President’s Address – 2023 Opening Day
Good afternoon to all Members of The Brisbane Golf Club, and welcome to the week celebrating the start of the 127th golfing year of the Club. I wish to mention some special groups of Members that are present today. To all our Life Members, former Presidents and Captains, former Committee Members – may I take this opportunity again to thank you for the extraordinary service you have provided the Club. To our Saturday Ladies may I welcome you again and I am sure your Opening Day last Saturday was enjoyed by all. To all first-time attendees to Opening Day – a big welcome and thank you for joining this historic golf Club – have a great year. And finally, a big welcome and thank you to all our current Committee Members and Staff that have worked tirelessly to ensure the year ahead is exciting, friendly and a truly enjoyable Club experience.
As a long-term Member of this Club, I always look forward to this day every year. It is an opportunity to catch up after the holiday period with friends and meet new Members. A chance to test some new swing thoughts or new clubs bought during the holiday period. There is always a buzz around the Club about how the course looks and is playing. On that note I would like to thank Course Superintendent, David Mason and the course team for their hard work during the summer season. I believe the course has never looked better and am looking forward a great year of playing on our supreme layout. Just one piece of advice… don’t mention the letters F L O O D to me this year – and I am sure David will be happy when the first week of March passes without drama.
Our Treasurer, Andrew Mullis, sent out a message this week re-emphasising the Club is in a very sound financial position, with strong Membership growth and record cash profits. The Committee and management team will not rest on our successes and this year sees a start of an exciting new challenge – to find a source of large capital fund injection into the Club that will allow us to begin major Projects that have been put on hold for many years. The start of that process is the marketing campaign for the land adjacent to Hole 8. I will keep members informed of that campaign outcome over the coming few months.
There are a few other exciting areas in Club activity this year.
The first meeting of the BGC Foundation (Chaired by Former President Phil Wikman) should occur next month and this will allow Members the opportunity to bequest donations to a specific entity and ensure certain projects can be developed under this Foundation banner. I thank those Members who have already donated to this Foundation last year at renewals period.
We defend our Men’s Division One Pennant this year and I wish them and all our Men’s and Women’s Pennant Teams every success in 2023. Our Junior Golf program continues to go from strength to strength and it is wonderful to see so many young golfers on the course and practice fairways during the week. Thank you to Joe, Asha and the entire coaching team for their tireless efforts in this regard. The fruits of this Junior Development program are starting to be seen across the Club and beyond. Members can now follow the fortunes of many elite young golfers such as Sam Slater and Campbell Kerr through their careers around Australia. Today I see that Campbell (our reigning Club Champion) is joined by fellow Pennant player Billy Dowling and 2 other new member elite young golfers ( Taj and Isaac) in their 4 ball. Thanks also to our Men’s Vice Captain Dave Raman for his efforts in supporting this junior elite talent. I would encourage all Members to take some time to say hello and welcome all these young members and parents. They are the future of our Club.
The Social Program at BGC is full again this year beginning last night with the time honoured Nine and Dine, and many other musical and dining opportunities for Members to spend a night at the Club with family and friends. Thank you to Member Services and Member Engagement Group for their work in assisting that these events run smoothly.
Thank you to Janet and Ash for again putting together a wonderful golfing program for the year – it is truly the toughest gig in the Club and still don’t know how they fit it all into 12 months!!
A big thank you to our other Committee Members – Vice President Deb Kember, Treasurer Andrew Mullis and Geoff Moore, Patrick Dixon and Richard Garnham. Your support, guidance and time is greatly appreciated.
Finally, a big thank you to our CEO Geoff Kuehner and all his team of staff in the various departments from Front Office, Hospitality, Golf Shop and Course. Opening Day is simply not possible without their enthusiasm to make every Member feel special. Please give a round of applause for the staff providing our drinks and lunch today.
May I leave you with a final quote …
Before making that next swing or putt today remember Ben Crenshaw’s famous words “ I’m about 5 inches from being an outstanding golfer – That’s the distance my left ear is from my right ear”
Have a great day, a healthy year and enjoy all that is The Brisbane Golf Club.
Mark Double, President
