{"id":349,"date":"2017-10-01T08:59:27","date_gmt":"2017-10-01T00:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wagf.org.au\/cms\/?p=349"},"modified":"2023-08-29T15:18:57","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T07:18:57","slug":"civic-pride-helps-geraldton-find-its-pot-of-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wagf.org.au\/cms\/2017\/10\/civic-pride-helps-geraldton-find-its-pot-of-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"Civic pride helps Geraldton find its pot of gold"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the best things about playing sport outside the big cities of Australia is the home-spun community spirit that welcomes you.<\/p>\n<p>Every footy club, bowling green\u00a0or golf clubhouse around the country has it like a municipal bearing for the out-of-towner.<\/p>\n<p>Whether it\u2019s the old bloke taking up his usual station at the bar he has run for 30 years, the dutiful nod to past local glories on the honour boards or even just the chook raffle &#8211; a welcomed sense of familiarity awaits.<\/p>\n<p>The scene could be replicated in any number of towns across the country and, for many Aussies, that\u2019s the allure; it\u2019s like walking into a home from home.<\/p>\n<p>Protecting that institution has, however, become increasingly more difficult with the emergence of modern-day luxuries that stop too many of us from leaving our own four walls.<\/p>\n<p>But for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.geraldtongolfclub.com.au\/home\/welcome-to-geraldton-golf-club.aspx\">Geraldton Golf Club<\/a>, finding a way to tap into that civic pride might just have saved the club.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_33569\" style=\"width: 660px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.golfwa.org.au\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Clubrooms-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33569\" class=\"wp-image-33569\" src=\"http:\/\/www.golfwa.org.au\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Clubrooms-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"488\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-33569\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inside the Geraldton Golf Club clubhouse<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Only two years ago, Geraldton GC was in a dire financial position with its future in grave doubt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe club couldn\u2019t afford to pay their staff,\u201d said Sue Douglas, who has helped to revive the club\u2019s fortunes since taking over as secretary-manager in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m reluctant to say the club could have dissolved, but the potential was certainly there.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere would have been certain members who would have loaned money to the club to prop it up &#8211; but that\u2019s hardly a long-term fix.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.golf.org.au\/search\/facility\/Geraldton%20Golf%20Club\">GOLF MONTH : What&#8217;s going on at Geraldton Golf Club in October<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Discovering the pathway to that \u2018long-term fix\u2019 has\u00a0proved to be the return-to-basics adventure that arguably should act as a blueprint for\u00a0clubs across the country to follow.<\/p>\n<p>The journey started almost by accident following a routine meeting with GolfWA as part of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.golf.org.au\/clubsupport\">Club Health Check programme<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There was no silver-bullet fix in the meeting, rather an honest assessment of where the club was headed, and reassurance support was available to institute a recovery plan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a bit of a coincidence that GolfWA came out at that time, but it was the kick up the backside the club needed,\u201d Douglas said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt made the executive start to ask questions of themselves, questions they needed to ask, and more importantly provided a direction for the club because at that stage things were not flash.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Kbibr27z9H8\" width=\"650\" height=\"355\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Geraldton\u2019s revival since has centred around giving their membership control of driving the club forward.<\/p>\n<p>But before that could take hold it required significant work behind the scenes from the committee as they had to tie down some major loose ends.<\/p>\n<p>Douglas was brought into her role soon after the initial meeting with GolfWA and, with the stage set to pair things back to basics, she realised some common-sense strategies first needed to be instituted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUpdating the membership was one of the first and simplest jobs,\u201d said Douglas, a book-keeper by trade, and who can recite how many members are on Geraldton\u2019s membership without hesitation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThree-hundred and thirty. That\u2019s the exact figure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore they didn\u2019t know that sort of figure and that was a problem. The membership database wasn\u2019t being updated &#8211; it said the club had about 30 to 40 more members than it actually did, which made budgeting impossible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere were tiny things like ink cartridges. I had people ringing me up from all over Australia saying you\u2019ve got a contract with us to supply you ink cartridges \u2013 we now support local.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Creating links with the community has been central to increasing cash flow via sponsorship and bringing a more homely feel to operations.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fgeraldtongolfclub%2Fposts%2F1681867021826253&amp;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"645\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOut of all our golf days there\u2019s probably only 20 rounds of golf that don\u2019t have a sponsor,\u201d said Douglas, who estimates the sponsorship dollars, including the value of trophies supplied, are worth a five-figure sum.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have hole sponsors, we have car park sponsors, we\u2019ve got nearest-the-pin sponsors and we have daily sponsors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe now have sponsors ringing us up saying: \u2018We want to sponsor your golf club\u2019. They\u2019re buying in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>How you go from a perilous financial position to sponsors beating down your door is the million dollar question for many clubs around the country.<\/p>\n<p>Douglas said tidying up those basics has proved crucial \u2013 in addition to a membership base that has been fully supportive of their plans.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.golf.org.au\/golfmonth\"><strong>GOLF MONTH: Win a golfing trip of a lifetime to Tasmania<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>An important part of that was providing a streamlined membership structure that made more sense to both the members and club.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had so many different classes and options \u2013 it was huge,\u201d said Douglas, who with the club, consulted MiClub when simplifying the memberships.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had a chat with Peter Maddison from MiClub and then elected to bring in that Lifestyle Membership &#8211; in addition to more traditional full memberships &#8211; which is a points-based membership. It has been fantastic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not a full membership, but it still gives you playing rights and allows you to be on the course whenever you want to. But when you are on the course you lose a proportion of points.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith Geraldton some of the conditions that we\u2019ve placed on it is that you can\u2019t win Honour Board events and that you are a non-voting member of the golf club.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s worked really well. We\u2019ve probably had two or three people who were going to resign their full membership \u2013 and two or three people doesn\u2019t sound like a lot but in a membership of 330 it probably is. They have now stayed on as Lifestyle members on a points-based system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-33572\" src=\"http:\/\/www.golfwa.org.au\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Course-Players-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"366\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Laying down best-practice procedures has also been vital in allowing the club a solid base to then go out and convince sponsors, and members, that they are moving in the right direction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of the things that were taken for granted are now more structured. I think that\u2019s what the members appreciate too,\u201d Douglas said, who shares her all-encompassing role, which takes up 20 hours a week each, and includes everything from sponsorship to fixtures as well as covering the finances and secretarial work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the moment we\u2019re re-writing the constitution because the Incorporations Act has changed and because governance is the big boom at the moment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll that has to be implemented and the stuff that\u2019s not implemented has always just happened \u2013 we\u2019re starting to document that and put good procedures in place.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.golfwa.org.au\/cms\/2017\/09\/green-to-take-on-men-at-wa-open\/\"><strong>WA Open: Green to take on the men at\u00a0Royal Perth<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cOur next big thing is going to be a Strategic Plan. I\u2019m working closely with one of the committee members at the moment with a Strat Plan that is 2020 and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen we want to get the members involved. We\u2019ll start with some dots points that the committee have come up with and then call a meeting with the members and move forward with that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is that forward-thinking that has members and sponsors eager to be a part of Geraldton\u2019s revival and the green shoots of recovery \u2013 quite literally \u2013 are evident in simple things such as the course condition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe course looks amazing compared to two years ago,\u201d Douglas said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis can be attributed to the course staff along with the multitude of volunteers on the course helping out the staff by doing tree pruning, slashing, mowing and rolling greens and also raking bunkers has helped a lot as well.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.golfwa.org.au\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Trees-cutting-down-4.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-33576\" src=\"http:\/\/www.golfwa.org.au\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Trees-cutting-down-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"488\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis year we\u2019ve bought three new pieces of equipment for the course. We paid cash for them and we\u2019re financing a new tractor that\u2019s coming in as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t have been able to afford that, two Toros and a blower for the course, before but with the members volunteering it has made things like this possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow we\u2019re actually looking at doing some clubhouse extensions as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Geraldton have also been savvy with the money they have, not only utilising GolfWA\u2019s expertise, but also programmes such as \u2018Work For The Dole\u2019 and government grants that help get the most bang for their buck.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe utilise \u2018Work For The Dole\u2019, through Job Active, quite a bit because we can get additional workforce for 15 hours a week,\u201d said Douglas, who can also point to the fact the club recently employed one of the \u2018Work For The Dole\u2019 members to a full-time contract as further evidence of what the club is giving back to the local community.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wagf.org.au\/cms\/funding-applications\/\"><strong>WA Golf Foundation: Funding applications<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cIn reality you have to say you\u2019ll take 15-20 to get six to show up, but that\u2019s fine and they\u2019re now looking at doing the extensions on the clubhouse balcony and stuff like that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat will be their project and we\u2019ll be able to get funding for some of the materials and equipment to build it \u2013 like if they need circular saws or any tools that we don\u2019t have.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of that will come out of the Job Active funding as well. As long as it is not a capital bit of machinery then they\u2019re happy, they\u2019re pretty good. With support from local suppliers and additional volunteer support, which eases the financial burden on the club, hopefully we\u2019ll have the balcony done in six months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>GolfWA also helped with a grant applications to the Department of Sport and Recreation, and with letters of support, to fund reticulation on the course.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe investment is a third, and a third and a third. So it\u2019s a third from DSR, a third from local council and a third that the local golf club had to put in,\u201d Douglas said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.golfwa.org.au\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Course-Players-8.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-33577\" src=\"http:\/\/www.golfwa.org.au\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Course-Players-8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"193\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had to prove that we would be able to pay it back &#8211; previously it would have cut to the bone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe proved that we could carry it if there was a cost over-run and we replaced the main line of the retic on the back half of the golf course.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the Geraldton committee can be rightly proud for the improvements that have been made, Douglas admits the most important factor in driving long-term success has been the members taking control.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re lucky that we have really great members who have always looked out for what we\u2019re trying to do,\u201d Douglas said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the start of this we introduced a levy \u2013 and Geraldton does not do levies \u2013 but there was a 98 per cent take-up from the members. They\u2019ve always been supportive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut now they can also see that things are happening and that there\u2019s a direction and they know any money isn\u2019t just filtered into the general funds \u2013 it\u2019s being well utilised.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe members taking ownership of what we\u2019re achieving is vital, it\u2019s what we want, and from that aspect they\u2019ve started to come up with little things of their own.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019ve even started to do the good old chook raffle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Geraldton\u2019s success has allowed them to start thinking beyond their membership base and another of the big questions facing golf \u2013 how to attract a new breed of golfers to the club.<\/p>\n<p>They are blessed with a proactive club pro, in Daniel Bennett, who has actively sought new players to the game.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.golfwa.org.au\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Juniors.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-33578\" src=\"http:\/\/www.golfwa.org.au\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Juniors.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"398\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>He recently conducted an eight-week course targeted specifically at players new to the game, while he runs a junior programme that has 10-15 primary school-aged children.<\/p>\n<p>The club also runs a \u2018Nine at Nine\u2019 programme for female\u00a0golfers who get a lesson from Bennett in addition to playing a relaxed nine-hole Ambrose.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel is great he works hard to offer what people and the members want and he actively promotes it on Facebook and anywhere he can,\u201d Douglas said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou need a good golf pro to do these types of development programmes and Daniel is very good.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are getting more people down to practice on the range or play socially so now it\u2019s about that next step.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut when you look back it\u2019s hard to imagine we\u2019re able to be in a position to think about these things like purchasing new machinery and building extension but these types of things come with the security of our finances.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd everyone is happy. All the numbers on everything are up. Membership is slightly up. It\u2019s about maintaining and for us, maintaining is good. In reality there\u2019s not a huge room for growth. Our focus now is trying to attract younger members \u2013 how can we do that?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s our next thing because golf is an ageing sport, so we\u2019re trying to find ways to attract younger people. We\u2019re trying to identify a point of interest so that we can get younger members in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re trying to figure it out. People are time poor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s the next hurdle that we\u2019ll have but I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll work it out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Given Geraldton\u2019s success rate so far you suspect there\u2019s every chance they will.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><em>:: G<\/em><em>olfWA is looking for new ways to grow the game at every level in the state and you can help by simply following us on social media. Please click on any of the links below and like us!\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GolfWestAust\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Facebook<\/a> I <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GolfWestAust\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter<\/a> I <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/golfwestaust\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Instagram<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the best things about playing sport outside the big cities of Australia is the home-spun community spirit that welcomes you. Every footy club, bowling green\u00a0or golf clubhouse around the country has it like a municipal bearing for the out-of-towner. Whether it\u2019s the old bloke taking up his usual station at the bar he [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":350,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[11,3],"tags":[18,5],"class_list":["post-349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-wagf","tag-geraldton","tag-wa-golf-foundation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wagf.org.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wagf.org.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wagf.org.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wagf.org.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wagf.org.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wagf.org.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":351,"href":"https:\/\/wagf.org.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349\/revisions\/351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wagf.org.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wagf.org.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wagf.org.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wagf.org.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}