golf

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In 1921 nine courageous men who made up the Foundation Committee of Sandgate Golf had a dream. Their dream was to convert 57 acres which were largely saltwater and mangrove swamp into a golf course. To fulfill their dream, they had to challenge the might of the high tides and this challenge has been accepted by every committee ever since. By the efforts of those few Foundation Members, the higher portion of the land which was not so subject to tidal influence was soon cleared and 6 holes were made available for play. Later by the use of flood gates, the seawater was shut out of the remaining area and a further 3 holes were built with sand greens. Over a period of years, the sand greens were gradually replaced with grass greens and it speaks volumes for our first Greens Director, Mr. H. V. Hewitt, that they were in excellent condition. Although subject to constant maintenance, no green was completely rebuilt until the early 1990s. Whenever possible, money was made available for filling and grassing the fairways. The 1st and 9th fairways were filled to the present level with filling obtained at 1/- a dray load. As you can imagine, the first few years were difficult. But the club emerged into an era of reasonable prosperity which lasted until about 1940. World War II so affected active membership that at one time only 13 financial members were on the roll. The war years were undoubtedly the most critical in the Club’s history. The senior members at that time kept the Club alive through those dark days. Most notable of these stalwarts would be the late Clarrie Dixon, Past President and Life Member of the club, who was Secretary for 13 years from 1935 to 1947. Both Clarrie’s son Lloyd and grandson have played at Sandgate. In 1921, a canvas marquee served as the first Clubhouse. Eventually, in 1923 a Clubhouse was erected and much of the original building still exists, although it has been added to and altered from time to time. Up to 1970, it is interesting to note the annual rental for all the land under the Club’s control was one guinea per year. As regards the game itself, the Club has always been represented in Pennant Fixtures and was fortunate to win the “B” grade Pennant in 1939, 1946, and again in 1960. The club takes pride in the three pennants it has won because it has always competed against clubs of much greater numerical strength. The Club has also produced some fine individual players. The most notable would be Mr. W. F. R. Boyce, the first Captain, and first Champion. His name appears on Honour Boards all over the State and he represented Queensland many times. Mr. Harry Oberg won the championship in 1936 and again in 1946 and he also played for Queensland. In 1965 and 1966, John Evanston, a then Junior Member was selected to play in the Queensland Junior Team. Also, in the mid-sixties, another Junior Member of the Club, Ross Klumpp was selected to play three times in the Queensland Junior Team. Incidentally, Ross is the only player to take the Championship away from Leo Lofthouse in the eighteen years to June 1971 and without detracting anyway from Ross’ effort, Leo was most unlucky to not have an unbroken record. Ross sank a 20-foot putt on the 36th hole for par and Leo missed a 3-foot putt for par so Ross finished one up on the 36th hole. He was only 19 and played against a seasoned match player. Source: www.sandgategc.com.au/club/history/

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