In February and March we celebrate the opening days for the women’s golf season, the men’s golf season and our mixed and medley golf season.

Once again we have a very full golf program supported by an extensive list of event sponsors, both corporate and fellow Members – to whom we are very grateful.  The complete 2022 program of golf events has been uploaded to the booking system, including a link to a downloadable version.

It is wonderful to see both competition and social golf well supported with golfers taking to our course from first to last light over the summer months. One of our objectives as a Match Committee is to strike a balance between organised golf events and social golf.  One way we do this is by opening the course to social golfers at every opportunity before and after events.  This requires the tightening of tee sheet start times, cross-over times and estimates of event finishing times.  Occasionally things don’t go to plan and so we ask for your patience as the plans are set with the best of intent.

We still have many Members, particularly new Members, who express that they are not good enough to play in competitions or assume competitions are highly competitive.  Rest assured, there is always a very wide range of scores in competitions and it is your pace of play and good company that is more important than your score.  We are more than happy to help Members get involved and enjoy the fun and camaraderie that comes with competition golf.  It is a great way to improve your game and meet your fellow Members.

Our Club Handicapper, Greg Fitzharding, has been very busy over the last 12 months issuing handicaps to new Members and we love seeing these Members maintain these handicaps and playing in Club events.

With the high course utilisation we remind Members that it is everyone’s responsibility to:

  • keep up with the group in front;
  • be proactive and courteous in helping to improve pace of play; and
  • care for the course by fixing pitch marks, divots and bunkers.

We also remind Members that before 7:00AM, course staff have complete right-of-way and they are not expected to stand aside for social golfers.  This is a critical time in course preparation and without the co-operation of Members, the alternative is to shut the course before 7:00AM which we would prefer not to do.

The condition of the course is improving and we have a very committed team of Members and staff that are working to resolve the issues.  It has been a very challenging 9 months due to storm damage, reticulation failures and our record summer weather. We have high expectations for the presentation of our course and we are confident we will continue to improve this over the coming weeks.  Our thanks go to Peter Boyne, our Course Director, for his efforts under these difficult circumstances. Peter hosted an information evening on the 15th February and we also thank the Members who attended for the fair and reasonable way in which they engaged with their questions and comments.

Some good news has been the success of our major investment in a new electric greens’ mower and electric greens’ roller.  The noise reduction is significant and, after the noise complaint issues from last year, we can more confidently undertake our early morning course preparation work without disturbing our neighbours. And when this equipment is returned to the shed after use it is effectively recharged from the solar system installed last year. Two positive initiatives from the Club.     

Of note this year, Saturday golfers will be playing for a new perpetual trophy, The Neil Watson Tray, sponsored by Ron Birmingham. This event is in memory of Neil, who passed away last year, to celebrate his long loyal service to the Club and the fine qualities he represented as befitting a Member of Nedlands Golf Club. Of particular significance is that this is our first Saturday perpetual trophy open to male and female Members. More information on this event and Neil’s contribution to our Club will be provided closer to the day.

Last year the bunker restoration work forced a change to the timing of our Club Championships from September to October and we found this works well for our scheduling and makes the Club Championships the final major event of the season. As a result, we will once again be holding the men’s and women’s Club Championships in October together with the combined men’s and women’s Club Championship finals day.

Starting earlier in the year, both men and women will have the opportunity to play intra-club match play events.  These events provide Members who may have little or no experience in match-play an opportunity to play this alternative format of the game in a fun and friendly environment against fellow Club Members.  So again, we encourage Members to get involved and give it a go. The qualifying for the women’s event has been completed and the men’s event is scheduled to commence in April.

Club Members and staff involved in preparing and running the golf events and golf season include:

  • Match Committee: Stewart Wharton (Captain), Pam Ryan (Ladies Captain), Campbell Thomson (Vice Captain), Gavin Furness, Rhonda Moore and Joe Alexander;
  • Ladies Match Committee: Pam Ryan (Ladies Captain), Carolyn Browne, Rhonda Moore, Mandy Sudlow-Brown, Patricia Noske, Tracy Chin, Kath Fordham, Anne-Marie McNaughton and Annie Cordingley;
  • Greg Fitzharding, club handicapper, rules advisor and golf article contributor
  • Brady Morris, junior coordinator;
  • Cedric Bell and Brady Morris, tournament directors for the Nedlands Junior Masters;
  • Greg Paddon, sponsorship coordinator; and
  • Joe Alexander, mixed golf coordinator.
  • Pro-shop Staff and Volunteers: Andy Gott, Anthony Joseph, Ben O’Çallaghan, Gavin Furness and Ray Badnall

We also thank our House Committee, house staff, new food and beverage manager Penny Neale and John, our chef, for the fantastic service we receive which greatly adds to our enjoyment of golf and the Club.

The Match Committee wishes all golfers an enjoyable golf season and we look forward to seeing you out on the course and in the bar – either socially or during events.  And please feel free to approach us if we can assist you in any way.

Good golfing in 2022

Your Match Committee