In addition the Constitution was updated to ensure that it is better suited to the operation of the SGSQ. The resolution to adopt the new constitution was passed unanimously, and the support of the members, as we move forward, is greatly appreciated by the Committee.
Jerry Maycock was appointed by the Committee to the vacant position of Vice President and he and I were nominated as the SGSQ's representatives to the Senior Golfers' Society of Australia (SGSA), which is the national body for seniors in Australia.
Also, after the AGM, our long serving (and retiring) Secretary Dr Lloyd Toft was appointed an Honorary Life Member. Lloyd was presented with his Certificate, at the Annual Dinner, to loud applause.
GOLF
So far this year we have had games at RQGC and Southport Golf Club, which were both well supported and very enjoyable days.
Captain, Les Nathanson, was publicly congratulated on behalf of the SGSQ for his award as a Member of the Order of Australia at the Southport game. The Captain's work load is quite onerous and I am sure that all members join with me in expressing our appreciation for the work that Les does, not just for our regular games, but also for the annual tour and international inbound tours.
The next SGSQ game is a mixed event at Brisbane Golf Club on 22 May 2023.
That will be followed by a game at Noosa Springs Golf Club on 16 June 2023, which is also a mixed event with a 9.30am shotgun start followed by buffet lunch.
In association with that game it is proposed to have a dinner at the Noosa Springs Club House Restaurant on Thursday 15th June which has been organised by Bruce Nicol. Bruce has also made arrangements for accommodation to be available at the Noosa Springs Resort at a very competitive rate based on two couples sharing. Availability is on a first come, first serve, basis, but I understand that if you are quick, you may still be able to secure the deal. The details are:
- On site accommodation up to 44 people (2 couples share each unit, separate shower / toilet), needs to be booked by SGSQ members
- ID yourself as an SGSQ member and book via Mel Ewing on 0754403333, with a $250 deposit for each unit.
INTERNATIONAL TOURS
During March 2023, the SGSQ hosted the USSGA with games at Indooroopilly Golf Club, Brookwater Golf Club, Brisbane Golf Club, and RQGC.
The SGSQ organised welcome drinks on Sunday 5 March, a welcome dinner at the Queensland Club on Monday 6 March, and a farewell lunch at RQGC on the last day of the visit, Friday 10 March 2023.
Mike and Joy Hume deserve special mention for offering their riverside home at Chelmer for the opening function. Rob and Glenys Thatcher, who organised and hosted the visitors for their trip to Mooloolaba and Australia Zoo, are also deserving of our thanks.
Additionally, following the pattern which was organised for the Australian seniors' tour to the USA, home hosted dinners were organised for our guests on Thursday 9 March 2023.
I would like to extend my thanks to Peter and Anita Nimmo, Rob and Glenys Thatcher, Dr Les Nathanson AM and Janet Nathanson, Ross and Jill McTaggart, Fred and Helen Hess, Rick and Nina Fry, Ken and Birgitte Prosser, Martin Porter and Pip Holmes, Neville and Trish Sandford, Jim and Jenna Lyons, and my wife, Lindy, for volunteering to act as co-hosts for those dinners.
I would also like to thank all those members and partners who came to the functions and played in the matches against our visitors, who by all accounts had a wonderful week in Brisbane.
In June we bid bon voyage to 3 of our members and their partners - Mike and Joy Hume, John and Vicki McDonald, and Rick and Nina Fry, as they depart for what promises to be an absolutely fabulous tour by the SGSA playing at the leading golf courses in England, as guests of the UK seniors. Mike Hume is the national tour captain.
ANNUAL TOUR 2023
The 2023 annual tour is locked in from Sunday 17 to Saturday 23 September, in the northern beaches area of Sydney, and participants will be staying at the recently upgraded Manly Pacific MGallery Hotel. Games at Elanora Country Club, Terrey Hills Golf and Country Club, Killara Golf Club, and Long Reef Golf Club, have been organised. In addition the tour will follow the usual format with welcome drinks/dinner on Sunday, a lunch on Wednesday at the Manly Pavilion, and a farewell dinner on Friday 22 September. The northern beaches area has many excellent restaurants and there are lots of opportunities to catch up with friends during the week.
There are still places available on the tour (but not many) which promises to provide access to some of NSW's best courses and an excellent social agenda.
Please note that, given the location of the tour, in Australia's biggest city and major tourist destination, the Committee has decided that there will not be a formal package of events offered for non-golfing partners for the tour. As part of that decision there will be a reduced tour cost for the non-golfer, the difference being approximately equivalent to the cost of the golf games.
Rob Thatcher, who together with Ken Prosser, is organising the tour has provided the following information:
- To date we have 64 registrants for the tour.
- The final payment (yet to be finalised) is due by 30 June.
- The deadline for final registrations is 30 April.
- For those who are going on the tour, the up-to-date flight details are below together with details of the bus transport to and from the airport.
FLIGHTS
Brisbane to Sydney, Sunday 17 September
QF 517 Dep 10.15 arrive Sydney 11.50
VA 938 Dep 10.05 arrive Sydney 11.40
Bus departs airport about 12.30
Arrive Hotel about 13.15 for 14.00 check-in.
Sydney to Brisbane, Saturday 23 September
Depart the hotel after 10am checkout for airport, arrive the airport about 11.00.
QF 524 Dep 13.05 arrive Bris 14.35
VA 943 Dep 13.00 arrive Bris 14.30.
THE "MCINTYRE" AND SGSQ ANNUAL TOUR 2024
The McIntyre is a biennial event, and is the only competition where seniors from all the states and the ACT play against each other. Effectively it is the national championship for the Seniors' Societies of Australia. The competition is a 4 ball best ball stableford event over 2 rounds. The activities start on Sunday 14 April 2024 with golf on the Monday and Tuesday following. The courses booked are Royal Adelaide Golf Club and Glenelg Golf Club with members and partners playing the courses on alternate days.
The suggested McIntyre accommodation, expected to be available from Saturday 13 to Tuesday 16 April 2024, is at the new facility, the Oval Hotel, at the SACA (Cricket Ground) in the immediate proximity of the restaurant area of Adelaide.
It may be of interest to members to know that LIV is anticipated to be played at the Grange Golf Club from 19 to 22 April 2024, following on from the debut Australian LIV event which starts there on 21 April 2023.
Preparations are also underway to hold the 2024 annual tour in SA to facilitate participation by Queensland seniors in the McIntyre event to be held in Adelaide immediately after the tour.
The SGSQ's tour will again generally adopt the usual tour structure and is being held from 7 to 13 April 2024. We have booked accommodation at the Stamford Grand at Glenelg. The courses being finalised are Kooyonga Golf Club, Mt Osmond Golf Club, The Links at Lady Bay, and Mt Compass Golf Club. Lunch on Wednesday 10 April is also being planned and a choice will need to be made between a number of alluring options.
As the McIntyre involves games at Royal Adelaide Golf Club and Glenelg Golf Club, the tour organisers, after extensive consultation with our South Australian counterparts, have sought to find other attractive and interesting golf courses for our members to enjoy. Registration will be available in July/ August this year and a small deposit will be necessary to secure the bookings already made, as in previous years. Please mark both the tour and McIntyre in your diaries as date claimers.
SA Tour 7-13 April 2024 McIntyre 14 -16 April 2024.
MEMBERSHIP
At the time of preparing this report the SGSQ has 127 members of whom 7 are honorary life members, and 7 are non-playing members.
We also have recently welcomed our first female member, Jan Kildey, who was formerly a board member and ladies' president of RQGC, is the sister of a committee member, and the spouse of a SGSQ member of long standing.
Jan celebrated her admission to membership last Tuesday, by scoring her first hole in one (at the 11th at RQGC), winning the putting prize with 24 putts, and finishing with a net 65 to win the B Grade monthly Medal by 8 shots.
SGSA AGM
Jerry Maycock and I attended this meeting (conducted by Zoom) on 11 April 2023 as representatives of the SGSQ. Chris Whitford, the President of the SGSA, chaired the meeting and Gary Lee, the honorary Secretary/Treasurer will prepare the minutes.
The results of the meeting include:
- A new position of National Tour Co-ordinator has been established. I have been tasked with performing the role. Gary Lee and I will further define the scope of the role and report back to the SGSA as to how international tours, both inbound and outbound, can best be managed.
- The cycle for international tours is generally 8 years, so the 6 countries (USA, SA, UK, Chile, Canada, and Australia, visit each other every 8 years (viz 4 years in, 4 years out) with a view to a maximum of 1 incoming tour each year. France is also on the roster and arrangements with that country are in the course of being formalised.
- Chile is to be offered a 2 week tour, as requested by it, in late 2024. The itinerary is likely to involve Vic and SA. There are preliminary negotiations about the next UK Seniors' tour, which is expected to involve Queensland, taking place in 2026.
- The capitation fee to be paid to the SGSA has been set at $10 per member of each State and territory Society. The fee is its main source of income. As there are around 650 members of the various societies in Australia the budget for the SGSA is a modest one, and it operates, as do all the Australian societies, largely through the voluntary work of its committee and honorary secretary/treasurer.
- As the national operation is run on a shoestring, states are to fund the McIntyre deposits in the first instance and be reimbursed by the organiser state. At this time there are no plans to increase the capitation fee to enable the SGSA to address the commercial requirement, now insisted on by many suppliers, of pre-payment of deposits.
- Mike Grose (NSW) has been invited to be the new honorary secretary/treasurer replacing Gary Lee at year end.
- Victoria has 4 female members.
- SA is moving to make provision for female members.
- I am to investigate and report back as to insignia for female members. (Note that for Queensland seniors Peter Nimmo is arranging for suitable options for golf shirts to be available.)
- Gary Lee and I are to investigate and report back as to the best mechanism for providing a national level of communication as to each State's programmes of events to facilitate participation in each State Society's events by visiting interstate seniors. (We have already met, by Zoom, and anticipate that for states with websites there will be a link on each state's website available to members to access the various calendars of events.)
I invite members who have any suggestions about how the interests of Senior golfers in Queensland can best be advanced, whether at state, national, or international level, to contact me.
In conclusion I would like to thank the hard working committee of the Society who cheerfully roll up their sleeves and get stuck in to those tasks needed for the smooth running of the extensive golfing calendar offered to members. Peter Nimmo as secretary, Mark Barry, as treasurer, Les Nathanson as Captain, and Robert Thatcher with Ken Prosser as tour organisers, shoulder a lot of the workload and do so extremely efficiently, but all chip in as required.
I look forward to seeing you at the Brisbane Golf Club game on 22 May.
Best regards,
Don Fraser KC | President | SGSQ
