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The Gainsborough Greens Veteran Golfers Association (GG Vets) was founded by past member, Alan Underwood, in March 2010 with approx 28 members. For the first few years, competitions were organised by Alan, in conjunction with Pro shop staff, until a committee was formed in 2013.
Members of the first committee in 2013 were:
Alan Underwood (Chairman), Ernie Davidson (Secretary), Lorrie Devlin (Treasurer), Bob Baxter (Pennants Organiser), Ray Beavis (Social Organiser), Mary Knight and David Wheeler.
Since 2013, new committees have been elected at the GG Vets Annual General Meeting held each year in the month of July. (From 2021 AGM's will be conducted on the Fun Day in January)
Membership to the GG Vets is open to all GG golf club members with age restrictions in place. Men and ladies must be 55..
GG Vets is affiliated with the Northern Gold Coast & District Veteran Golfers Association and each year, until 2022, competed in the District’s Peter Clarke Memorial Shield competition comprising of 5 events. GG Vets were successful Shield winners in 2012 and 2015. In addition to the Peter Clarke memorial two additional competitions were held being: A closed District Championship and a closed Aged Championship.
GG Vets Competitions are held every Thursday throughout the year from mid January to mid December. The first Thursday of the month is generally a Monthly Medal Stroke event and the second Thursday a Charity Day event. Charity days were introduced in 2013 and sponsored by past member Lorrie Devlin’s company, Lorries Pies. Lorrie is no longer a member so on these days $2 is added to the competition fee. Throughout the year these additional funds accumulate and are all donated to a Charity the following year. The recipient Charity is chosen by the winner of the Charity Day playoff held in December of each year.
In 2014, ‘Fun Day’ events were introduced for the last Thursdays in the month. These events are a shotgun start with players using carts followed by a luncheon together in the clubhouse. Fun Days are subsidised by the GG Vets Committee and were initially introduced as a means of distributing funds back to club members. As a draw is done for playing groups on these days, it was also seen as an opportunity for encouraging social interaction amongst all members.
Stroke Championships were introduced in 2013 with all players competing in one division. Inaugural club champion that year was Murray Callaway, with Alan Underwood the Net winner.
In 2014, as the Club’s membership continued to grow, three Divisions were introduced for the Championships - Div 1 and 2 for Men and a Ladies division.
In September 2024 membership stands at 173 which includes 43 ladies and continues to grow with substantial home building in the Pimpama area and the strong influence of the adjacent Halcyon Greens community.
Northern Gold Coast & Districts Veteran Golfers Association Inc
The inaugural meeting of representatives from five local vets clubs (associated with Parkwood International, Carrara, Tamborine Mountain, Tallebudgera/Coplicks and Helensvale golf clubs) was held 0n 21st May 1997 and resolved to form a veterans golfers association to be affiliated with the Queensland VGU. Shortly afterwards, the district was formally constituted by the membership of four of these clubs - Helensvale withdrew its interest - and, in May 1998, the Carrara club changed its name to Emerald Lakes. In June 1999, the Gold Coast Veterans club, associated with the Gold Coast Country Club was approved for membership.
Over the years, the Tallebudgera club withdrew from membership in 2010; Gainsborough Greens Veterans club was admitted to replace Tallebudgera; a brief period of membership from Arundel Hills Country Club occurred and the Gold Coast veterans were forced to withdraw at the end of 2015 due to the closure of their golf course , allowing the Tallebudgera club to be re-admitted.
The District became an Incorporated Association, registered with the Queensland Office of Fair Trading , in 2010.
In 2017 the District conducted the Australian VGU annual championship which was described at the time as being the best ever.
At the conclusion of 2022 Emerald Lakes and Tallebudgera withdrew from the Association. In Q1 of 2023 Tamborine Mountain also withdrew. As a result of this the operations of the group was discussed and it was decided to move to a new model.
* Golf Genius was selected as a portal for golfers registering for an event.
* The number of games each year has been expanded from two "home Games" (Parkwood and Gainsborough Greens) plus approximately 7 additional games at selected courses.
* The Peter Clarke Shield was abandoned: and
* A "Player of the Year" was introduced.
Non-members of the Northern Districts would be encouraged to register for a fee set by the committee for events that fall short of a suitable number to attract a minimum entry fee.
BREAKING NEWS
The District have been successful in gaining the right to host the 2025 State Veterans Championship and the 2026 National Championship.
Queensland Veteran Golf Union
Queensland Veteran Golf Union
The Queensland Veteran Golf Union comprises 21 Districts stretching from Cairns to the Tweed. The Union has around 9,100 members from over 100 golf clubs and in addition to the two major State Championships around 50 open events are held throughout the State each year. To become a veteran golfer you must be a male member of a golf club affiliated with the Australian Golf Union, be over 55 years and have a current AGU handicap. All Gainsborough Greens Veteran members are automatically members of Veteran Golf Queensland and also the Australian Veterans Golf Union.
Refer: www.qvgu.com.au
Australian Veteran Golfers Association
Australian Veteran Golfers Association
A National Body was considered most essential and the first meeting of the "Steering Committee" took place on the 16th June 1981 at The Australian Golf Club. The Australian Veteran Golfers Union was formed for the purpose of organising senior golf in Australia. Each State has continued to grow, with representatives from each State being represented on the National Committee of the Australian Veteran Golfers Union.
Being the original body that created the spread of veteran golf throughout Australia, the Australian Veteran Golfers Association Inc. still promotes "Goodwill between Nations" by operating its overseas golf tours and local golf tours within Australia.
The Australian Veteran Golfers Association Inc. operated golf events and tours for the benefit of Senior Golfers who are members of registered Golf Clubs. Due to a change in legal requirements in Australia, it has necessitated all tours being managed by Golfsmart Pty Ltd - a NSW licensed Travel Agent up to 30 June 2014, after which time licensing requirements in Australia ceased.
Golfsmart Pty Ltd now trades as AVGA Golf and was approved by the Australian Veteran Golfers Association Inc. at the time to be the sole company to handle all of its tours and events.
AVGA GOLF still provides support for senior golf in various ways and enjoys a close working relationship with the Australian Veteran Women Golfers Association.
In 2021 there were approximately 32,441 veteran golf members across the country with with state and territory wide competitions regularly utilising hundreds of golf courses.
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