The Golf Society of Australia was launched in February 1983 with a 'hickory' golf day at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
Discussions and planning had begun in early 1981 after the idea of forming a society to research and preserve the history of golf in Australia was put forward by Dr Ken Shepherd. Several meetings took place, and a Constitution and objectives were drawn up, which have formed the basis of the Society's activities.
These objectives are:
•establishment of a golf museum
•collection of golf memorabilia
•regular golf days
•dinners with guest speakers
The proposal to form a Museum was taken to the Australian Golf Union (AGU), the governing body of golf in Australia. AGU By-Law No 10, forming a Museum Committee, was then passed, the membership being the Committee of the newly formed Golf Society of Australia.
The objectives of the Museum Committee are:
•To collect or otherwise acquire any items of historical golfing nature
•To decide and determine the standard and quality of items relating to golf which are of a historical nature and eligible for display as museum pieces
•To categorise and arrange historical golf items as museum pieces
•To compile, publish, decipher and annotate any golfing literature, illustrations or photographs for the purpose of recording the history of golf
•To compile and amend from time to time a list of historical golfing national records
The relationship forged with the Australian Golf Union continues with Golf Australia, the organisation formed in 2006 following a merger with Women's Golf Australia.
The Society also has strong links with state golfing bodies. Contact details are available via the Golf Australia website.
2017 Office Bearers:
President: Graeme Ryan
Secretary: Kim Hastie
Treasurer: Dick Kirby
Committee:
• Peter Gompertz
• Neil Walker
• Anthony Rule
• Max Findlay
• Cliff George
• David Hewitt
Golf Australia representative:
Trevor Herden, Director – Championships
Patron: Peter W Thomson AO, CBE
Past Presidents:
1982-1986
Doug Bachli MBE *
1986-1988
Burtta Cheney MBE *
1988-1990
Ken Shepherd RFD, VRD and Bar, MBBS (Melb) *
1990-1992
Peter Rosenhain DFC, BSc *
1992-1994
Don Lawrence *
1994-2000
Daryl Cox*
2000-2002
Anne Court
2002-2007
Keith Wood AM *
2008-2011
Ian Rennick
* Deceased