Members will make a very important decision about the future of Cooroy Golf Club on Thursday, 20th July 2023.

Operating and financial constraints mean Cooroy Golf Club can only ever achieve improvements in small steps over long periods of time.  Achieving sustainable financial growth is nearly impossible. The Club is falling behind in an area that is growing significantly leaving us vulnerable.

The GemLife proposal offers the unique opportunity to achieve a major transformation in a short time frame, something that the club might never accomplish otherwise with existing constraints.  The Vets Management Committee urges members to vote YES to the motion to support the GemLife development application. You will be ensuring Cooroy Golf Club moves from ‘surviving’ to ‘thriving’.

The following message from Vets Captain, Grant Smallacombe, echoes the views of Vets committee members.

I make no secret of the fact that I support the GemLife proposal and see it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Cooroy Golf Club to move forward and put something in place that will be here for future generations to enjoy. I look forward to being involved with this club without seeing it have the operational and financial constraints that exist today.

We need to focus on the future and not the past. We will be getting a huge amount of gain for very little individual pain.

I can assure you that contrary to what some of the negative propaganda may be telling you, we will still be able to run our regular 18-hole competitions throughout the build period.

In fact, I look forward to working in conjunction with the Greens Superintendent and Management to ensure that this occurs and that it becomes an enjoyable experience. During the build period, we will have a minimum of 9 holes in play at any one time and this may not always be limited to just 9 holes.  It will provide some great opportunities to set up many different modified course layouts that will enable us to create a variety of competitions that will not only serve the purpose but will also be a most enjoyable experience.

I am looking forward to being involved in the construction phase not only as a player but also as an observer.  I believe it will add a great deal of excitement and interest amongst all of us as we follow its progress.

It is also time to think about how beneficial this project will be for our valued staff members and volunteers and what a difference it will make to the way they operate. Just think about how nice it could be for them to come to work and not have to work with the frustration of restrictions and constraints in almost everything they do.

When this position became vacant earlier this year, I took on the role of Vice President of Cooroy Golf Club.  I jumped at the opportunity as I have always wanted to give back more to the club than I received. In other words ‘I care a lot about our club’. During this time I have been fortunate enough to witness the considerable amount of work, the many hours, and numerous meetings that the CGC Management committee has put into this project.  They do this not for themselves, or because they benefit financially from this. They do this simply because they care about staff, volunteers, and members and, the future of Cooroy Golf Club. They are also in the best position to know what is best for the future of this club.

From the outside, negotiations between the club and GemLife may seem to have taken some time, but I can assure you that this is necessary in resolving much detail and ensuing legal protection for our golf club.

I have closely examined the plans of both the building and course layout and I can assure you that the appearance and playability of the new holes we are getting will far outweigh the two that we are losing. The ideal location of the clubhouse has always been in the Marty’s Hut area.  If the club were ever to go it alone, the only possible access road would be the existing 15th hole. Exactly what is happening with the GemLife proposal.

Some may argue that we have always gotten by in the past. I can’t help but wonder how many now-defunct companies once said exactly the same thing.

As your Cooroy Veterans’ Golf Club Captain, I look forward to this project getting off the ground and, I am very excited by the prospect.

Grant Smallacombe – Captain Cooroy Veterans’ Golf Club