Royal Queensland Golf Club Heritage Day Luncheon

Royal Queensland Golf Club President, Mr Robert McAfee; Vice President, Mr Liam Ryan; Captain, Mr Roger Jones; Ladies Captain, Ms Rosemary McKeon; current and past club leadership; Long-standing members; ladies and gentlemen.

I begin by acknowledging the original custodians of the lands around Brisbane; the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respects to their Elders, past, present, and emerging, and to any First Nations people here today.

Thank you for the warm welcome. It is a great pleasure, as Patron of the Royal Queensland Golf Club, to join you for what is my second Heritage Day Luncheon.

Unlike many former Governors, I am not a golfer. Well, not yet.

However, I have been well advised of its many benefits, and in my capacity as a former medical professional am very supportive of any sport or past-time that incorporates fresh air and exercise for people all ages, body types and skill levels!

Vice-Regal connections to this magnificent club do, of course, stretch back aways.

The 13th Governor of Queensland, Sir Matthew Nathan, ceremonially turned the first sod here at Royal Brisbane in 1921. I understand he was a golfer, but history does not record whether he turned the sod using a spade or a mashie niblick! 

No doubt it would have been a grand occasion for a fledgling club, having just been granted its Royal Charter by King George the Fifth, with the King’s official letter of notification signed by the British Secretary of State at the time — one Winston S. Churchill.

Apart from myself, you have another recent and close Vice-Regal association, through your club member — and our State’s 23rd Governor — Major General Peter Arnison AC CVO.

He may have already told you, but in case he hasn’t, I will: Major General Arnison was responsible for various significant upgrades at the Fernberg Estate, where Government House is located. These included replacing the outdated water and waste systems, and building an outdoor entertaining pavilion in the grounds.

I can safely say that one of his upgrades — a raised tee behind the tennis court — has been less well-used by me, however I often pass it when walking through the grounds, a reminder perhaps that I still have time to embark on my golfing journey!

I look forward to presenting the Governor’s Medal to a deserving female member of the club, along with the Governor’s Trophy, the Carnegie Clarke Hickory Championship and the Governor-General’s Trophy, to which today’s event owes much of its excitement.

I congratulate all those who competed in these events throughout the year and thank you again for your efforts to uphold the traditions of this club, one of Queensland’s finest sporting institutions.