Our History

1925

  • The Mackay Golf Club was founded with the initial nine-hole course far from the manicured courses of today and was situated on the town common, which is now the Mackay Airport.
  • The nine sandy greens had wire fences around them to keep the grazing cattle off and players also had to contend with nearby rubbish dumps, wide open storm-water drains and un-mown deep rough.

1926

  • The first Clubhouse was built on the common for a cost of $452 and opened by the Mayor, Mr George Milton.

1928

  • The Club moved to its present site on the Mackay-Bucasia Road after leasing 122 acres of grazing land from Mr George Shinn, which was sufficient land for a nine-hole golf course.
  • The Clubhouse was moved from the common to its current site and during these early years, a huge effort was put in by bands of volunteers plowing, harrowing and levelling the fairways and planting couch runners.
  • From all reports, playing was also a real challenge, errant balls usually un-findable in the tiger rough, even if you were prepared to brave the snakes.

1930

  • The Club came of age when the first Club Professional, Horrie Sloan, was appointed.

1932

  • One of the earliest perpetual trophies to be played for was the A.I.F. Cup, presented by Mrs Dorothy Croker.
  • For many years, this cup has become known as the “Diggers’ Cup” and is played for annually by ex-servicemen on “Diggers’ Day”.
  • The winner can retain the Cup for display at home until the following year’s event.

1933

  • A tree-planting committee was formed and the extensive tree planting from the early days resulted in the impressive tree-lined fairways that you see today, which place a premium on playing straight shots.

1939

  • Just prior to the Second World War, 43 acres west of the course was purchased to allow the construction of another nine holes, but construction was put on hold until after the war. This land was leased to Mr George Farquhar for cane growing during the war.

1949

  • Professional Horrie Sloan resigned and Cloncurry born Bren Alman was appointed in his place and remained as our Professional for 39 years until retirement in 1987. Bren ran Sunday Golf Clinics.
  • He was succeeded by Barry Vassella, then Darren Rodgers, and the current Professional, Jeffrey Reid who learnt his golf under Barry’s tutelage.

1950

  • South African golfer Bobby Locke, winner of four British Opens and at the time rated as the World’s best golfer, played an exhibition match with Bren Alman and members Albert Krause and Lex Hodges.
  • Locke shot a 67 off the stick.

 

1951

  • The 1950 exhibition match triggered the Club’s hosting of the Queensland Close Championship, won by Pacific professional Ken Jones and provided the foundation for the now annual Pro-Am tournament as part of the Queensland Professional Tour.
  • Other great names in golf to visit the Club in these early days included Norman von Nida, Peter Thompson, Charlie Earp, Graham Marsh and David Graham.

1956

  • The Club was chosen to host the Queensland Close Championship and the Central Queensland Amateur Championships for men and associates in a week-long golfing carnival.
  • The 1956 Close was won by Ashgrove professional Jack Brown.

1964

Thanks to Bren Alman’s promotional efforts, the first Professional Golf Association sanctioned tournament outside of Brisbane was staged in Mackay.

1967

  • The present Clubhouse was built to cater for the expanding membership, which was expected to top 800 in the near future.
  • Prior to this, while the Clubhouse had undergone a number of renovations, it had remained substantially the same since the 1930s.

1981

  • To provide water for irrigation, the first on-site dam was built.

1984

  • The Pro-shop was constructed within the main Clubhouse.

 

1985

  • The Club celebrated it’s 60th year Diamond Jubilee with a Jubilee Ball and dinner, which was attended by a number of members from the early years of the club and also descendants of founding members.
  • The club adopted a new landmark constitution which recognised women as full members of the Club, able to vote and hold committee positions.
  • Bren Alman ran Sunday Golf Clinics for 21 years introducing an estimated 10,000 people to the game of Golf as well as hosting a radio program for more than 20 years and writing a weekly golf column for the Daily Mercury.

1999

  • To provide more water for irrigation, the second lower dam was built in conjunction with the new irrigation system and pump-house.

2022

  • Clubhouse and course renovations continue to make the Mackay Golf Club the premier golf course in the Mackay region.

2025

  • The Mackay Golf Club celebrates 100 years in 2025 and has a number of celebratory events in the pipeline.