Golf Vic Vol 60 No 1

Behind the 18th tee, a memorial garden has been planted for those Marysville members who lost their lives on February 7 – two golfers and three lawn bowlers – and that number includes 15-year-old Dalton Fiske, the brother of Marysville’s greenkeeper, Kellan. For Kellan, the 10th anniversary of Black Saturday is a time only for solemn reflection. He lost both his brother and mother Elizabeth in the fires. He was a 20-year-old apprentice greenkeeper at Marysville at the time but wasn’t working at the course on that Saturday – instead, as a volunteer CFA firefighter, he was on the back of a firetruck trying to keep the community safe. His dad Glen, a CFA captain, was also out fighting the fires when the family home was destroyed. “I have thought about the anniversary a little bit but for those of us affected by Black Saturday, we are reminded of it all the time,” he said. “We live it every day – for me, it’s the blackened trees around the course, or finding burnt golf balls around the place. “The memorial garden behind the 18th tee has a beautiful little plaque and I see that at least twice a week when we mow the tees.” Fiske credits his job at the golf club as being a key factor in his recovery and enabling him to piece his life back together. He is now 30 and has a partner and says he’s content with his lot. “The fact I had a job to go to after the fires was so important,” he said. “That, and the support I received from the members and the club received from the golf industry, including the greenkeepers’ association, was what helped me get on with my life.” From the highest point on the course, around the 12th green and 13th tee, you can get a wonderful view out to Cathedral Ridge and it is here that the The cluster of Mountain Ash trees stand like silent sentries over the course. Photo: Donovan Wilson 24 Golf Victoria