Growing love of golf suits Tassie to a tee

THE

player strides to the tee, takes one or two practice swings, and then thwack, the clang of driver hitting ball — hopefully down the centre of the fairway.

It’s a sound in various forms that has been heard since 1497, when golf originated in Scotland in the Kingdom of Fife.

And it’s heard at any one of the 68 affiliated golf clubs in Tasmania.

In Tasmania, we rightly revere names like Lindy Goggin and Peter Toogood as past players on the national stage.

But importantly, we now see young players emerging, such as Hallie Meaburn in the South, Ryan Thomas and Lily Caelli in the North and Jack Lakin and Tahlia Mowat in the North-West.

Will they make it on the Australian or world tour? Only time will tell — that and their dedication to the game.

But golf in Tasmania remains popular. Just last month, 43 of the 68 clubs engaged in Golf Month. That percentage, 64 per cent, is the highest for any state in the country.

At Riverside Golf Club, a “Big Hole Golf” competition was held and more than 100 people came and played.

Golf Month’s theme this year was “Share the Golf Bug” and many of the clubs involved reported great engagement from the families of members — dads and mums bringing their children and friends to play, some for the first time, others returning to the game.

What is also important is that many of our clubs are now looking at their membership models. No longer is it good enough to believe “one size fits all”. Players want flexibility, to play weekdays or twilight (when daylight saving occurs) rather than just a full membership.

We can point to success stories like Claremont, which is undergoing significant change with a residential development under construction, but the club has managed to attract more than 250 new members.

They also held a recent Swing Fit program, designed for women with little or no experience in the game — 44 women enjoyed the sessions and the club has since added more than 25 new members.

Swing Fit, a national program devised and promoted by Golf Australia, is going gangbusters in this state.

In the South, clubs like Royal Hobart, Tasmania, Kingston Beach and Claremont have embraced it. In northern Tasmania, Devonport, Mowbray, Launceston, Scottsdale and Seabrook are also running successful programs.

Women learn how to play, but also take part in different exercise classes, designed to build balance and core strength — two attributes which are key to golf.

Seabrook, on the beautiful North-West Coast near Wynyard, has chosen a different path; faced with significant financial constraints, the club sold some of its land and created a ninehole course.

We know that golf is now a significant tourism attractor, delivering deserved major dollars for great clubs like Barnbougle and Lost Farm in the North and now the signature courses on the Bass Strait Islands, particularly Cape Wickham and Ocean Dunes on King Island.

Ratho Farm at Bothwell can lay claim to being Australia’s oldest course, now revamped with an 18-hole layout.

When new public courses at Seven Mile Beach and Arm End are completed, we will truly have a Golf Trail to be proud of that will attract many more thousands of visitors to our shores.

And Golf Tasmania will be ready to promote both the traditional courses North and South, as well as the abundant boutique layouts.