Professionals Tamborine Mountain 
Tamborine Mountain Golf Club is one of the area’s premiere sporting facilities. Leon Radunz has been president for 10 years and shares his opinions on the longevity and success of Tamborine’s greens.
by Kyle Hitchmough
Can you describe the facilities you have here?
The course is nine-hole, so you go out twice. Second time around you use different tees so it’s a different course, in effect. There is a restaurant and a bar facility, and the pro shop which is fully stocked and run by professionals who run a contract with the club. I think they stock Srixon, mainly, but they can get anything you want. We have 250 members, which is nice for a little club like ours.
How did the golf club get started?
1959 it started. LJ Hooker had a residential subdivision just over the road. Part of that was a country club which had a pool and a tennis court and, of course, a golf course. After a while, the country club did not do very well financially, so they sold it to a little fledgling group who wanted to start a golf club, and the country club slowly morphed into that.
Do you have to be a member to play? What are the benefits of membership?
You can be a member for $740 a year, or you can just pay green fees – pay $30, visit and play around. We have social functions, and when you travel you can play at other courses, sometimes at a discount. It’s just nice to be part of the group and socialise. That’s the main thing people join for, socialising.
You run several different competitions here, correct?
Every Tuesday the ladies have a competition, Wednesday morning the vets have a competition, and Saturday the main club plays— which usually takes the whole day. On Thursday afternoons there’s a bit of a chook run, and Monday and Friday are virtually free for anybody to play. Visitors, members, social players, whoever.
And you also offer coaching?
We do. Andrew has fully licensed coaching qualifications and we have a young pro too, Nev, who also coaches. Both of them coach members, visitors, whoever wants it. I think Nev is running lessons for a group of ladies who haven’t played before, just introductory lessons to get them started. We have junior groups too: on Saturday morning Nev coaches about 20 kids who come up to learn.
What would you say is the main event that draws the most people here?
The Saturday competition for sure. That normally draws in about 70 or 80 players. The vets come mainly to socialise with their mates, whereas Saturday people come around from everywhere—we even have some from down the coast come up and join us.
What does your job as club president entail?
Just to coordinate the committee and memberships. There’s ten of us on the committee, and we’ve broken up into several sub-committees, one for the course, one for the clubhouse, there’s a competition committee run by the captain and the vice-captain, there’s a match committee which includes the professional, and these little groups do their own little things. One looks after the clubhouse; one looks after the course and coordinates that with the full-time greenkeeper. We have a lot of volunteers who are very helpful, it’s great to have them on board.
Is there a most common type of member?
The most common player is the full-time member who is a serious golfer. We have ladies’ golfers, about 20 of them, we have several different grades for the juniors, and there’s the midweek group for the people who don’t want to do the serious competitions. There are quite a few different categories to cater to people’s needs, with different prices accordingly.
Are you a local? What’s your opinion on the Tamborine Mountain community?
Yes, I live near the Showgrounds. It’s delightful, absolutely delightful. It’s a great place to live, the people are friendly, the climate is wonderful. It’s the best place in the world to be.
What does the golf club provide to the community?
Golf and socialising. Locals join us for Friday night dinner which is nice. Some Sunday afternoons we have visiting musicians come along and play to the group, we have a few drinks and a few nibbles. And on Wednesdays the ladies come and play Bingo in the clubhouse!
What do you enjoy most about working with the club?
Just the camaraderie of the group. They’re a great bunch of people and it’s good fun to be a part of. We receive grants which paid for the renovations of clubhouse and the locker rooms. The government have been very generous to us as we couldn’t normally afford to do these things.
You’re obviously a golfer. What’s your handicap?
Oh, fourteen. Not a very good one!
Is there anything else you’d like to go on the record?
We appreciate the Professionals sponsorship; it’s been a great boon to us!
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Or email the writer at kyle.hitchmough@hotmail.com, and follow me on Twitter @realcasualrvws.
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