It started as a goat-track on a headland. One hundred years later, it is rated among the finest championship courses on the NSW Mid North Coast — and last night, Nambucca Heads Island Golf Club threw a party to match.
More than 130 guests packed a sold-out centenary dinner on Sunday, 28 June, to celebrate a club that has survived floods, financial hardship, and at least one incident involving a fisherman, a golf ball, and the police.
Nambucca Valley Mayor Gary Lee was among the guests, alongside two-time US Open player and Fox Sports host Paul Gow, who delivered the keynote address after accepting an invitation from longtime friend and club professional Paul Habgood.
Club President Geoff Harris used the occasion to officially launch a centenary book, co-authored by Mike Post and Chris Knight, tracing the club’s rollercoaster history from its original layout on the Nambucca Headland to a nine-hole course on Stuart Island, and finally to a full 18-hole championship layout in 1992.
“The first 100 years have been a remarkable ride and full credit to the efforts of the volunteers who have helped us get to where we are now,” Mr Harris said.
The club’s sole surviving Life Member, Kel McGoldrick, was among the crowd, as was a message of support from professional player and course designer Craig Parry.
Mr Harris said volunteers remained the backbone of the club today.
“There are many heroes who have donated their time for this club over the years, and today by my count we have 50 volunteers on the books,” he said.
“Brad Fortescue is one of those heroes in cleaning up after the floods, while the club has raised more than $50,000 through its bottle recycling efforts.”
The evening’s menu was themed to 1926, with shrimp cocktail, Chicken a la King, Beef Brisket, and Beer Battered Dory on offer, followed by lamington or rice pudding with modern-day twists.
Gow delighted the crowd with stories from his early years on the US PGA Tour, including a run-in with multiple Major winner Phil Mickelson that earned him a $5,000 fine for “bringing the game into disrepute” — later resolved after support from Tiger Woods — and a self-deprecating tale about passing off his PGF clubs as his own design label.
“One of the Americans asked me what PGF stood for and I said ‘Paul Gow Fashion’ so they thought I had my own design company,” Gow said.
Book co-author Mike Post, who also wrote the centenary history of Sydney’s St Michael’s Golf Club, said the Nambucca story had been a joy to research.
“When I found something out I had to determine if it was true and if it was accurate? I enjoyed every single step of the journey,” Post said.
The book catalogues record-holders including Brian Burns, who won the men’s championship 20 times, and Anne Wilson, who took out the women’s title 12 times, alongside some of the club’s more colourful moments — among them the 1990s tradition of members attempting to drive a ball across the Nambucca River, until the day someone aimed at a fisherman in his tinny and the police were called.
Mr Harris said the club had come a long way from its origins.
“Today we are blessed with one of the best venues on the Mid North Coast.”
The centenary book is available for free download at https://namgolf.com/
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