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Our History
A nine-hole course was established at “The Lodge” in about 1897 and
social golf was played for a few years before the first matches
against other towns commenced in 1901. The club was one of
nine foundation members of the South Australian Golf Association in
1904. Good local courses were also established by Mr. G.
Meikle and Mr. C. Griffin. The ladies were playing by
1905 or earlier, and formed their own club in 1907.
Two Strathalbyn players achieved early fame: Guy Stirling, whose
father owned “The Lodge” course, was the South Australian Amateur
Champion in 1908, and Ben Castle was the South Australian Country
Champion from 1910 to 1920. Until 1941, the Strathalbyn Golf
Club was a private club.
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| 1906 Members | Scene from the Angas Golf Club (circa 1929) |
The public Angas Golf Club (formed in 1929) overlooked the town
from the west, and by 1938 had an 18-hole scrapes course. The
combined membership of these two clubs hovered around 125 for the
whole of the 1930s - about 10% of Strathalbyn's population of
1,200.
In 1941 all of the above clubs went into recess for the duration of
World War II, and none of them reopened after the war. "'The
Lodge'", was requisitioned by the Army in 1942 to establish a
Convalescent Depot for recuperating soldiers, and tents and other
more substantial buildings were erected all over the
golf course.
In 1946, a new club and 9-hole scrapes course were established on
Burnside Estate on property kindly loaned by Mr Harry Meyer.
In 1937, 1948 and 1953, the men's club won the SA Country Teams
Championship at Country Week in Adelaide, and all of these teams
contained Max Semple and Rob Meyer. Max Semple was a
legendary player who won a host of championships, and was
Strathalbyn's No. 1 player for a span of 36 years, from 1934 (when
he was 17 years old) to 1969 (his last season). He is the only
member of the club to have played off a "scratch" (zero)
handicap. When Max won the Strathalbyn Open Championship in
1937, he compiled two magnificent rounds of 70 which included an
amazing two 2s and thirteen 3s.
The Southern Argus (2 July, 1936) reported that Max Semple beat
the Kooyonga Simpson Cup player WS Shephard, in the Angas Open,
with the match attracting a large gallery of spectators who were
thrilled by the spectacular shots provided by these players.
(WS Shepherd became the SA Amateur Champion in 1950 and 1956, and
played for the Australian team in 1954). Max was twice SA
Country Champion (1937, 1947) and twice runner-up (1939,
1956). Incidentally, Max was not Strathalbyn's first Country
Champion. Between 1910 and 1920. Ben Castle won five
Country Championships. Even earlier, Guy Stirling won the
SA Amateur Championship in 1908 (Strathalbyn's only State Champion).
In the 1950s and early 1960s Strathalbyn had the best team on the
Fleurieu Peninsula, winning the coveted von Doussa Shield on 12
of the first 22 years of the competition, up until 1962. This
competition included teams from Mt. Barker, Murray Bridge and
Victor Harbor.
The Strathalbyn women won five SA Country Teams Championships
between 1937 and 1963, with Miss Esme Adams being a member of
all of them. Esme won at least three straight Club
Championships immediately before the war, and another eight
straight, immediately after the war. She was also SA Country
Champion in 1948 (and runner-up in 1947 and 1949). Even more
spectacular was Miss Robynn Meyer, who burst onto the scene in
1959. "The Advertiser" (22 September, 1961) reported SA's
most promising golf find for years, 20-year-old Miss
Robynn Meyer played brilliantly at Grange yesterday to complete
the senior- junior Country championships double for the second
successive year. She was a member of the State team
from 1959-1962 inclusive, SA Country Champion in 1960 and 1961, and
State Junior Champion (1960 and 1961).
From 1952 to 1974 the Strathalbyn women's team dominated
competitions on the Fleurieu Peninsula, winning the Southern Shield
10 times, but no honours have been won since that time
In about 1961, the club had the opportunity to buy a patch of
well-drained land on the plains near Milang. This would have
been more inclusive of the Langhorne Creek and Milang
communities whose golf clubs had closed down permanently in about
1940 at the onset of WWII, and also had the advantage of ready
access to water from Milang and an underground aquifer in the Angas
and Bremer Basin. Some members were disappointed when the
decision was made to purchase the scenic higher-rainfall property in
the hills, halfway between Strathalbyn and Ashbourne. The
decision was influenced by the declared intentions of the E &
WS department to build a mains water spur line from Sandergrove
straight past the latter site. Unfortunately, the spur line
was cancelled, and the course was left without adequate water.
In 1962, the club established an 18 hole scrapes course on the
newly-acquired freehold land several kilometres out of town on the
Ashbourne Road. When it became apparent that this would
not become a greens course (due to lack of water) several top
players left, and the fortunes of the club have never again reached
earlier levels. In the early 1990s up to 75 men participated
in Saturday competitions each week when the "StrathGolf" proposal
surfaced - the intention was to put in a new greens course at “The
Lodge” on the edge of town, in association with a large housing
subdivision. The housing subdivision was finally approved in
2005 (“Hampden Park”) but without the golf course.
In a bold attempt to resurrect the fortunes of the club, a decision
was made in 2002 to revert to a 9-hole greens course, but membership
(about 50-60) has remained at only half of the level of the early
1990s.
Dam water was used to irrigate the greens and tees, enabling play
even in summer, but there was never enough water to irrigate the
fairways. A bore was sunk in 2003 to supplement the existing
supply, and was first used to feed water into the main dam in
2005.
Our club continues to thrive thanks to many hours of voluntary work
put in by some of our members.
Our ladies competition continues to grow with fresh enthusiasm
boosting numbers and interest.
Our Mens competition, both on a Wednesday afternoon or Saturday
attracts an enthusiastic and social group of blokes.
Thank you to Brian Simpson for giving his
permission to include our history from his book:
Strathalbyn 1839 - 2006