Golf Vic Vol 60 No 2 2019

Photography: Sevi Skaleris Groundbreaker… Liedeke Bosma has helped Mt Derrimut carve a new direction. “When we established the vision, we felt that at the same time we should do a whole branding exercise to expand the perception from being just a golf club to being a golf and community club. We, Clint in particular, are very proactive in trying to get the ‘community ’ element into the club. And the club is right on Mt Derrimut, so we thought it appropriate to name it after that,” said Bosma. So, in January 2018, Sunshine Golf Club – home of former Australian Masters champion Craig Parry in his junior days – became Mt Derrimut Golf and Community Club. To get a handle on women’s perspective around golf, Ebeyer contacted Chyloe Kurdas, Female Engagement Senior Manager at Golf Australia, and invited her to Mt Derrimut to discuss ways in which the club could introduce gender-neutral measures. He also spoke with Sam Squires, female sports presenter and journalist who founded the women in sport think-tank Sportette and who is on the board of ALPG. From there a range of initiatives were introduced: • The traditional women’s and men’s competition days have been revoked, with gender-neutral competition available to all on any day of every week. • The traditional Ladies Captain and Ladies President have been replaced with Club Captain and Club President. • Separate men’s and women’s competitions have been melded into one competition. • Gender-based tees have been replaced with ability tees, using colours that are not gender-stereotyped. • An events calendar has been set up to encourage women to try golf. • Nine-hole competitions for players – with or without handicap – are available every day. While some members, male and female, have understandably found the initial period challenging, the club has been at pains to improve communication and transparency and to ease them in. “After every board meeting, Clint pulls together everything we’ve discussed and sends it out to the members. We are very transparent about everything we do. There are no closed doors, no secrecy, they know what’s coming months ahead and we confront rumour straight away,” said Bosma. Indeed, the annual survey recently completed not only attracted an excellent response rate but a high-percentage positive rating along with constructive Golf Victoria 25