100 years ago, Shepparton was little more than a country village, much of the area now built upon as a thriving regional city was farmland and remnants of earlier pastoral selections established at a time when more and more European settlers were beginning to find a home in the region.
A growing pastime for some of the more gentrified was engaging in hitting a golf ball around driving ranges that had been carved into the natural bush surrounds of what was then Crown land and known as Shepparton Park as well as across some of the surrounding farming properties.
In April of 1922, a number of the more dedicated enthusiasts decided at a meeting at the Mechanics Institute in Wyndham Street to form a club and on 5th April 1922, recorded the first minutes of the meeting of the newly formed Shepparton Golf Club.
Office bearers were elected from the fifteen people in attendance. The first President elected was TN Muntz.
The first couple of years were off to a rocky start as a lengthy dry season gave rise to enforced inactivity for the club throughout 1923.
It was not until 1925 that the first club championship was contested, won by local bank manager George L. Swan.
The following year saw the first Open Tournament conducted over two days with men and women competing.
With an intervening depression and a world war, development of the course slowed considerably, yet in 1932 with acquisition of some of the adjacent farmland, the course was able to be redesigned from its original nine holes into an 18 hole course.
The war brought the club to a near standstill managed by volunteers from the community, although reduced to nine holes again while the old clubhouse built in 1927 was occupied by the RAAF for the duration.
In the early 1950s, plans for a new clubhouse were drawn up and in 1958 construction began that was opened on April 6 1960 by His Excellency the Governor of Victoria, General Sir Dallas Brooks KCB, KCMG, KCVO, DSO, KSTJ with the President at the time, the Hon Peter Ross Edwards.
It was also around this time that plans to construct the bowling greens came to fruition.
With increased improvements to the grounds and the greens, massive changes to the landscape as plant trees grew, extensions to the buildings and upgrading of maintenance facilities, the Shepparton Golf Club has grown to be counted among the top courses in Australia.
These works were almost brought undone when fire destroyed a large part of the building and on January 19, 2014. The recovery however has seen a chance to improve the overall amenity of the facility when it re-opened in October that same year.
As golf became one of the country’s premier sporting pastimes, membership has hovered around 1,000 for the last several years providing many Shepparton residents with access to a top recreational facility while producing golfers that go on to play in international professional competitions.
It has been 100 years in the making and no doubt, will go on for another 100 years or more providing Shepparton residents access to a premier sporting and social facility.
