MRGC Wins Big at Awards Night

This year’s Queensland Golf Industry Awards Night was staged on Thursday 28 October 2021 at The Star Gold Coast, and brought the PGA, Golf Australia, Golf Management Australia and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of QLD together to recognise those individuals, clubs and organisations who have excelled over the past 18 months.

With COVID disrupting last years event, this was a great opportunity for the entire industry to get together and celebrate with friends and peers and for one night forget about COVID-19.

Maroochy River Golf Club were nominated for a number of awards, and we are proud to announce we won three awards.

Legends Tournament of the Year – Maroochy River Golf Club

This award is presented to the club who has hosted the best Legends Pro Am of the year. The winner is chosen by the PGA and the criteria includes:

• Tournament Organisation
• Prize-money
• Overall Course Condition
• Feedback from players.

Organisers were so impressed with the total organisation and feedback from players the club has been chosen to host the Qld Senior PGA Championship for the next 3 years. This is the flagship event of the Legends calendar and is played over 2 days as a Pro Am format, this year’s event will be held on Sunday 12th & Monday 13th December. A big thank you to our Pro Shop Staff and Match Committee for their hard work in bringing the event together.

Superintendents Achievement Award – Stuart Campbell

The Superintendents Achievement Award in recognises outstanding leadership and tireless efforts in the area of golf course management.

The criteria for this award were:

• Finances Available
• Non-Financial Resources Available
• Leadership
• People/Resource Management
• Continuous Improvements

As a staff member of Horton Park/Maroochy River for almost 12 years, Stuart came to us after stints at some of Australia’s most prestigious Golf Clubs such as Pelican Waters and Kingston Heath.

Stuart has excelled as our club has gone through a massive relocation after Sunshine Coast Regional Council resumed our Maroochydore property.

He spent endless hours on site at our new home in Bli Bli and his ability to produce playing surfaces to rival any course in the country is simply outstanding. Stuart’s attention to detail and willingness to take on any task, no matter how difficult, and his ability to see them through to a successful completion is second to none. I can think of no one more deserving of this award than Stuart Campbell.

2021 Club of the Year – Maroochy River Golf Club

This award is presented to the club who has performed best in regard to the following criteria.

• Membership Retention & Growth
• Golf Program & Pathway Development
• Financial Performance
• Governance
• Clubhouse Operations
• Golf Course Operations

This is a great Honour for our club to receive this prestigious award. As I said in my speech on the night, this is a team effort, this awards spans back to our Horton Park days and discussions with Council to find a solution to our relocation issues. We have been lucky over these years that we had Boards who only had the club at heart and wanted the best possible outcome for the club, boards who were not afraid to think outside the square, look at diversification strategies to add additional income streams to ensure the financial future of the club, thank you to all board members over this time.

Thanks to all our staff, Bar, Kitchen, Greens, Admin & Pro Shop, since arriving at Bli Bli our turnover has almost doubled but our staff just take it in their stride and get on with the job. And finally thanks to you, the members, for your support and faith in the various boards and management over the years and your approval to proceed with the mini golf and clubhouse extensions to improve our facility and bottom line and ensure our club has a great future for many years to come.