Hidden gem: Golden Vale Golf Club is looking for more players to take to the course.
Photo by
Hamish Donaldson
Hidden among tall gum trees and water hazards is a golf club many Benalla locals might not have heard of.
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In the 1933 April 21 edition of the Benalla Standard an article announced that the Golden Vale Golf Club would be officially opened — and 90 years later it’s still going.
Members are worried, however, that without more players taking to the course, the club will not make it to a century of play.
Benalla Standard, Friday, April 21, 1933.
Golden Vale Golf Club — Official opening in May
Mr. E. F. Cleary, M.L..A., has been invited by the committee of the Golden Vale Golf Club to open the new links and club house on Saturday, 6th May at 2pm.
The committee met on Wednesday night under the presidency of Sergeant Harnetty, and considered various details for the opening of the season.
The first match will be a mixed foursomes over 12 holes. The committee also considered a draft constitution for the club, and placed it in the hands of a special sub committee to deal with.
Messrs Meadows and Kason were deputed to draw up local rules and submit them to the next meeting of the committee.
The club house, which was constructed to designs by Mr. I.T. Henion, includes rooms for men and women players and other appointments usual in a building of the kind...
Rob Lawless, one of the remaining members of the Golden Vale Golf Club, is keen to see the club return to its glory days.
“I’ve been down there for about 30 years ... it used to be booming at one time and we’re desperate to get the club to 100 years,” he said.
“It’s getting harder and harder (to keep the club going) but the course has never been in better nick than it is right now.
“Anyone can come down and play any day of the week, it’s $10 for 18 holes and the club house is open on a Sunday for drinks.
A course among the gum trees: The entrance to Golden Vale Golf Club.
“For anyone who wants to join the club, if they get out there at 9.30am on a Sunday we will look after you and there’s a competition at 10am. At the moment there’s only four of us hitting off, but we would love to see more people join in.”
While the course at Golden Vale Reserve is economical to play, it still has all the bells and whistles of other clubs in the area.
On a Sunday, visitors and club members alike are able to hire buggies, relax in the club house and challenge themselves across a testing 18 holes.
The serenity: One of the Golden Vale course’s water features.
Lawless is of the opinion that the layout surpasses that of Benalla Golf Club next door.
What Benalla Golf Club has on the Golden Vale club is its well kept greens, but there’s nothing wrong with the next door neighbour’s sand scrapes.
Sand greens were once a staple of rural golf courses and are a unique challenge for players who have not putted on them before.
Sand scrapes can get an unfair rap for not being of the same standard as grass greens, but they do not impact the enjoyment golfers of all levels can have out on the course.
“It’s a knockabout course and we have a ball out there,” Lawless said.
“It’s a very social club and it’s got a great little community. All the work is done by volunteers.”
Around the bend: A dog-leg hole in the sun.
As a volunteer-run club, it is all the more devastating that the odds seem to against it going on.
Last year the club’s machinery shed was broken into and what Lawless estimates to be around $10,000 of equipment was stolen.
The best thing the Benalla community can do to support the club and ensure that it is in action for the foreseeable future is to get out there and play.
During the week, the course operates on an honesty system where players are required to fill out the green fees book, take a scorecard and pay the $10 fee through a slot in the club house.
To become a member of Golden Vale Golf Club is a very affordable $150 a year.
For beginners, social golfers or even high-level players wanting to challenge themselves in different conditions, Golden Vale Golf Club is the ideal course.
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