St Clair making great strides

By Neville Idour

Success breeds success and good leadership breeds ongoing growth and improvement. 

For the St Clair Golf Club in Dunedin this may well be the secret to its burgeoning growth in all aspects of the club. 

The club has developed many strategies, particularly since covid arrived that has seen it flourish.  At board level the thinking is progressive and the various committees overseeing different aspects of the club operations are proving valuable.

So it was good to chat with general manager Annette Godman about the club’s current growth. Godman has a strong background in sports' management having been general manager for Netball Otago and the Rebels' team for a number of years.

Godman said:  “The club now has three full time paid greenkeepers and two full time volunteers which is vital with the course being so busy and the various planting programmes and ecological work in train.” 

The course superintendent, Chris Murphy, is overseeing the work which includes the club joining the predator free Dunedin city sanctuary project so they can work together to protect native wildlife on the course.

Humane kill traps will be installed to target possums, rodents and stoats living in the area. The traps are safe to be used around pets and no toxins are used. It is part of predator control work across the city to keep possum numbers low in St Clair and prevent Otago Peninsula from reinvasion by them, as well as protect native bush and birds in the area.

The club has also been busy with many new plantings and the course management group has been looking at a couple of potential new bunkers. Any changes would be discussed with a course architect. The pro shop area is also to undergo alterations to allow for a golf simulator which allows indoor practice and measures ball flight. It will be a significant addition to the facilities and be a great help for pro Patrick Moore in assisting players testing clubs.

As for the clubhouse Reignite Physiotherapy Ltd will in the new year move in to space previously used as an office and junior room. Also there will be a small fitness centre. The clubhouse and facilities' focus group is also busy developing a strategic plan for replacing or upgrading the clubhouse and other facilities over the next 10 plus years.

While one might think it will be very long term looking at the clubhouse, Godman explains: “It may not be as the building needs ongoing repairs and the focus group has done a stocktake of all facilities and buildings to look at what needs to be done year by year. Long term we would like to build a new clubhouse.”

As for the membership, the numbers have hit 800, up hugely on a year ago. 

Godman enthuses: “The membership increase is amazing. It just keeps on climbing. It’s great. The vibe here is amazing. Tee off times on Saturday are working well now. Implementing our five and six day memberships has been a success. At the last AGM (annual general meeting) we did away with the three day membership so now the categories are more clear.”

So where are the numbers coming from?

“Everywhere. A lot of them are just new, not necessarily from other clubs, and they are not students, just age group members. Or they may be people who played many years ago and want to come back into the game. Golf has just taken off. We have so many members and that doesn’t include all of our corporate associates.”

For whatever reason other Dunedin clubs have not seen similar increases. Otago has 583, Taieri 401, Chisholm Park 390, Island Park 248 and Port Chalmers 122.

The club will also re-enter the pro-am ranks in the new year with a legends' event on Friday, February  10. This should be a drawcard for amateurs who have been starved of these opportunities for far too long.

Nestled atop the hills overlooking a 360 degree panorama of ocean, harbour, southern coastlines, Saddle Hill and surrounds, St Clair Golf Club should be enjoying it’s current situation.