YOU don’t turn 100 every day of the week and it’s fair to say Royal Canberra really dressed up for the occasion last month.
Enthusiastic members gathered at the club, complete with period dress, and keen to experiment with hickory-shafted clubs for one of many birthday celebrations planned for what has become the biggest year in the club’s history.
There was a full week of golf earlier in the year with dignitaries and guests from some of Royal Canberra’s long list of reciprocal clubs, both nationally and internationally, enjoying golf and a Centenary Ball at Old Parliament House.
Then, to celebrate the actual birthday, club captain Russell Ingram and vice-captain Rick Carswell, put together an unforgettable Sunday event played exactly 100 years to the day from the club’s founding.
The plan was to use clubs similar to what would have been used at the opening in 1926.
Yet it was so popular that the Australian Golf Heritage Society could provide enough hickory-shafted clubs to go around in the two-man ambrose challenge.
So, the club improvised and a unique compromise was developed.
On three of Royal Canberra’s par threes all players had to hit off with a hickory club; on the 11th and 12th holes the players had to use only hickory clubs to play the holes.
BIG TURNOUT: Members gathered to celebrate Royal Canberra’s 100th year.
And for the balance of the round players used their normal sets but were restricted to just six clubs.
It provided for some great fun and games as Canberra celebrated a wonderful sunny winter’s day.
Although it was minus 5 before the sun rose by 9.30am it was a lovely nine degrees.
Players were encouraged to dress in period golf attire, and most took up the challenge.
The day began with a 12-hole putting competition on the practice green.
All players had to use a hickory putter and while some struggled with the old technology, most handled them well.
A few were under ‘par’ with Peter Middleton, taking 22 putts to be declared the winner on countback.
It was difficult to recover the putter as Peter indicated he putted better with the hickory putter than he did with his modern one.
The players were given the opportunity to have a practice with the hickories on the range prior to hit off.
Les Browne, from the AGHS was in attendance to provide instruction . . . swing slow and smooth – and many were surprised at how well they went.
A shotgun start at 11am was the main event.
The course after the major upgrade was in pristine condition, however the Captain put many of the pins in ‘difficult’ positions which resulted in some less than appropriate language.
On the par threes there were some exceptional shots with the hickories with the NTP’s on the third hole going to Aaron Bruce (men’s) and Barb Selleck (ladies) while Bill Slocum and Linda Welberry were winners on the 13th.
The 11th was the long drive hole and those that followed the ‘slow and smooth’ instruction were rewarded with superb shots… those that tried to ‘bash’ were in the trees.
The winners were Lee Rose, with a monster 260m shot, and Kristol Pike with a 200m blast for the ladies.
After the two hickory holes the traditional nip of Scotch was taken with discussions such as: “I don’t know how the early players got around using these clubs” to “wow, we parred both holes, can’t do this with my modern clubs”.
The main event winners were John Blyton and Dean Smith with 65.5 net just ahead of Jeremy Thompson and Dana Stewart-Thompson on 66.
It was such a success, there were discussions on having another day playing with hickories.
Here’s just a glimpse of the history of this fabulous club: Golf in Canberra began in 1913, the same year the city’s foundation stone was laid, when a small group of enthusiasts created a nine-hole course near the future city centre.
President of Royal Canberra Golf Club James Service with Kaylie Stuart, vice-president Ian Cameron and board member Cat Stuart.
In 1922 the club moved to a new nine-hole sand-green layout at Acton, sharing space with the Acton racecourse, which created challenging conditions due to horse hoof marks on the fairways.
In 1926, the Federal Capital Commission constructed a more permanent course along the Molonglo River at Acton, providing the Canberra Golf Club with its first dedicated home.
The river served as a natural hazard, making the course a challenging test of golf.
The clubhouse incorporated elements from the 1890s Kaye family slab cottage, including a brick fireplace and chimney.
King George V granted the club ‘Royal’ status in 1933, elevating its prestige and renaming it the Royal Canberra Golf Club.
The Acton course remained the club’s home until 1962, with minor layout changes but significant clubhouse improvements over the years
The Walter Burley Griffin plan for Canberra included damming the Molonglo River to form Lake Burley Griffin, which would submerge the Acton site.
In 1962, the club relocated to Westbourne Woods in Yarralumla.
The new site, originally an arboretum planted in the 1920s, had suffered from drought and wartime shortages.
Dr Max Jacobs, principal of the nearby Forestry School, proposed integrating a golf course into the arboretum to maintain irrigation and preserve over 100 silvicultural species
There have been several upgrades including an additional nine holes added in 1996.
A major upgrade was commissioned in 2016 and now completed further enhances the quality of the course.
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