EXPANDING THE REACH

QWe spoke earlier this year about expanding female participation through a female pro and more programs at the club. How has that gone since it started?

ABriony Webb has been a great addition to our team of PGA professional staff. Our team of four PGA professional staff have done an amazing job welcoming many new women and juniors to the game and our facility. What we have actually found is that many women are bringing their partners and kids along, something we hadn’t expected. We also recently had a visit from Golf Australia’s national female participation manager Chyloe Kurdas talking everything women’s golf and sport. Chyloe was an instrumental part of setting up the AFLW national competition and is now plying her trade in golf.

QHow is golf changing and what is the challenge of keeping the traditions but making it appealing in the modern age?

AOperations like the recently opened Top Golf Driving Range on the Gold Coast are opening the game up to a whole new audience. It’s basically a nightclub on a driving range that goes against everything you may have ever heard about golf. While Cairns GC is not yet at that stage, we’ve introduced music on our driving range, free Wi-Fi for the Instagrammers, an app to keep everyone updated, T-Shirt Tuesdays, even simple things like USB connections in our last batch of golf carts so users can plug in their phone or bluetooth speakers. Most importantly we’ve tried to make it fun.