History of Werribee Park Golf Club

The game of golf in the Werribee are can be traced back to the winter of 1927 when several enthusiasts spent their evenings playing a few holes laid out on the property owned by Mr F Dubot, which is now known as the Glen Devon Housing Estate.

In 1928 several of the golfing fraternity decided that it was time to form a golf club. On the evening of Friday, 5 th May, 1928 a meeting was held in the reading room of the Mechanics Hall and, consequently, the following were duly elected a the first office bearers of the Werribee Golf Club:- President – Dr R.A. Manly, Vice Presidents – Messrs W.W.G. Fitz-John and C.B. Clifford. Committee:- Messrs G.P. Muirhead, W.J. Hamly, R.L. Beyer, L. Wright and D. McLaughlin. Mr P Whitbourn was elected Secretary/Manager.

The decision was taken to build the course on the Dubour property and $10 was voted toward the cost of construction.

The course was declared open on Saturday, 19 th May by the President, and the opening event of the season was Mixed Foursomes over 9 holes. The first recorded winners of a Werribee Golf Club event were Mr J Larkins and Mrs Whitbourn with a score of 62-11-51.

Dr. Manly's leadership in the first year led to the firm establishment of the golf club and the club was fortunate to have enthusiastic Presidents such as Mr W.W.G. Fitz-John in 1929, Mr W.C. Cayley in 1930 and Mr H. Densley in 1931 to guide the infant golf club through its initial stages.

Several locations were tried out before the Werribee Golf Club was to find a permanent home in the centre of the Werribee Racecourse. At the end of World War II, the Racecourse became the home of golf in Werribee for the next thirty years. During that time, a 9-hole layout with sand scrapes was established in the centre of the track by the members on a voluntary basis.

Not happy with the use of the "Jockeys' Room" as a clubhouse, the members decided to construct a clubhouse of their own in 1954 and, despite a burglary and fire, the "shed" was added to produce a more functional premises including a change room for Members and Associates.

Disaster struck in the late 1950's when this complex was burnt to the ground. Undaunted by their latest setback, the club, to their credit, raised the necessary capital to construct and bigger and better clubhouse on the site almost immediately.

With the dawning of the 1960s the development of a second 9 holes on adjacent land was a major step in the club's history. The Shire of Werribee and the Werribee Race course Trustees made available the area which gave the club and the Werribee area its first 18 hole golf course.

In 1973, the club's most significant step in over forty years was taken with the construction of 9 grass greens on the front nine which was in the centre of the racetrack. This forward step was taken by voluntary labour of club members and in 1974 a modern water reticulation system was installed to service the area with the love of the game by the membership burning deeply, determination and progressiveness was evident in the challenge of having their own golf course and clubhouse.

Werribee Park Estate, which had been owned by generations of the Chirnside family, was sold the Catholic church in 1922 and it then became the Corpus Christi College and to remain so until the early 1970's.

It was during the early 1970's that the Victorian Government negotiated with the church to purchase the property for the people of Victoria. With the purchase of the state, the Werribee Golf Club lodged a submission with the Interim Committee of Management of the Werribee Park Estate to seek the lease of sufficient land on which to construct an 18-hole golf course.

With this original submission doomed to failure, the Committee of the day led by President, Leo Doolan, Secretary Brian Candy and Captain, Alan Thompson, were even more determined that the site for a new golf course was in the confines of Werribee Park Estate and the club. Having experienced bigger hurdles than a submission rejection were determined to try again.

Painstakingly, the club compiled a second submission and, with the assistance and guidance of the then local member of parliament, the late Mr Neville Hudson M.L.A, this submission, much to the delight of the Werribee Golf Club, was to bear fruit. The State Government approved the plan in mid 1975 and it precipitated a period of intense interest and activity both within and outside the club.

The site, which was granted for the construction of a golf course, is approximately 130 acres of the "primest grazing land" in the southeastern section of the estate. A massive continual "working bee" cleared that 130-acre site for construction of the course. This included the demolition of derelict buildings, the clearing of fence posts and fencing wire, the election of and removal of stone scrub and the grubbing and removal of boxthorn bushes and other noxious weeds.

The design of the new course was entrusted to the golf course architectural firm, Cough, Woods and Associates, and under the watchful eyes and expertise of prominent golfer Ken Hartley, the former grazing areas were shaped into fairways retaining the original watercourses and all the trees. The general topographical features were left unaltered.

With the aid of a $90,000 grant from the State Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation, a sophisticated automatic water reticulation system was installed to serve all fairways, greens and tees. During off-peak power loading periods the sprinklers can be individually set to operate for a period of two minutes each morning on the greens to remove the dew. The allocation of this grant met opposition at Werribee Council and at the Western Region Commission but this opposition was short lived.

The construction of the course proceeded at full pace and on 4 th December 1976 the then Governor of Victoria drove the first ball officially declaring open the Werribee Park Golf Club. The week prior to the official opening a group of members listed a number of firsts on the infant course. The first course record was shared by Syd Porter and Peter Cutler with an 80 off the stick. Leo Doolan is credited with parring the first hole to register the first par on the course.

Life Member, Alan Brenchley recorded the first birdie with his four on the fourth hole; Brian Nutter hit the first ball into the river and Robert Dove was first into the dam. Alan Thompson was the first to make a century and Ern Kelly is recorded as first to lose his ball.

The first member to win on the new course was Darryl Lowe with a score of 41-10-31 and Jean Grant was the first Associated with a score of 49-11.5-37.5. Both wins were over nine holes on the official Opening Day, which was, marred somewhat by a strong northerly wind that members have so often encountered in later years.

The club, at that early stage, boasted one of the largest and most lavish clubhouses outside of St. Andrews. Up until the time the existing clubhouse was built, the members used part of the old seminary at the back of the mansion as their clubhouse.

Not one to rest on their laurels, the Committee set about planning the construction of the present magnificent clubhouse. The site of the cliffs has the advantage that, from the lounge area, at least thirteen fairways can be seen, giving the member a completely unsurpassed view of their course.

The building was designed by Tom King, Shaw and Evans and construction was carried out by Merchant Builders. A requirement that had to be met was that, in keeping with the style of other buildings on the estate, the clubhouse was given a homestead look.

On 10 th December 1978, just two years and six days after he officiated at the opening of the course, Sir Henry Winneke once again returned to Werribee Park Golf Club to officially declare open the new clubhouse. Club President of the day, Brian Candy, presented Sir Henry with the ball that he used two years for a ball he had hit to be returned to him."

On Saturday, 20 th October 1979, a unanimous vote of members at especially convened meeting conferred Life Membership on retired M.L.A., Mr. Neville Hudson. Mr Hudson had a long association with the club and the club was indebted to him for this assistance in making their dream become a reality.

Those assembled were told of Neville's assistance in working with past President, Leo Doolan, in acquiring the lease for the land on which the course stands, the organising of the finance for the new clubhouse, his assistance in a submission for improving public facilities on the course. It is unfortunate that he is not alive today to see his dream of the Werribee Park Golf course becoming the showpiece that he envisaged.

Thursday, 16 th March 1982 saw the club stage its first Pro-Am event with a purse of $2000. Many professionals and amateurs were disappointed when one of the severest electrical storms to ever hit the area stopped and consequently had played abandoned for the day. The new date was set down for 6 th April and with superb weather on that occasion, a result was achieved. Peter Croker was the only player in the field to better par with his course record of 69 which still stands even to this day.

There have been quite a few "Holes-in-One" in the ten year history of the club but the most significant would have to be the ace scored by Terry Foote on 22 nd December 1979. That dream shot of Terry's is possibly the only one in the world that was scored on the site where the player was born. The position of the third green is where the Foote family home stood many years ago.

The weekend of 15 th and 16 th October 1983 brought much heartache to those that had worked for the construction of the course. Torrential rain had filled the upstream reservoirs to capacity and, consequently, the Werribee River, which is usually a placid tidal stream, became a raging torrent.

The water racing down from the catchment areas had brought debris and anything else in its path down onto the lower reaches and, in doing, so inundated the golf course and surrounding areas. Fourteen of the eighteen holes were under the floodwaters.

After the peak, and when the water had subsided, the club was faced with the immediate task of getting the course playable once again. The members, as usual, rallied and the following weekend saw a working bee set to the task. This setback to the club was to be repeated once again in 1985 almost two years to the day after the 1983 floods. On this occasion, the worst hit area was the eleventh green, which was gouged out, be a wayward tree trunk pushed along by the raging torrent.

The club during its ten-year history has had many setbacks and many highlights. It is to the credit of many dedicated members that the club has achieved its prominent place in Victorian golf in such a short period of time. This brief account of the first ten years of the Werribee Park Golf Club is written to be part of a never-ending story. Many people are responsible for the founding of the club and many people are also responsible for making the club what it is today. It is those people that the present membership owes a debt of gratitude.

To be continued. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Most things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done."