OAM on Tuesday 30 January 2024
Well known to us all, Bob was a distinguished watercolour artist with international acclaim. His incredible portfolio of work is enjoyed all over the world, either through books,exhibitions,teachings, his own social media page, and the countless clubhouses around the globe that have a Bob Wade hanging somewhere.
He was a longtime member of the Society and 71-year member of the Metropolitan Golf Club along with other clubs.
Bob contributed to the Society’s activities in several ways either as a guest speaker at our dinners, presenting at Historian’s forum or writing an article for the Long Game newsletter.
The Society is fortunate to have on file an interview that Bob did with Society members Brendan Moloney and Virginia Gorrell in 2012
We are grateful to Brendan and Virgina for providing the text, it is a wonderful read and tells us so much about the legendary man.
Bob touched our lives in many ways, and we will acknowledge and celebrate his accomplished rich life in the next Long Game… till then we remember Bob with great affection and will always have his beautiful art to enjoy.
A true gentleman who will be much missed
Our thoughts are with his extended family
Kim Hastie President
A memorial service to celebrates Bob’s life will be held on Tuesday 27th February at the Victorian Artists Society in East Melbourne
To attend you must register, the details for this can be found on Bob’s Facebook page.
A link to live stream of the service can be found on the same site.
The Society held its first dinner for the year at The Metropolitan Golf Club – Monday 19 February
Our guest speaker was Dr Joshua Ralston, who is in Melbourne on a three-month lecturing position at the University of Melbourne.
Dr Ralston is a professor of religion and politics at the University of Edinburgh with a focus on the interactions between the Middle East and the West.
He has written or edited four books on themes such as religious diversity in Europe, populism and religion, and Christian-Muslim relations. He’s currently writing on how sport helps us understand the transformation of Saudi Arabia and modern global politics.
Dr Ralston is an avid golfer and a member at North Berwick Golf Club, Scotland. He has already managed several games on the Sandbelt since his arrival at the beginning of January.
The title of his topic was “The Politics of Golf: Saudi Arabia and the transformation of professional golf.”
Joshua’s talk was enlightening and very entertaining and we are grateful to him for giving up his leisure time.
We also give thanks to Michael Clayton who assisted in securing Joshua as our dinner speaker.
To read more about this wonderful evening ..please see John Trevorrow’s report – President Kim Hastie
Report on Dr Joshua Ralston’s talk to at Golf Society dinner at Metropolitan GC, 19thFebruary.
Have you ever wondered why the rulers of Saudi Arabia have spent billions of their petro-dollars buying into international golf by creating and funding the LIV Golf League?
The answer, according to academic Dr Joshua Ralston, is deeper than the common assumption that the authoritarian Saudi regime simply wants to ‘sports wash’ its dubious international reputation for human rights.
Dr Ralston is from California, and a late convert to golf and member at North Berwick Golf Club in Scotland. He is an associate professor of religion and politics at the University of Edinburgh and has written studies on religious diversity in Europe, populism and religion, and Christian-Muslim relations. Dr Ralston is currently a visiting scholar at Trinity College, University of Melbourne and was guest speaker in February at Metropolitan Golf Club for the Golf Society’s first dinner of the year. His talk, titled “Saudi Arabia and the politics of golf”, drew a packed house of 138 GSA members and guests.
His view is that Muhammad bin Salman al Saud, the crown prince and Prime Minister who is the probable next King of Saudi Arabia, is aiming to diversify his nation’s future from reliance on oil and gas to broader economic interests. Sport, including top-level soccer and golf, is among his targets.
Dr Ralston laid out three essential reasons he believes are behind the Saudis’ investment of more than $3billion so far on LIV Golf, which this year will play its second Australian tournament in Adelaide.
National
The Saudi regime wants to transition its society, build new economic hubs, and attract wealthy and influential foreign investors. Golf is one of the ways of doing that. It is also a sport that is appropriate within Saudi culture because it can be played together by men and women in culturally acceptable ways.
Regional
Saudi Arabia is playing catch-up against its more international neighbours Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia already contains the two most important sites for Islam — Mecca and Medina — and LIV Golf gives them another chance to increase their reputation and influence within the Middle-East region. “Why buy a team when you can buy a whole sport? LIV Golf helps to set the Saudis apart in their regional rivalry,” said Dr Ralston.
Global
Golf is a mid-range sport compared to soccer and basketball, he says, but is a very rich sport. Fortune-100 companies and executives are involved in golf, and the game also gives unique opportunities to build personal relationships on the golf course with important and influential people. It gives the Saudis a key foothold in international connections.
“LIV Golf is part of a broader group of aims for the Saudis to make themselves indispensable both economically and globally,” Dr Ralston says. Finally, he pointed out that western nations have for more than 70 years made a “Faustian bargain” by dealing economically and militarily with Saudi Arabia while not looking at what the Kingdom does in terms of women’s rights, human rights and authoritarian behaviour.
Golf gives us a window into our morally complicated world, he says. Understanding and respecting different cultures is vitally important to global understanding and international relationships, but so too is holding fast to values of justice and human dignity.
Dr Ralston’s timely talk was enthusiastically received by the diverse and influential crowd. The audience included board members from a number of golf clubs, Golf Australia CEO James Sutherland, many key people from Metropolitan GC, and a large number of guests. Two old friends with a combined 150 years of playing golf were also there. Metro’s legendary pro Brian Twite and Peter Stickley, who caddied at Metro in 1951-52 and was assistant to Brian in 1955-57, enjoyed 9 holes together before the dinner. They were joined on the course by Tasmanian former champion and professional David Good.
– John Trevorrow
The Society gives thanks to the club and staff at Metropolitan GC for their wonderful hospitality which ensured for a most enjoyable evening for our members and their guests.
Thank you to many that have passed on positive and lovely feedback.
We took the opportunity to record Joshua’s talk Please click on the link below to listen.
are Sam Forsyth and Ben Jarvis
Runners up Renny Cunnack and Greg Bain 
