Annual Governor's Reception
Royal Queensland Golf Club
Friday 16th October, 2009
Royal Queensland Golf Club President, Mr David Little
Club Captain, Mr Chris Cooper,
Associates' President, Mrs Dianne Millar,
Associates' Captain, Mrs Joy Kruger,
General Manager, Mr Ross Bishop,
Club members,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good evening everyone,
Thank you for the invitation to join you at this Annual function to present the Governor's trophy and medal.
As patron of this highly regarded club, I am delighted to be here and to have the opportunity to meet so many of the members who enjoy its splendid facilities and the challenges of its course; and whose commitment, enthusiasm and skills contribute so much to the standing the club enjoys in Queensland - and beyond.
Although I am not myself a golfer, I know a good deal about the commitment and enthusiasm that marks golfers as special people in our midst. My father was the keenest of golfers - who revelled in the game. He was also a very good golfer, with a very low handicap - 4 was my recollection, but my elder brother tells me that
Dad's lowest handicap actually was 1 and that he held several NSW country course records for a time.
There was never any difficulty in our family in deciding what to give our father as gifts: golf shirts, socks, tees, balls ... of the latter, he always said you could never have too many! ... and he would always exclaim with pleasure over receiving such items for birthdays and Christmas, no matter how often we gave them.
Our house was full of trophies (some, I have to say, more appealing and more useful than others!) - and, as my engineer Father moved to different work locations in Australia, much of our social life revolved around golf club functions - dinner at Dunheved Golf Club at St Mary's on a Sunday evening was a regular family event for a number of years.
When Dad was transferred to Canberra, he enjoyed greatly becoming a member of one of your sister clubs - the beautiful Royal Canberra; and when he was posted to the UK for three years, our travel itinerary - at least when we visited Scotland - seemed in part woven around certain locations. I think Dad felt he had encountered a little piece of heaven when he played at St Andrews - a course with which I know Royal Queensland has a very special relationship.
My elder brother recalls also Dad's great pleasure at becoming a member of Huntingdale in Melbourne, after many, many years of wanting - and waiting - to do so.
Our vocabulary, too, was enriched by his golf expressions: not, I can assure you, of a rude nature - my father was not prone to swearing, but to this day ‘putting like a wet hen' remains my image/my measure of something being handled very badly - not up to scratch! I also remain convinced that the weapon of choice for killing snakes can only be a No. 9 iron!
I often wonder why neither I nor my two brothers took up the game when my father's enjoyment of it was so great and when it made him such a fit and healthy man until his vigorous life was interrupted unexpectedly by cancer in his early 60's. Maybe because my mother was the proverbial golf widow ... but I can say that I feel very much at home among golfers and can appreciate the appeal of a good club in an attractive setting, whose course design tests and challenges the mettle of its members which of course, is very much the case with Royal Queensland
I enjoyed reading on the website the history of the club, of the way it was carved from mangrove swamp land, with sand dredged from the Brisbane River; of how the famous Scots golf course architect, Dr Alister MacKenzie, left his stamp on its design - and more recently, how it rose to the challenge (which must have been devastating to some) of losing seven holes to the Gateway Bridge expansion project - and of how its historic layout was adapted so brilliantly, through Michael Clayton's skill and vision.
I have little doubt that the fact that Michael was himself a golfer and won the Australian Amateur Championship when it was held at Royal Queensland in ‘78, added to his determination to ensure that the new design did justice to the club and was true to Alister MacKenzie's expectation that "... the course at Hamilton should have a very great future" and that it should be "extremely popular to all classes of players."
Now 2 years since the opening of the new course by former Governor-General Michael Jeffery that expectation has been realised and MacKenzie's legacy both preserved and honoured, with the new course receiving very favourable comments and reviews from visitors, professional golfers and the golf media.
This, then, is a strong club, highly regarded in golfing circles, recognised as one of Australia's top-line courses and making an important contribution to the promotion of the game of golf in Queensland and nationally. Closer to home, here in Brisbane, it is also valued as a model of excellence in other respects: with its generous support of charities and its community outreach programmes.
As Governor, dealing as I do with so many areas of need in Queensland society, I very much welcome and applaud this aspect of your activities, as I applaud your commitment to encouraging more Queenslanders, including younger Queenslanders, to take up golf and lead a more healthy and balanced lifestyle - something of increasing importance in these seemingly ever-more stressful and pressured times.
Creating opportunities for healthy recreation and companionship in shared activities, is a very important part of this club's purpose and it is pleasing to see the success you are enjoying in this regard, as reflected in the very pleasant atmosphere and camaraderie evident among members at this evening's reception and also the high turnout for the two competitions whose winners we acknowledge at tonight's reception.
I congratulate warmly those winners of the Governor's trophy and medal; as I congratulate all members on the contribution that they have made in building this club into the splendid Queensland institution that it is.
Just as I am pleased to be here this evening, with my husband, Stuart McCosker, so, too, am I pleased to be your patron - maintaining a long-standing tradition of gubernatorial patronage and vice-regal involvement with and support of the club -since1948, I understand: I look forward to a happy and productive association with the club during the term of my appointment as Governor.
Thank you.