Club president fires parting shot

Outgoing Invercargill Golf Club president David Boniface has fired a parting shot at Golf Southland.

Boniface reflected on his three years as president of the Invercargill Golf Club in a contribution to the club’s annual report, which was tabled at their recent annual general meeting.

Included in his president’s report were pointed comments in the direction of Golf Southland.

The comments centre on Golf Southland’s involvement - or in Boniface’s opinion, lack of involvement - in helping develop a long-term plan for the sport around the region.

Earlier this year it was revealed an independent review would be instigated to address the growing concern around the viability of Invercargill’s four golf clubs - Invercargill (Otatara), Southland Golf Club (Oreti Sands), Queens Park and Green Acres.

It was highlighted that between the four clubs they had just 1200 members, compared to 1991 when the Queens Park club alone had 1400 members.

As a result, the clubs have felt the financial squeeze as they try to maintain the standard of their respective courses.

In Boniface’s report, he highlighted a belief Golf Southland - the governing body for the sport in Southland - hadn’t been as supportive as they could be.

‘‘Clearly there needs to be a rationalisation of the local club scene and in this regard, we have strongly supported the initiatives of Russell Bell and his group for an independent review and the development of a long-term plan for the local golf scene.

‘‘That Golf Southland and particular individuals have put roadblocks in the way of this is very unfortunate.

‘‘If Golf Southland was doing its job they would have promoted this review perhaps five years ago when other more prudent regions were making changes to ensure the long-term future of golf in their region.

‘‘For Golf Southland to have substantial cash reserves and not be willing to fund part of an independent review is in my opinion very remiss.

‘‘Perhaps they feel threatened by the potential outcomes?’’

New Invercargill Golf Club president John Hughes told The Southland Times Boniface’s comments were Boniface’s opinion alone and they didn’t match the views of the club as a whole.

Golf Southland board member Robyn Boniface said they had been made aware of the comments but had been informed they were his personal opinions.

She declined the opportunity to respond to the statements he made.

David Boniface preferred not to comment outside of what he directed to club members and referred questions to Russell Bell who was part of the original group looking to review the long-term options for golf in the Invercargill area.

Last year Bell joined three other people from the different Invercargill clubs to try to investigate a way forward for the sport.

They stripped back all the finances and looked at the state of the clubs before deciding it would be best to source an independent person to conduct a review and provide some recommendations.

With the help of Golf New Zealand, they identified a person with the skills and experience to conduct such an important review.

They received a quote for the services, which was said to be at a substantial cost, and they went to community funders and Golf Southland to try to raise the money to cover that cost.

Bell said Golf Southland initially declined, but later said they would be involved.

However, they preferred Sport Southland to conduct the review - which would come at much less expense.

The group maintained their belief the original person earmarked to conduct the review would be better equipped than Sport Southland.

However, they effectively stepped aside to let Golf Southland take the reins with Bell saying such a review is something Golf Southland should take the lead with.

When asked about the review Robyn Boniface said Golf Southland were still working through the details and would probably have some updates soon.

Bell’s personal opinion is the Invercargill clubs do need to free up some capital to try help grow the game for the long-term good of golf.

He felt the four clubs could probably continue the way they are for some years to come, but the reality is they are pouring a lot of their resources each year into just surviving.

The Queens Park Club, and the Southland club at Oreti Sands, both have courses on councilowned land so selling off land to raise capital there is not an option.

The Invercargill Golf Club and Greenacres club, however, do own the land which their courses are situated on.

Bell, who is a life member at the Invercargill Golf Club, said if it was suggested his club’s course should be sold, with the long-term future in mind, then so be it.

An option could be to sell off both the Invercargill Golf Club and Greenacres club courses and have two thriving courses at Queens Park and Oreti Sands.

Bell felt all options should be looked at.

‘‘We have too many facilities for the number of people playing,’’ he said.

Robyn Boniface confirmed overall playing numbers in Southland were still on a decline but stressed it wasn’t through a lack of trying to boost those numbers.