IG187 MAY 21

May 2021 www.insidegolf.com.au CLUB NEWS 6 CLUB NEWS Sun City’s new management team. Left to right: Craig Hamilton, Jessica Tedesco and Jim Danas. Husbands and Wives salute thrice at Harrington Waters W estern Australia’s Sun City Country Club is in for exciting new times. The club had seen substantial growth over the past 18 months with the potential to achieve even greater heights in the near future. An exciting new management structure has been put in place to take the club forward. The structure consists of three heads of department who all work closely together and report directly to the Club’s President and General Committee. The team consists of Jessica Tedesco as the Club Services Manager, Jim Danas as Head Professional as well as Director of Golf and Craig Hamilton as Course Manager. Other changes include the club’s new Head Chef, Lloyd Dias and partner Monica joining the team. The kitchen has also received a major workover including the addition of a wood-fired pizza oven. In promising news for existing members and prospective members, the General Committee has agreed to maintain the membership fees at the current rates for 2021/22. Increased revenue from the growth in member numbers and more green fee players has given the club the opportunity to commence a number of improvement projects on the clubhouse and facilities. A major refurbishment of the changing rooms to include disabled facilities will commence later in the year. Future projects in the planning stages include a new cart storage shed, along with an upgrade to the clubhouse media system and work on the presentation of the buildings. New course maintenance equipment including two new hybrid greens mowers have been in operation for the last four months which is reflected in the current high-quality presentation of the course. The club also has a new fleet of lithium- powered golf carts providing a much more comfortable and reliable fleet of carts. Further course improvements are on the cards with a potential to upgrade nine of the club’s existing holes. www.suncitycountryclub.com.au N ARRANDERA Golf Club, once on the endangered list due to a severe drought in the Riverina region of NSW, is back in business and thriving courtesy of a six-figure government grant. Club president Gary Hoskinson told Inside Golf the grant saved the club from closure. It was the lifeline the club needed following a downturn in the economy, dwindling membership and a golf course that resembled a dustbowl. “The grant meant we could install an automatic watering system and solar panels on the clubhouse,” Hoskinson said. Proud former member and now Sydney resident Mark Waters recently visited the golf club and was amazed by the transformation of the golf course. “The course now has a mass of green grass covering the fairways and the greens are in great condition and membership is on the way up,” he said. Narrandera has grown to 150 playing members and 130 social members. “The social sports membership is for people who play in our eight-hole summer competitions and the eight-hole chook-run, which runs all year round,” Hoskinson added. The club is run by a dedicated, hard- working group of volunteers who are determined to get the course back to being ranked a top-10 ranked country NSW course like it was in the 1970s and 1980s. “Part of the history of the club is that it has a tie to course designer Alister MacKenzie with his colleague Alex Russell imparting his knowledge on the development of the course in the mid- 1920s,”Waters said. “Alex Russell has a history with both West and East courses at Royal Melbourne, Yarra Yarra, Lake Karrinyup and Riverdale.” Narrandera golf course was built in a pine forest and that means treed-lined fairways and large undulating greens. “The front nine merges gentle par-4s with long par-5s and tricky par-3s,”Waters said. “It’s a great way to start a memorable 18 holes. “The fun continues on the back nine holes. “It’s a true test with most fairways framed by a thick line of pine trees. “It’s longer than the front nine and features the 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th and 17th as five of the six hardest rated holes on the course. “We have our own ‘Amen Corner’ with 11th, 12th and 13th guaranteed to test the best.” The course stretches to 5752m for men (par-70) and 5110m for women (par 72). The club has a pro shop with a large range of clothing, caps, refreshments and all your on-course golf needs. The restaurant is open on Fridays and Saturdays. “We also open on Wednesday nights when we cater for 20-30 people from Rotary,” Hoskinson said. It costs $20 to play 18 holes and carts are available. “If we can get just one visitor to come and play the golf course they rave about it to others and that word of mouth will continue,”Waters said. Professional Ken Trimble, who honed his skills at Narrandera, last month took a large group of Sydney golfers to Narrandera to play in a City versus Country Challenge event. While there he hosted a golf clinic for local juniors. For information, visit the club’s website www.narranderagolfclub.com Exciting times at Sun City By David Newbery Narrandera GC’s major turnaround Narrandera golf course is green again. HarringtonWaters Golf Club has witnessed an interesting and somewhat unusual situation over the past few months. From December to February, the Monthly Medals at Harrington Waters were won by husbands and wives in the same month. Not once…not twice… but three months in a row. In December, Mal and Liz Feltham both won the respective men’s and ladies medals. In January, this feat was matched by Susan and Mark Griffiths, both collecting the medals. Not to be outdone in February, Belinda and Bob Baxter cleaned up, winning their respective medals. We at Inside Golf feel this is quite a unique feat and wonder if any other club has achieved such a sequence of wins?