| 57 COMMUNITY Manawatu Golf Club Manawatu Golf Club’s ‘visionary members’ Manawatu Golf Club enjoy being an active part of their wider community. T T Virginia Wright The Manawatu Golf Club has 1200 members and keeps them at the forefront of all decision making to ensure they continue to enjoy and be proud of being part of the oldest golf club in the country. While keeping their members’ best interests at heart MGC is also committed to playing an important role in the wider community. The Manawatu Golf Club is about more than just the game. It has a café, a restaurant and an Events Centre, all popular with the general public, and 40 full-time staff to run them all. About 15 years ago what General Manager James Lovegrove describes as some ‘visionary members’ developed the idea of expanding what was a traditional golf club to include an events centre and hospitality hub with excellent results he explains. “That certainly helped us diversify our income stream. These profits, and the profits from the Pro shop, are put back into running and developing the course, and it helps to subsidise the membership. It has allowed us to develop into being one of the leading parkland courses in New Zealand and we’re very proud that we now have some of the best greens in the country.” That improvement is attested to by any number of New Zealand’s top golfers who play there annually to take part in the Brian Green Property Group’s Super Six Event. To keep those greens in top shape the club is investing in two electric mowers to replace the current diesel mower which brings the cost of the daily lawn mowing down from $16 to $2.20. That combination of sustainable and financial investment is expected to pay for itself within five years. “Balancing those two bottom lines is key to every decision we make, and we’ve got some big projects coming up,” says James. To address the Health & Safety issue posed by stray balls from the outdoors driving range they’re looking to invest in the latest technology as they design and develop a new enclosed outdoor range. It’s planned to feature 16 digital bays as well as two simulators and a coaching hub and will bring two-fold benefits. Members will be able to practice using all their clubs in a top-of-the-line facility, and it will create a further income stream for the club and the course. Manawatu Golf Course wants to cater for the growing new demographic of people who may not have the time to spare for a full round of golf, at least to start with. “We want to create a facility where people can learn golf or just hit some balls for fun without having to be a member,” says James. The hope of course is that at least some of those players will cross over into serious play and become members. Manawatu Golf Club enjoy being an active part of their wider community and being able to provide support to a variety of initiatives and charities in the region. “We see our role in the community as an important extension of what we do for our members and so we work with a number of charities, whether it’s hosting the IHC Ball, or the Michael Higgins Memorial Golf Day which raises over $100,000 for the Arohanui Hospice annually.” says James. The Manawatu Golf Course provides opportunities for a much wider cross-section of the community than just its members to enjoy, and is intent on continuing to make the most of what those ‘visionary members’ thought to provide. Proudly supporting Manawatu Golf Club www.bdo.nz www.capturesigns.co.nz PROUD TO SUPPORT Manawatu Golf Club NEW BUILDS RESIDENTIAL RENOVATIONS POLESHEDS DECK AND FENCES PROUDLY SUPPORTING MANAWATU GOLF CLUB 027 7397 569 champion_building_solutions House and Land Packages Available
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