Every aspect of the Club has a history, but little is known or acknowledged about the huge role played by the course maintenance staff over the 100 years. After all, no matter what sort of Clubhouse we have, people are drawn to join the Club because of our beautiful and challenging golf course. We might say the course staff fill the most important role of all as they appear like magic elves in the night well before the early morning light.
A golf course is a living breathing organism - albeit a very large one and our greenkeepers are the constant guardians of acres that never stop growing, attracting weeds, disease, vermin and even vandalism. These workers also implement Club decisions regarding re-building or changing the design of greens, tees, and the setup of course in general. Their work is never really finished and every day offers new tasks and problems.
In the early days the staff were basically gardeners who learnt their craft from senior and more experienced greenkeepers. Machinery did not really exist. Gang mowers were dragged by a horse. sand and soil were moved around the course by a horse and cart - a map of the course (part of the 1939 lease agreement with Council) shows a structure marked STABLE. Green renovation consisted of aeration of the surface with a pitch fork.
The Maintenance Depot built in the 1940's was on the location of the stable and was extended to become the 1st "Greenkeepers Shed". A new shed was built in 1970 in the same location at a cost of $9000. The decision was taken to move the "Shed" from the middle of the course to allow the progress of the Storm water Reclamation Programme and a new 'Maintenance Facility' was constructed in its present location in 2016.
It wasn't until 1931 that a vehicle was purchased - a Fordson Tractor - at a cost of 250 pounds with a tip trailer to follow. In 1944 a second-hand car was purchased for 45 pounds and converted to a truck for course use. The Club sold off top soil to raise funds for the purchase. Staff shortages during the war years meant that even the club pro (Frank Eyre) helped out on the course. In 1966 a diesel motor was installed in the pump house and in 1978 a 5-year plan for the installation of automatic watering was approved.
All these developments made the greenkeepers life a little easier but also a lot more complex . The course staff required better education, better training and a greater variety of skills - new techniques for machinery operation had to be learnt. A specialised mechanic was needed to maintain the equipment as the Greenkeepers Shed became more of a vehicle maintenance facility.
Actually, growing the grass became in a way secondary. The use of chemicals and fertilisers on the course drastically improved turf quality but also had far reaching effects for Occupational Health and Safety requirements. Also, the Environmental impact of the actual golf course on all the surrounding areas and local plant and wildlife was put under a microscope with council imposing more and stricter regulations on the Club. (For example, when dams were constructed for the Stormwater Program none of the removed material was allowed to be moved off the site) The Club was required to add an Environmental Officer/Horticulturist to the staff.
Costs of course maintenance went up with every new development - fuel and chemicals became very large expenses for the club as did the cost of repair and replacement of machinery. The Course Superintendent's job description included manpower planning, staff and equipment budgeting, the safety of his staff, the application of chemicals and their effect on the local environment and of course irrigation.
To the present day we have had 12 greenkeepers hold the position of Course Superintendent.
1921-1940's W.E.McMurray
1941-1968 Mr McManus
1965-1972 Bill Carlon/Norm Bunning
1973-1979 Laurie Chant
1979-1989 Norm Carr
1989-1991 Dick O'Brien
1991-1992 Barry Monk
1993-1998 Michael Bradbery
1998-2000 Stuart Laing
2000-2003 Norm Carr
2003 - present Peter Donkers
From the early days of horse-drawn equipment and entirely manual labour to the present with fully computerised and automatic watering and millions of dollars' worth of equipment and machinery the changes in Greenkeeping have been monumental. The quality of our golf course (in fact all golf courses) has improved out of sight. The turf is well manicured and healthy, the greens are superb and the general appearance of the course is one of beauty and harmony with the local environment. We are indeed fortunate to have had such well qualified staff over the years.
Mick Snell | Archives Committee
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