Tieri Golf Club wins PGA Regional Tournament of the Year

Congratulations to Tieri Golf Club who recently won the PGA Regional Tournament of the Year for their Oaky Creek Coal Pro-Am – a magnificent result for a small country golf club!

The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) of Australia is the third oldest Professional Golfers Association in the world and traces its origin back to 1911 when a group of expatriate Scottish golf Professionals formed a national Association to promote the game of golf and elevate the vocation of the golf Professional within Australia.

The PGA of Australia is a not-for-profit Member-based organisation representing both Tournament Professionals and the Club Professionals who form the cornerstone of the industry, working in golf facilities throughout Australia and overseas.

Once a year, the PGA holds the Queensland Golf Industry Awards – an industry awards night where golf clubs and golfers from across the Sunshine State are recognised for their contribution to the sport.

This year’s Awards night was held in October at The Star Casino on the Gold Coast. Almost 600 guests were on hand to celebrate a successful year of golf in Queensland, as the PGA, Golf Australia, Golf Course Superintendents Association of Queensland and Golf Management Australia gathered together to celebrate the achievements of the industry as a whole.

Sat on their table at the back of the room, Mick Cutts, Club President, said he was completely shocked when they announced that Tieri Pro-Am had won the Regional Tournament of the Year award.

 “I wasn’t at all prepared. I struggled to get my suit jacket back on, I was in shock. It was like being at the Logies. As I walked through the crowds to the stage people were high-fiving me and sharing their congratulations, it was an incredible feeling. Luckily those few minutes gave me time to gather my thoughts and think of something to say in my acceptance speech!”

The Regional Tournament of the Year award is voted for by the professionals who compete in the Pro-Am, as well as members of the PGA. The award is based on hospitality, presentation of the course, the overall level of professionalism and ultimately the satisfaction of the pros that visit.

“We’re only a little club with about 100 members so to win against big clubs like Mackay, Rockhampton, and clubs along the Northern rivers of NSW, all of which have thousands of members, is really quite something.”

For the club, Mick hopes the win means sponsors will continue to support the Tieri Pro-Am. “We can’t survive without the generous support of our sponsors,” he explains.

 “Thanks to them, we currently offer $30,000 prize money for our Pro-Am. We’re looking to increase this prize pool to $50,000 next year which will result in twice as many Pros coming to play in the tournament. It puts us into a different league and takes our small little country club into the PGA’s Order of Merit. It also helps to put Tieri on the map and bring in business for our little community.”

“For me personally the win represents a huge reward for the effort of the golf club committee and our small band of hard-working volunteers – for whom I’m really grateful and express my deepest thanks.

 “In particular, I’d like to acknowledge our Treasurer, Arthur Dobeson, who does a great job managing our money; Ben Liddell for his focus on our fundraising and sponsors without whom we wouldn’t be able to put on this tournament; and our Groundskeeper, Wayne Trenerry – a big part of this award is down to his tireless work ensuring our greens are top class. Thanks guys! I’d also like to thank my good mate and Australian golf legend, Terry Price, for being our MC at the Pro-Am.”

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Coal Fields Cup Charity Golf Day

On Saturday the 19^th November 2022, the Coal Fields Cup Charity Golf Day was held at Tieri Golf Club. We spoke to Ben Liddell, who works closely with the committee, about the event:

What was the event in aid of?

We put together this event last year so the Tieri Golf Club could give back to causes in need. Last year we raised money for Leuk the Duck foundation. This year we are raising money for the purchase of commode chairs (shower chairs) for patients to use while they await admission into the Spinal Ward at the PA Hospital Brisbane. Currently patients have to wait to use and share these chairs which can be quite distressing. Having seen this first hand recently I know how much this will mean for someone who is unfortunate enough to have to be in this position. The chairs are approximately $4,000 each.

What did the Coal Fields Cup Day entail?

It’s a Three Man Ambrose event for golfers with a GA Handicap, with first prize being $1,500 for the winning team. It was a fantastic day with 20 teams (60 players) from Tieri, Dysart, Moranbah and Emerald, with the team from Emerald taking out the prize for the second year in a row.

1st Place: 57.34

• Ryan Aspinall
• Pete Purnell-Webb
• Mark Carter

2nd Place: 58.67

• Craig Nicholls
• Andrew Crowe
• Joe Dickey

3rd Place: 62.00

• Ben Liddell
• Mat Lines
• Brendan Smith

 Nearest to Pins went to:

• NTP 12 – Matt Youd, Noah Reiter-Youd, Wayne Miller
• NTP 17 – Ben Liddell, Mat Lines, Brendan Smith

How much money was raised?

Our aim was to raise enough money for two chairs based on activities throughout the day and the generous sponsorship from the Sbrizzi Family, Triple Torque, CHMS, HD Mining, Moranbah Discount Tyres and Mechanical, Quarry Mining, All-Pro, Minova, PROK and Toll Direct.

We are also raffling a Callaway Golf Bag signed by Craig Parry and a framed Manly jersey signed by Brett and Glenn Stewart.

In the end, donations on the day totalled $1,533 to go along with the $10,750 which already gives us enough to purchase three of the commode chairs. At the time of writing, the online raffle is still up and running (tickets will be drawn on 10^th December at the Town Christmas Party) which will make the final amount raised even higher.

A massive thanks to the sponsors, committee, numerous volunteers, greens staff, and of course the players and everyone who has generously donated. I know what we did on the weekend will make a significant difference in someone’s life.