Taieri Lakes Golf Club - Centenary
The number 100 is not usually a number that is celebrated in golf, but Taieri Lakes Golf Club in North Taieri, Dunedin has recently celebrated (March 2021) its 100-year anniversary with a three-day celebration which included a centenary dinner that was attended by over 150 past and present members.
Club president Shane Smith, who has been in the role since 2018 was ecstatic with the turnout of current and former club members and that the club was finally able to celebrate the historic milestone.
“It's fantastic to be just a small part of the club’s history. There are a lot of people that paved the way before me, and we know that everyone who has been part of the club’s leadership are proud that we have made it to 100 years,” said Smith.
One of the biggest pieces of work undertaken was producing a detailed history of the club. A 100-year book was produced as well as a detailed slide show for the Saturday dinner and photo boards erected in the clubrooms, all of which sparked a lot of conversation.
“The Centennial Committee Members were integral to the success of the celebrations, the work they did pulling together everything was exceptional and very much the highlight of the dinner.”
“All of these were a great chance to show people the history of the club, where we used to be situated, and even what some of our current members looked like in the 1980s. They showed the scale of the development of our current course over the 50 years we have been located here,” said Smith. This followed 50 years’ operating from five leased sites before purchasing the land where the club is now located on Milners Rd.
Over the 100 years, the club has had to ride out many major disruptions, but it’s true testament to the club’s leadership and members that club has survived these disruptions.
“As for most clubs across the country, last year was a tough one with the global pandemic but we have great staff and management who did a great job managing it,” said Smith.
“We are like a lot of South Island club where members are hard to retain and attract and over the last few years there have been some really key things that have been done to ensure the longevity of the club, and probably the biggest was building two new holes, both containing play over additional new lakes in keeping with our club theme, and getting those into play.”
Smith also believes that their connection with the local community is something that has helped keep the club strong for so many years.
“The club also has a great community connection with the local high school and intermediate. We let them have the run of the course when they have their golf programmes on. It is fantastic to see young people from our region taking up the game and we know that these connections help get more and more members coming through,” said Smith.
When asked about the course and what makes their club special Smith added “The course layout at Taieri Lakes Golf Club is different from anything else available in Dunedin. There is a reasonable amount of water and our team works hard to ensure it is always nicely presented. Being only just out of town, it is easy to access and provides something for every level of golfer. We pride ourselves on a welcoming, pleasant, very friendly and being quite a social club.”
A history on the club can be viewed here and you can check out some photos from the club’s centenary celebrations over at their Facebook page.