Springwood Country Club - About Us
On Friday 7 July 1905 a group of golf enthusiasts held a meeting in the Oriental Hotel Springwood for the purposes of forming a golf club. It is recorded in the Nepean Times on the 16th September 1905 that what was to become the Springwood Country Club began officially on 9th September 1905 although golf may have been played informally in the area since at least 1903.
The land for the
original 9 holes was donated by the Mr JT Ellison from his property which was
used as a
fruit orchard. At that time the golf course section extended from the
bottom of the hill of to-day's 10th hole across to the back of the present 7th
tee and thence down to the cemetery along the edge of the 7th fairway. There is
one remaining pear tree (seen left) from Ellison's orchard which stands between the existing
1st tee and 9th green. A club building was constructed of saplings and stringy
bark opposite the entrance to the present Endeavour Aged Care Home and from
thereon the course was used spasmodically for many years.
When the Ellison family left the district, Ellison's land was purchased by Mr JT Wall (an ex-President of the Blue Mountains Shire) in December 1911 and the Walls' family home "Novar" eventually became the club-house. The top section of the land was also sold and became a dairy farm after which the herd used the bottom golf course as pasture. Consequently, for some time the golf greens were fenced.
When the dairy farm was sold the top section of the land was purchased by Mr David Stewart Dawson and in 1928 the property was transferred to "Bon Accord Investments". Dawson also owned a magnificent home called "Bon Accord" which stood opposite the entrance to the present course and after his death this was leased as a boarding house. Shortly afterwards one of the lessees of the boarding house had some disagreement with Wall and as a result the lessee constructed another 9 hole golf course on the top section land for boarding house guests. This was officially opened on 23 February 1933 by the Right Honourable Earl Beauchamp. Tragically, however, early one morning the "Bon Accord" boarding house burned to the ground.
In 1938 the Blue Mountains Shire Council acquired the "Bon Accord" land and owing to the efforts of Mr Bert Honeysett who was a councillor and well known local identity, the land was resumed to be used as a public golf course. Both adjacent top and bottom 9 hole courses were gazetted as golf links in July 1939.
During the war the bottom old course was re-designed and 9 new tees and greens were laid and a Trust formed to manage the Links. The new bottom course was opened on Sunday 20th April 1941 with half the proceeds of the day going to the AIF Welfare Committee. Later that year the fees were fixed at one pound eleven and six pence for members and one pound and a shilling for associates and juniors. After the war the Trust was dissolved and Springwood Golf Links was formed to carry on its responsibilities. A separate club was also formed to organize the competition section.
Blue Mountains City Council then purchased the land from the Dawson Estate which included the Dawson home "Novar" and so the 2 links could be amalgamated and an 18 hole course established. Nine new holes were designed for the top end by Mr Arthur East and completed in 1949 with the agreement that Council would build a new club-house. In the meantime "Novar" was used for club-house activities.
In 1956 a new company called Springwood Country Club Limited was formed and in 1957 the club moved to its present site being officially opened by Alderman AFC Murphy in March 1958.
In 1976 a young golfer called Greg
Norman known by his mates as "bomber" competed
in the Springwood Pro-Am making a big impression both on the course and in the
club-house. Arriving in the district with little money on an uncertain road, he
was boarded with one of the local members for the 2 days of the tournament. As with the Springwood
Country Club, the rest is
history.
(Collated from papers written by EH (Ted) Bennett and Barbara Higginson available in the Springwood Public Library).
To-day Springwood is a thriving club and
centre for the complete cross section of ages of the local community and has a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.
Visitors are always made welcome and there is always some form of entertainment
available at the club-house. The club's present mission is improving the course
and a program of fairway watering was begun in
1999 with 6 holes now watered (1,9,10,16,17 and 18).
A small army of volunteers also assist green keeping staff in a program of
course clearing and maintenance every Monday. The club is supported and
sponsored by several local businesses which supplement prizes for all
competitions.
Springwood Country Club is situated just off the Great Western Highway one hour out of Sydney. It is about 1 km from the town centre along the Hawkesbury Road towards Winmalee. There is also an excellent train service to the Blue Mountains from Sydney and taxis at the station. Ample accommodation and restaurants are available in the vicinity.
The Pro's Knockout
This event is sponsored by the Club Professional with the 16 best scores from
each grade qualifying. Players will then be matched against each other until a
winner is determined over the following weeks.
Bill Hurley Shield
This trophy is donated by the Hurley family in memory of past member Bill
Hurley, the founder of Hurley's Butchery of Springwood which have been club
sponsors for many years. The shield is an 18 hole net stroke event normally held
in conjunction with a monthly medal round.
Ted Bennett Memorial Shield
This is a perpetual trophy contested during a stroke round of the Springwood
Open in memory of one of the early members of the club - Ted
Bennett. It is played with a team of four from the same club. The
aggregate of the 3 best net scores are counted. Each member of the team receives
a trophy however the shield remains with the club.
Results - Week Ending 09/11/2008
Tue 4th: Nov: Single Medley Stableford:
James Edge playing off a hcp of eight put in a great effort to return a score of 45pts to take out the event for the day,managing to eagle the par five 15th in the process of his round. Results: 1st J Edge (8) 45Ntpn 18th A gde: A.Busch:Bgde:D.WhelanCgde:A.Short: Balls to 39 Vouchers to 39 c/b CCR: 39 (66)
Thurs 6th Nov: Single stableford + 2B Combo.98 strtrs:Alan May of “Hello Al” fame was the stand out for the day ,not only winning the Dvsn1 Sctn but also taking out the scratch score with a fine three under par round off the stick .
2B Combo:1st P.Hitchens(6) & D.Harris(13) 65
Dvsn1:A..May(3Pro) 42 Dvsn2: A.Mitchell(17) 42
Scratch: A.May 39 . Ntpn’s: 2nd R.Bowden 3rd T.Body 6th A.Honeysett 8th J.Boyd 12th J.Boyd 13th W.Brown 17th D.Wilson(draw) 18th J.Brown.
Balls to 35c/b. Chooks to 35 c/b. CCR:39 (66).
Sat 8th Nov. Single stableford. 131 strtrs.
A gde: D.Bowron(11) 42 c/b r/u M.Duffy(9) 42.B gde:M.Boyce(17) 41 r/u C.Wurth(14) 40 C gde: G.Babbage(21) 45 r/u C.Ruttley(24) 42 Scratch:D.Limbach 34. Eagles Nest: S.Ballard 11th C.Daines 15th . Ntpn’s: 2nd B.Hurst 3rd D.Crawford 6th S.Dive 8th M.Ruki 12th C.McGiness 13th P.McGee 16th D.Bowron 18th C.Blakemore. Balls to 36 c/b CCR38 (67) .
Tue 7th
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