G’day, James Sutton here. Today, I’m outside a local institution to talk about how it evolved to become the highly valued community facility enjoyed by many local residents. The story of Roseville Golf Club began in 1922. Apparently, there’d been 19 consecutive weekends of rain in Roseville, which had decimated the local cricket and tennis playing community as you could imagine. At the same time, the Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Draining Board, who had original plans to turn this 50 acre parcel of land behind me into a sewage farm, decided against the project. Local businessman, William Horwood, convinced a group of friends to chip in and buy the 50 acres and build a golf course here where rain would not completely curtail participation. Having raised 50 pounds from the consortium of friends as a deposit, Horwood secured the parcel of land, including a small wooden cottage, which would become the clubhouse. Local real estate agents and auctioneers, Blake and Hankins, hosted the first board meeting of the club and a nine hole course was officially conceived and built by March 1924, the “Sydney Morning Herald” reported that the course was in full use by 140 shareholding members and that the company was in a sound financial position. The directors at that stage were reported as being Clifford Coles, who was also the president, J. Callaghan, W. Horwood, T. Hughes, V. Toose, T. Watt and R. Pennefather. The course became 18 holes in 1925 when the course was given an official opening by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Dudley De Chair. In 1928, a Pro-Am competition was established called the Gold Mashie Tournament.

This became the longest running annual Pro-Am in Australia, and well-known photographer of the time, Sidney Riley, donated the cup for the winner. Over the years, Peter Senior and Peter Fowler amongst other PGA pros have carried off that trophy. In 1934, the clubhouse was rebuilt as the membership had grown substantially since the course was built. The Second World War had a major impact on the use of the course as the majority of members served their country. However, a group of locals that remained here used it on Thursdays to play, and they raised a substantial amount of money for the Red Cross. In 1946, the club was awarded a liquor licence, enabling the social side to flourish, including events and functions. In fact, my parents, Peter and Belinda Sutton, held their wedding reception here in April 1988. Back to the modern day, and according to the records, the median price for houses in Roseville is now sitting at $3.65 million. It’s been a great run over the last year or so, that’s for sure. My name’s James Sutton, and I hope you found the evolution of the Roseville Golf Club interesting. I’ll be digging up plenty more stories about the Roseville area in the coming weeks and months, so stay tuned. If you’d like to discuss your property, please don’t hesitate to drop in and see me at the McGrath North Shore office, located at 280 Pacific Highway in Lindfield, or give me a call on my mobile anytime. My number is 0422-704-370. Bye for now.