2025 is here and we opened the Society’s calendar with a dinner at Metropolitan Golf Club
Our guest speaker was world No 1 Senior Women’s Amateur Champion & Victorian Nadene Gole
Lyn Swinburne Past President of Royal Melbourne Golf Club kindly agreed to conduct Q& A interview with Nadene.
Thanks to John Trevorrow for this report –
The first GSA dinner event for 2025 was a fascinating conversation with a Melbourne woman who went back to top-level competitive golf after a 20-year break and is now the World Number 1 ranked senior women’s amateur in the world.
Nadene Gole held the audience spellbound as she told how she won the world’s two most prized senior women’s amateur events within the space of nine dramatic weeks in 2024.
The format for the dinner at Metropolitan Golf Club was a Q&A conversation between Nadene and Lyn Swinburne, former president of Royal Melbourne GC, in front of a dinner audience of more than 70 GSA members and guests.
Nadene is now 56 and recounted growing up in Traralgon in the Latrobe Valley and taking up golf while in high school. Golf tuition as a schoolgirl was just 50 cents a lesson. By her 20s, she was good enough to turn pro and she competed for several years on the Japanese and European tours, winning the Danish Women’s Open in 1996.
She took a 20-year break from top-level golf when children came along. (They are now aged 26 and 23). Nadene played little golf until deciding to join Victoria Golf Club in 2014, and regained her amateur status in 2019. She then began playing pennant golf, and in 2022 her competitive nature re-surfaced and she threw herself into a serious crack at senior (over-50) women’s amateur golf.
In 2023, Nadene swept the field in Australia, winning all six women’s senior amateur state titles and the Australian national senior title. In 2024, international invitations arrived, and she became the first Australian woman to win the R&A Senior Women’s and the USGA Senior Women’s amateur titles.
Her R&A Senior Women’s Amateur Championship victory came at Saunton GC in Devon, England, last July where she prevailed on the second hole of a playoff after 72 holes of stroke play. Her caddie was her husband Sam, who she also described as her “mental coach”.
Nadene stunned the audience by recounting how Sam suddenly became seriously ill about a week after arriving home in Melbourne from the UK. He went to hospital where sepsis was diagnosed, and he was within 12 to 18 hours of dying. Fortunately, Sam has almost fully recovered from his near-death experience.
In September, just nine weeks after her R&A victory, Nadene travelled to the US to compete in the US Senior Women’s Amateur at Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle. It is a gruelling event involving 10 rounds of golf in 8 days to make the final. She won 3&2 on the 16th green in the final against Canadian Shelly Stouffer.
Nadene was asked about the most important attributes for her success, and she said the key for her was resilience, performance and belief. Her golf journey is continuing, and the latest milestone is being selected to represent Australia in the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship. Nadene at 56 is the oldest competitor among 95 women who will tee up at Hoiana Shores Golf Club in Vietnam.
“My two children didn’t even know that I played pro golf. And now their Mum has been picked to play for Australia, they think it’s pretty cool,” Nadene laughed.
The Golf Society thanks Nadene Gole and Lyn Swinburne for their time in a delightful dinner conversation, and the staff at Metropolitan GC for the presentation of the evening.
As another successful year for the Society draws to a close, I reflect on a few of the activities.
The second half of the year has been a busy one. The Don Lawrence Trophy rescheduling, a talk by Sydney based Sports Historian Dr Michael Sheret and a late Golf Historians forum in Shepparton, all made for a condensed program of events, nevertheless and pleasingly they were successfully run and won.
A highlight of the year was our dinners, we were fortunate to have three interesting and entertaining speakers in Dr Joshua Ralston, Sandy Jamieson, and Graham Marsh.
This past year work on the GA heritage collection, including a magazine & journal audit, the re formatting some old tapes and films and planning for deaccessioning items.
In our hickory events, we had the successful running of the Inaugural Victorian Hickory Shaft Championships at Barwon Heads GC.. pleasingly this event looks to have a solid future.
At the recent 43rd AGM we gave special thanks to Greg Bain, who retired from the Committee after serving six years. In late 2018, Greg took over as the Long Game editor. His publishing background and enthusiasm for the role ensured we have had many years of interesting and enjoyable reading. This past year he initiated and oversaw a rebranding refresh to the print formats and layout quality to standardize our look.
An example of “our latest look” can be seen in our banner.
Our popular Annual Meeting Day and final golf event for the year, the Doug Bachli Trophy, was won by one of our new members Clayton Gunning. Hailing from WA, Clayton and two new fellow members made the most of their Melbourne visit, enjoying the many great courses we offer. We thoroughly enjoyed having them join us.
The trophy presentation this year was quite special with Doug Bachli’s daughter and grandson doing the honours.
Michelle Bachli paid tribute to her late father, the first Society President and brilliant golfer who won world in in 1954 when he become the first Australian to win the British Amateur Championship.
Lastly to the Committee, I give my sincere thanks. They contribute in many ways and I very much value their input and appreciate the time they give.
Committee elections, congratulations to those re-elected and welcome to our two new Committee members in Martin Maguire and Doug Turek.
My thanks to everyone who attended our events this year. Organising and running events is not without its challenges and so your participation and ongoing support is much appreciated.
Lastly the Society appreciates, the wonderful hospitality given by the many clubs we visited during the year.
Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy festive holiday season
Good golfing and enjoy the summer tournament season we have coming up.
Shepparton Golf club founded in 1922 was the venue for the final Golf Historians Forum for the year.
Members of the club’s Centenary Committee warmly welcomed the Society members who travelled to Shepparton and in late October.
Committee members Neil Lavis, Sally Naylor, Rob Kelly, and Greta Keenan recounted the club’s evolution from when the golf was played in an ad hoc way around the district from about 1900.
An early golf club was formed in Shepparton 1909 but had no permanent course, and the club went into hibernation with the outbreak of the Great War.
The present club was found in 1922 and gained permissive occupancy of its land at its present site, opening a nine hole course in June 1924.
Within four years, the course was extended to 14 holes, and the club had 200 members.
In 1931, the club bought 8 hectares(20 acres) of adjoining land and expanded to 18 holes with sandscrapes for the putting.
The early 1950s saw electricity and the water supply connected, and more land purchased.
In 1955, course architect Sam Berriman was commissioned to design a new layout on the bigger land with grass greens.
A new clubhouse and improved course were opened in 1960, with the membership climbing to 1000.
In 1962, the club hosted a famous exhibition match between a young Jack Nicklaus , the reigning US Open champion and 1960 Australian Open winner, Bruce Devlin.
3000 spectators turned out to see both champions shoot 69 on a memorable day for the club.
The club has a series of historic photos from that day on display in the clubhouse, some of them signed by Nicholas himself. The original scorecard for the day is also displayed.
The 1970s &1980s, saw major improvements, more land bought and a focus on developing junior golf.
To facilitate this the club arranged for visiting golf coaches to help run clinics for up to 200 juniors from around the district.
In the late 1980s, the club fought for special permission to play a mixed team of boys and girls in the Goulburn Valley junior pennant competition
To further secure the clubs future they were finally be able to buy the original crown land that it occupied since 1922.
For the session we were treated to a short film depicting some wonderful early images of the course and on display were several artefacts and historical an photographs.
The clubs permanent display cabinets were a rich showcase of memorabilia not only of the Nicklaus- Devlin exhibition match but featured a section dedicated to a favourite son the late Jarrod Lyle.
During the forum, we were able to go out on course and expect the site of the original clubhouse near the 17th tee and also one of the original sand scrape greens which has been cleared and sign posted, it sits in rough amongst trees behind the 14th hole. It was lovely to see this small piece of the courses history retained.
Attendees stayed on site at the club, enjoyed a meal together in town and most played the course the next day.
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 
