clubs
Spotlight on Ashgrove volunteers
David Newbery
Col the age breaker
[email protected]
E
VERY Wednesday morning, a 30-strong
band of faithful Ashgrove Golf Club
members turn up to do voluntary work
around their beloved golf course.
For all of them, it’s a labour of love.
Some volunteers are rookies while others like
84-year-old Col Welch have been chipping in
for decades.
STALWART: Age doesn’t stop Col Welch from
chipping in on the course.
“I have been volunteering at the club for 35
years – ever since I joined as a member,” Col
said. “I have only missed three working bees in
35 years.”
HE’S 84 years old, but Col Welch is showing
no signs of slowing down.
The club’s operations manager Michael
Ronan said the volunteers were involved in a
range of activities including major works.
DIG IN: A group of Ashgrove Golf Club members at work on the club’s beautification program.
“One day they will be working on irrigation
and other days it’s mowing, brush-cutting or
laying new turf,” he said.
There’s great camaraderie among the
volunteers, who come from all walks of life.
“They do a lot of the project work like cart
paths and things like that. In fact, we have
volunteers right across the whole operation,
including behind the bar.
“The amount of work they do around the
place is unbelievable. It’s in excess of 900 hours
a month.
“We are very lucky we have such generous
members. Through our volunteers, we were
able to get superintendent Darren Allan a
Bayer environmental award.”
Recently Inside Golf caught up with the
loyal, cheery band of volunteers as they
worked on course presentation by laying new
turf and spreading bark as part of the club’s
beautification program.
The adage “many hands make light work”
certainly applied here.
There are air traffic controllers, lawyers,
engineers, stockbrokers, company directors,
carpenters, a former school principal, a builder,
a truckie and a chef to name a few.
They might come from varying backgrounds,
but they have one thing in common – golf.
“We do it to make the golf course better for
everyone,