Irene Taylor the overall women’s winner in the NSW Veterans Sand Green Championships with her trophy and opal. “In 14 years digging, this is the best we’ve ever done,” she said.
RIDGE businesses reaped the benefits, when veteran golfers hit town for the NSW Veterans Sand Green Championships, last week. Visitors went home wearing some impressive Ridge gemstones while the town reaped close to $250,000
in beds and breakfasts, tours and trinkets.
But this windfall may be for the last time, unless Lightning Ridge Golf Club can find affordable public liability insurance.
The club is facing a bill of $1600 a month – an impossible ask for its two dozen or so members. If it cannot find affordable cover, the whole town would suffer, according to Chamber of Commerce’s vice president industrial, Eddie Webb.
Last year’s Women’s Rose Bowl, attracted 196 starters on each of the two days’ play and was a real boost for the town – but so were the charity days and sponsored tournaments which raised much needed funds for local schools, SES, hospital and other charities, he said.
The board was presently seeking new members offering a special deal – one-third off the cost of fees for this year, president Val Boardman said.
Interested people should contact him on 6829 0368 or 6829 0006.
The club has been operating for over 30 years and been a registered club for about 10 years he said. The club house had been popular venue for functions and as a quiet drinking hole, free of poker machines. However changes to drink driving laws, the economic downturn in the opal mining industry and the loss of keen golfers from the area had impacted its profitability dramatically over the past few years,
he said.
The NSW Veterans’ Sand Green Championships at the Lightning Ridge Golf Course had produced “the best roll-up in years”, according to long-time member, Nigel Webb. The event attracted 104 starters for the two day competition, with a strong local contingent joined by veteran golfers from as far afield as Tweed Heads, Tamworth, the Central Coast and Port Macquarie.
“Veterans Golf is becoming a huge movement with over 13,200 members in NSW alone” NSWVGA Vice-President Bill Poole of Morrisett said. The organisation holds 30 tournaments a year in NSW with this one taking in Dubbo and Bingara.
“It’s been a good week,” Mr Poole said.
“The locals have put it together well.
“It’s been an ‘interesting’ course and the weather has been great.”
“It would be a real shame if Lightning Ridge was out of the circuit,”
NSWVGA counsellor Paul Horton, a retired Police forensics officer
said.
“The spread these ladies have put on is second to none.”
“I travel all over NSW with vets’ golf and I always love coming to‘LR’.
“I hope to be back again soon.”
