Virginia Golf Club is a
golf course located in
Brisbane, Australia. The Club boasts a 27-hole golf course and Clubhouse. In 2013 Virginia Golf Club celebrated its 85-year anniversary and underscored its place as one of Queensland's oldest and most time honoured courses. Two of its Club Champions from the 1970s would later win major championships –
Greg Norman and
Wayne Grady.
History
In 1928, the Chief Engineer for the Queensland Main Roads Commission, D.A. Crawford, designed a nine-hole golf course on public land at
Virginia. Brothers Jack and Bert Roach were contracted to clear the area of unwanted trees, shrubs and heavy undergrowth. Their only tools were axes, shovels, a plough, and a horse and cart. Volunteers helped clear weeds and build the tees and greens. The course was playable by the end of October 1929 and was officially opened by the
Lord Mayor of Brisbane,
William Jolly
William Alfred Jolly CMG (11 September 1881, Spring Hill, Brisbane – 30 May 1955, Windsor, Brisbane) was an Australian politician who was the Mayor of the Town of Windsor from 1918 to 1923, the first Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 1925 to 193 ...
on Saturday 6 December 1930.
A second nine-hole course was designed by D. A. Crawford and opened on Saturday 2 September 1933.
In December 1946, 15-year-old caddie, Leo Lofthouse, won the
Courier Mail's Caddies' Cup at Virginia. Not only was his round of 71 a record for amateurs on the course, it was also a better score than any professional who played the course that year.
The Club acquired an additional 72 acres of freehold land for the sum of £7,250 in June 1959. The land was purchased by Jim Wilson, a Club member, as it was felt that the original owner of the land would not sell directly to the Club. Wilson took control of the land in April 1958 and subsequently transferred title to the Virginia Golf Club.
The new land was cleared during 1963 with Al Howard, a course architect from Sydney, and
Norman Von Nida, a three-time
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
champion, appointed to design a 27-hole layout. The current clubhouse was opened by the Lord Mayor of Brisbane,
Clem Jones, in September 1969 and the redesign of the course was fully complete by October 1970. Aside from a few small changes to the third nine which were made in 1992, this layout is still used today.
Between 1980 and 1988, the Club converted its greens from couch grass to Tifgreen 328 Bermuda. The grass was chosen because of its fairer putting surface and its long wearing qualities that could cope with a sub-tropical climate.
In 2012,
Wayne Grady Golf Design was appointed to redesign the current layout.
These changes are expected to be made gradually over the next 20 years.
Notable members
*
Wayne Grady[
* Greg Norman][
* ]Andrew Buckle
Andrew Nicholas Buckle (born 24 September 1982) is an Australian professional golfer.
Buckle was born in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a promising amateur career, including two wins in the Boy's 15–17 division at the World Junior Golf Champio ...
Scorecard
References
{{reflist
External links
Official Website
Golf Queensland
Virginia Golf Club
1929 establishments in Australia
Sports clubs and teams established in 1929
Sports venues completed in 1929
Golf clubs and courses in Queensland
Sports clubs and teams in Brisbane
Sports venues in Brisbane
Virginia, Queensland