Compiled by Life Member Keith Wilkinson

Mr. J.O. Ellis was elected President by the initial meeting but a Captain was not appointed until September 1924 when Commonwealth Bank Manager, Mr. C. Taylor, was appointed. The official opening of the Edge Hill course was made on the 26th January 1924.

During 1924 the club explored the possibility of relocating the course to another site, and two locations were selected – one at Freshwater to the north of the town and the send at Burpu, on the southern outskirts of Cairns. Several reasons for the transfer appeared in Club Minutes but the major one was reluctance on the part of Dean to renew the Club’s lease of the site. The site at Burpu was selected and has remained the site of the Cairns Golf Club to the present day.

The official opening of the new nine-hole course at Burpu was performed on the 26th January 1926. The name Burpu has long since disappeared from district maps, but at the time of the opening of the course was the name designated by the Railway Department to a railway siding that was sited outside the entrance to the golf club. The name and siding have since disappeared and the area is now generally referred to as Woree. The land occupied by the course was leased from the Lands Department, but in 1930 the Club Committee moved to convert the property to freehold and a sum of £100/16/0d was set aside for its purchase. In the years to follow additional adjoining properties were purchased, greatly enlarging the original land purchased.

Mr. W.E. Robertson, although not a Professional Golfer, carried out these duties from June until October 1924. In October 1924 he was replaced by Mr. T.H. Southcome, a Professional Golfer, who was paid a retainer of £3/10/0d per week. With the transfer of the course to Burpu it was Southcome who over sighted the work of constructing a 9-hole course. The course layout, with the addition of several holes, would remain basically the same until after the Second World War when it was converted to an 18-hole course.

The first clubhouse was constructed at a price of £500/0/0d in 1926 and although modified and remodeled on several occasions, retained the same basic structure until it was destroyed by fire on Christmas night 1971. The photo below shows the clubhouse as it was in September 1969. At the time of the fire, a new clubhouse was under construction and the new premises were rushed into operation towards the end of 1972. Major alterations to this building have been carried out on at least three occasions since 1971. Proposed road works by the Transport Department could force the Club to relocate the clubhouse at some stage in the future.

The 1927 Committee of Cairns Golf Club was instrumental in the formation of the Far North Queensland Golf Association, when at a club meeting held on 23rd May it drew up a Constitution for the formation of an Association. An invitation was extended to other golf clubs in the region to attend a Special Meeting to be held at the Strand Hotel in Cairns with the purpose of approving the Constitution and formation of the Association.

Initially, all meetings of the Cairns Golf Club were held at the Strand Hotel, which has since disappeared from the Cairns scene. It, with the Pacific Hotel, occupied sites adjacent to each other on the Cairns Esplanade, both sites are now occupied by the present Pacific Hotel.

Lack of finance was a continual problem, and up to, and during the first years of the Second World War, the club experienced difficulties finding sufficient revenue to keep the day to day running of the club in place. Membership was low compared to modern day standards – as a comparison, the 1928 Annual Report listed the club’s strength as 57 Members, 31 Associates, 4 Country Members and 6 Non-Playing Members, while the Annual Meeting in 1942 listed the Membership as 80 Members, 83 Associates, 6 Life Members, 3 Country Members, 3 Mid Week Members and 1 Non Playing Member. In 1942, the Club Treasurer, Jack Warner, advised that the club would fold if additional revenue were not obtained. He estimated weekly running expenses at £10/15/8 while revenue received amounted to £11/2/5d.

However, unexpected relief occurred when Australian and United States Servicemen were garrisoned in and around Cairns. It was during the later part of war years that the club flourished – Australian Troops were quartered on the course, for which rent was received, and the clubhouse was a constant venue for social gatherings and dances. The President, Dr. Langan, reported that the club made more money from leasing the clubhouse to the Australian and American troops than it did from use of the course by golfers.

The original course consisted of 9 holes and in 1931, action was taken to increase the number to 18, with the November 1931 meeting empowering its Green Committee to prepare the necessary plans. However nothing would be done until 1939, when initial clearing works were carried out. Prior to this year Mr. Stan Jones, a Brisbane Course Architect visited the district and provided plans for the layout of an 18-hole course. With the outbreak of the Second World War the work was put on hold and thoughts of a reconstruction would not be contemplated until 1946.

Members prominent in Club affairs prior and during the Second World War were Mr. S.H. Warner, who served 17 consequent years as President, his son Jack, who in the year 2000 remains the only survivor of the early years, Miss Margaret Elizabeth Jones, who gave 24 years service to the advancement of Associates golf in Far North Queensland, and the Griffiths' brothers George and Jack. George Griffiths would serve 11 terms as Captain and five terms as President of the Club. In 1948, George would be the first Member to receive Life Membership of the Cairns Golf Club for services rendered. Initially Life Memberships were sold on payment of a fee equal to eight years annual membership - £25/4/0. The revenue gained was used by the Club in the purchase of equipment etc. The first six Life Memberships were granted in this way and it was not until 1948 that the first Life Membership was given for services to the Club.

The Committee of the 1942 Club Committee reads like a Who’s Who of well know Cairns families and included Mr. S.H. Warner Patron, Dr. Langan President, Mr. G.H. Griffiths Captain with Committee Members being Messrs. C. Woodward, N.P. Draper, G.D. Gummow, F.R. Ireland, J.R. Warner, J.P. Griffiths, H. Hastie, N. Harris, V. Carmen, H. Leonard, R. Reynolds and R. Omeara.

Post War to Present…

In 1946 clearing of land in preparation for the upgrading of the course to 18 holes commenced with the 1947 October meeting being advised that work was progressing, with the fairways being ready for mowing by December of the same year. The Annual Meeting in February 1948 listed the total membership as 233, including 134 Members and 84 Associates. Costs in the construction of the holes amounted to £1,314/4/0d. The meeting was told that play on the new 18 hole course was set for April, however later minutes record that the official opening would not be until 1949. There is evidence to suggest that play on the new 18 hole course took place in 1948.

The course layout, sketch shown to the left, would remain basically the same until December 1985 when the Club under the Presidency of Rob Campbell initiated moves for a complete remodeling of the course and call in noted Course Designer Ross Watson, a partner in the golf development firm of Marsh, Watson and Company, to draw up designs for a new course. Due to the overall development over a period of 10 years, with work on stage 1 commencing during 1986.

Following Presidents Rod Mauger, Malcolm Cleland and Tim Paterson endeavoured to keep the project on target, but financial constraints saw the project fall behind schedule and by the year 2000 one hole has yet to be completed. The actual costs involved in the work are hard to estimate but records on hand suggest that up to 1999 construction costs were in the vicinity of $1,083,361.87 with design and supervision costs at $62,250. A sketch showing the course as it was in 1997 appears to the left.

The first paid Secretary/Manager of the club was appointed in July 1965 when C.W. Byrde accepted the position on a yearly salary of £1,500/0/0d. Byrde later resigned in August of the same year. Others to occupy the position were Messrs. L. Robinson, R. Clarke, C. Edgar, B. Pearman, M. McCain, Keith Spinks, Max. Plummer, Noel Webster and Ken Norman. The present occupant is Mr. Jason Salecich. Jim Scales occupied the position on a part time basis from 1991 until 1994.

Professionals employed by the Club include the following – Tom Southcome, Les Cory, Denis Kurby, Paul King, John Hadley, Graeme Bell and the present encumbent, Brett Wilson. The appointment of John Hadley was an advantageous one as Hadley was a man who had flair for organization and to him is credited the introduction of the City of Cairns Open. The Open originally commenced as a one day Pro Am event but before its demise in 1975, became a seven-day tournament comprising both Amateur and Professional Events.

The City of Cairns was first played in 1965 with the event played over 36 holes, all on the one day, with the format on a Professional/Amateur basis. The winner, Professional John Collins, received a purse of £250/0/0d, but prize monies would increase as the event expanded. The Purse grew from £250/0/0d in 1965 to $5,000 in 1973. In 1974 the P.G.A. asked for greater purses after that year’s purse was reduced. The Club advised that Sponsorships were hard to obtain and added to this was the fact that John Hadley, the driving force behind the event, had left the Club in 1972. The Club was unwilling to increase the purse for 1975 and the event did not eventuate.

The Professionals to win the City of Cairns included – John Collins, Randall Vines (2), Tom Linskey, Col Johnstone, John Lister, Tim Woolbank, Vic Bennets, Graeme Bell and Robert Taylor. Bill Dunk, David Graham, Walter Godfrey, Vaughn Sommers, Ted Ball, Ian Baker Finch, John Donald and teaching Professionals Charlie Earp, Eric Cremin and Alec Mercer regularly made the trip north.

With the demise of the Professional event in 1974 the club introduced the City of Cairns Amateur Open Tournament in 1975, which immediately became a success. Teams of Amateur golfers from all over Queensland and interstate attended, with major contributions from Gold Coast Clubs, Mt Isa and Weipa. Early fields contained over 300 golfers, but in later years fields were restricted to 280 competitors.

During 1997 Club President David Barnard, in association with Mrs. Gail O’Shea, laid plans for the assimilation of all male and female club members into one class of Membership. Mrs. O’Shea holds the distinction of being the first female elected to the previously all male dominated Committee of the Cairns Golf Club. The 1999 Annual Meeting approved the creation of one class of Membership wherein all males and females would be classified as Members, enjoying the same rights and privileges.

In the year 2000 the Membership stands at 752 Members (male & female) and 57 Juniors.