The Wee Waa Golf Club is currently facing an uncertain future, and both the board and club members have begun rallying to ensure that the important community asset can both survive in the short term and thrive in the long term.
Club president David Russell said rising costs, the declining number of golfers playing each week, and local organisations looking elsewhere to host their events have left the club struggling financially, which he believes can be addressed with renewed local engagement and support.
The club is calling on more of its members and anyone keen to give golf a go to come along to Thursday evening social golf, Saturday ladies’ golf and Sunday men’s golf going forward.
It has also started thinking outside the box and is launching an initiative that it believes is vital to the ongoing sustainability of the club.
The initiative is calling on local cotton farmers to donate a bale of cotton to the club to support its fundraising efforts, which the club says would make a meaningful difference and would help ensure that it can keep operating for the benefit of the wider community.
Alongside golf, it has hosted many events across decades that have benefited the wider community such as birthdays, weddings, mental health support and awareness gatherings, trivia nights, fundraisers and business functions.
The club president told The Courier that it would be disappointing if the club could not continue to operate.
“Insurance premiums are skyrocketing, and so is power and everything else,” Russell said.
“We still have good membership, but people are playing golf a lot less, and there are a lot less functions, which help us out with raising funds. We used to get a lot of weddings and corporate days, which help bolster our income, but those have gone by the wayside.
“We’re just treading a bit of a tightrope at the moment, but hopefully we’ll get through it.
“We’ve come up with the idea to try and get some of the cotton growers to donate a bale at the end of their season to try to put it towards our insurance and power costs, and keeping the greens watered and the clubhouse open as well.”
“It’s quite possible that the golf club might have to close, the way things are going,” he added.
“A lot of other sporting clubs are struggling too. It can be tough in a small town.
“We’re trying to fight it though. We don’t want to lose our club, but we need the support of our community.”
Wee Waa golfer Kate Knight echoed Russell’s sentiments that the golf club is an important community asset.
“The golf club is much more than a sporting facility. It is an important asset for Wee Waa – a place for sport, community wellbeing and social connection,” she said.
“It brings people together across generations, provides a welcoming space for both locals and visitors, and plays a significant role in the social fabric of our town.”
Knight thought the cotton bale initiative would help the club both survive and thrive, which will benefit the local community, and she thanked the local community for its continued support.
“Like many community organisations, the Wee Waa Golf Club is facing increasing operational costs, particularly insurance and electricity, which continue to rise each year,” she said.
“As a club run entirely by volunteers, we rely heavily on the generosity and the support of our local community to remain operational.
“The club survives on the dedication of a small group of volunteers who work tirelessly behind the scenes.
“With rising costs placing increasing pressure on our limited resources, we are asking the local community to get behind this initiative so we can keep the doors open and the club thriving.
“Together, we can help ensure the Wee Waa Golf Club remains a strong and valued part of the town for years to come.”
For those involved, the fight to keep the Wee Waa Golf Club open is about so much more than golf. It is about protecting a place that has long helped hold the town together and ensuring it remains accessible to future generations.
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