Ashgrove Golf Course (part)

The Victorian era in Great Britain coincided with an extended period free from major conflicts and, coupled with the development of its colonial empire, brought great prosperity to England and the growth of the middle classes of society. As golf was a social game providing the opportunity for extending the range of personal and business contacts, the newly prosperous merchants and industrialists were attracted to golf and could afford the cost of developing new courses. In addition, the invention of the grass mower made course management easier. In 1850, the introduction of the gutty (guttie) ball, much cheaper that the old feathery ball, brought the cost of the sport within the reach of a wider cross section of the population.

The major expansion of the game around the world began in the late 1880s and early 1890s with the migration of British players taking their equipment with them and forming clubs in their new lands.

The earliest record of a golfer in Australia is of Alexander Reid, who played at “Ratho” in Bothwell, Tasmania in 1822. In subsequent years, golf was played sporadically in various places in the southern Australian colonies. Royal Melbourne Golf Club was founded 2 May 1891 and is the oldest club in Australia with a continuous playing history.

In Queensland, it is generally accepted that the Ivory brothers were the first to have played the game, laying out holes on their Eidsvold station during 1880s. The first golf club established in Queensland was the North Queensland (now Townsville) Golf Club, formed 4 January 1893. Toowoomba Golf Club was the first club founded in southeast Queensland holding its initial meeting in August 1896.

The pioneers of the game in Brisbane were immigrants from Scotland, England and Ireland. In the mid-1890s, the arrival of the new colonial Governor and keen golfer, Lord Lamington, was a boost to the popularity of the game in Brisbane. Organised golf began in Brisbane on 4 November 1896 with the formation of The Brisbane Golf Club. Lord Lamington was the first president and his regular participation in the Club’s competitions ensured golf was seen as a socially desirable game to play. It was 24 years before another metropolitan club was formed – (Royal) Queensland Golf Club was formed 19 August 1920.

The establishment of the game in Queensland lagged behind that of the southern states. Queensland was settled more slowly than the south and was less wealthy. The intervention of the First World War delayed the formation of metropolitan clubs but also appears to have stimulated interest in the game among a wider section of the population as evidenced by the number of new clubs formed during the 1920s.

Generally, the cost of equipment and the restricted access to relatively expensive club membership had kept golf as a preserve of the middle and upper classes of the community. This changed with the improved economic conditions experienced during the relatively buoyant 1920s. Golf flourished in Brisbane in the 1920s and into the 1930s and Brisbane clubs formed at this time were Wynnum (1922), Sandgate (1922), Goodna (Gailes) 1924, Indooroopilly (St Lucia) 1925, Oxley (1928) and Nudgee (1929). However, with the economic depression of the 1930s and then World War II, many clubs struggled to attract new members and retain existing membership.

The war impacted on the clubs. Membership and attendances fell, petrol and liquor rationing affected income and new golf balls were unobtainable. Course maintenance suffered with enlistment in the services and engagement in war related work leaving few able bodied men available for such work. Membership fell across all metropolitan clubs – Wynnum membership of 131 in 1939 and had fallen to 94 in 1944; Ashgrove had a membership of 120 in 1939 and 45 in 1944; Victoria Park, the only municipal course in Brisbane, had a membership of 360 in 1939 which had fallen to 228 by 1944.

The game of golf has seen many changes during the 20th century. Some of the mystique and romanticism has been lost with the change from names like brassey, spoon, cleek, niblick, mashie to the modern numbering system for golf clubs; early sets of 6 or 7 clubs were easily carried in a light weight canvas or leather bag in contrast to the 14 clubs now towed on a buggy; improvements in the equipment – club shafts have changed from hickory to steel to graphite and balls have been greatly improved for durability and distance – have encouraged committees to lengthen and tighten their courses. The introduction of water hazards, bunkers, mounds and undulating greens are all attempts to offset the advantages the improved equipment has given the modern player. Advances in course machinery and equipment, grass propagations and course watering have greatly improved course presentation.

Due to the cost of establishing private clubs, few have been formed in and around Brisbane since the Second World War. However, numerous resort courses have been developed in the coastal tourist areas. Demand for membership of existing clubs has generally been strong during the 1990s and golf continues to be a popular sport in Brisbane. Ashgrove Golf Course is an 18-hole par 67 golf course laid out across undulating land between Waterworks Road and Enoggera Military Camp on Enoggera Hill. The course falls down into Enoggera Creek and rises steeply in parts to nestle into the foothills of Enoggera Hill. The Ashgrove Golf Club owns the land on which holes 1 to 9 and 13 to 18 stand. Holes 10, 11 and 12 are accommodated on a parcel of land leased from the Brisbane City Council and separated from the rest of the course by Bennett Road. The entrance is from Waterworks Road into the main carpark.

The course plays holes 1 to 8 and 9 to 18 out and back to the Clubhouse. Accommodating 18 holes economically on a small parcel of land, the course of necessity has more par 3 holes and plays shorter than the average present-day 18-hole course. Distinguished by narrow tree-lined fairways which rise and fall from the flat of Enoggera Creek, the course punishes inaccurate or wayward shots. The tight layout offers a number of challenging dogleg holes and penal par 3s. The course climbs picturesquely into the foothills where elevated tees and fairways offer expansive views across the course and the surrounding suburbs. The course presently plays 4899 metres with a par rating of 67. The course record of 60 was shot by Andrew Marchbank in 1997.

ASHGROVE GOLF COURSE

Formed in 1939, Ashgrove Golf Club was the 14th club established in the Brisbane metropolitan area and the last one formed before the Second World War.

Local land owners, Mark and Tom Winstone developed a 9- hole course on their adjoining properties covering an area of 64 acres. The layout was designed by Stan Francis, a noted Brisbane golfer and surveyor, who also designed a number of other Brisbane courses during the 1930s including Victoria Park 1931, Enoggera (Keperra) 1931, Pacific 1936 and Peninsula (Redcliffe) 1936. Work began on Ashgrove Golf Course in 1938 and Mark Winstone continued as the greenkeeper until 1952.

With construction of the course under way, the Club was formed and the course, which was leased from the Winstones, was officially opened 22 April 1939. After the Second World War, the Club acquired a lease over adjoining land owned by the Army and extensions to the course were designed. Funding was not able to be secured for the work and was abandoned when the Government refused to renew the lease. The Club acquired the property and plant from the original developers in 1950 and a programme of extending the land holding commenced. Eleven acres were purchased and an eleven hole layout developed which was later extended to fifteen holes. Brisbane City Council land to the east of the established course was leased enabling the development of an 18 hole course which opened for play in July 1986. This land, formerly occupied by a refuse dump, a rifle range and a BMX track accommodates holes 10, 11 and 12. Much of the work of forming these holes was undertaken voluntarily by Ashgrove Golf Club members who continue to tend parts of the landscaping in this area.

 

1. Conservation Management Study Site Report September 2002

2. Brisbane City Council - City Assets

3. AS GOLF COURSE