Belleknowes Golf Club former president and previous women’s club captain Jan Owen looks back on the Otago club’s colourful 100-year history, and forward to the upcoming centenary celebrations.

Volunteer-run community golf club devastated by fire celebrates 100 years of sporting heritage

Dunedin’s Belleknowes Golf Club – known as the country club in the heart of the city – is celebrating its centenary this year over the Labour Day weekend of October 20-21. 

It is a golf club which has risen from the ashes … literally.

On a snowy night in June, 2021, our clubrooms burnt to the ground along with trophies, photos, honours' boards and all our historical records. 

Ironically, about a week before the fire, several members were working on the course when it started to rain, so they adjourned to the clubhouse and proceeded to get all the records, and photos from storage in the clubhouse and sort through them.

After a couple of hours, they put the paraphernalia back very carefully for safe keeping in the clubhouse. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. 

The past two years have seen a concerted effort to reconstruct as much information as possible on the club’s history from various sources. 

A little bit of information about our unique nine-hole club

Dunedin City Council records show that on May 25,1923, Mr M B McKenzie, on behalf of several golfing friends, requested the council’s reserves' committee to allocate a portion of the town belt to permit them to construct a nine-hole golf course at Belleknowes Hill. 

The site suggested was on the west side of the croquet lawn at the junction of the Roslyn cable tramway and the electric tramway to Maori Hill. 

Most of the foundation members lived near the course and enthusiastically attacked the job of improving the condition of the area. With the close co-operation of the Dunedin City Council’s reserves' department, it was not long before something more like a golf course and less like an overgrown paddock began to emerge.

A little-known fact about Belleknowes is that it had its own professional. Mr A Fox, unfortunately no relation to Ryan, came to New Zealand from Scotland in 1914, and from the time of the World War I was professional at St Clair Golf Club. He was appointed professional at Belleknowes in 1923. 

He gave the royal and ancient game a rest at the age of 71 after 22 years at the club. 

One of the main characteristics of Belleknowes is that all the members co-operate to promote, develop and support the welfare of the club. There is also a strong and growing green fee crowd from university students, locals, and out-of-town visitors. 

Now in 2023, the maintenance and development of the course is done by members. Each week there is a group of volunteers who turn up in an unpaid capacity to work on the course. 

Over the years the club has gradually acquired the equipment for fairway and green management, but all the course maintenance is volunteer. In addition, supporting the local community, the ladies’ club run the twilight and 14-hole competitions. 

This is achieved with a great deal of banter and good humour, along with, of course, the occasional glass of wine or beer.

Belleknowes has seen a few characters over the years. 

Patsy Cotter, at the ripe age of 94, is still a full member and last year won the Rosebowl and her section in the club championships. 

The late  Ralph Hotere was a member for quite a few years as were Ben and Simon Gallie. Ben is now the pro at Millbrook and Simon is also a very tidy golfer. 

The late Ewen Ansell, a well-known Dunedin sportsman, was a member up until his death and was invaluable with his fundraising efforts. 

Ian Payne, who played Plunket Shield cricket and Alex Moir, a New Zealand test cricketer, were also members for many years.

There are lots of stories about the heydays when there were 72 competitors in the men’s field and early tee off players had to stop after nine holes to wait for others to get through before they played the second nine. 

During this wait time, cards were played, and drinks consumed. After the game more cards and bingo were played in the nineteenth hole until the wee small hours.  

For many years, Belleknowes was a focus for the locals and a source of community engagement.  

Belleknowes offers a nine-hole course that plays on a Friday morning, keeping that social connection, for those who are retired. 

The weekend ladies' group play on Saturday mornings at 8.30am, while the men’s group tees off at noon.  The new clubrooms are due to be completed shortly. Gordon Wilson, who is overseeing the new build, and John Romerill, who has project managed the build, have worked tirelessly to ensure the clubrooms represent the old and new Belleknowes, and something we can all be proud of leading into the next 100 years. 

The course has also been redesigned to protect the new clubhouse and ensure the safety of players -- resulting in a new second hole that is arguably one of the most beautiful and challenging par three holes in New Zealand.

We hope to get a good crowd at Labour weekend to celebrate this unique golf club and its 100-year milestone. To register please contact the club via email - belleknowesgolfclub@gmail.com - or go to our Facebook page.