Fundraising campaign launched to support flood devastated North Queensland golf clubs

Golf Australia is to spearhead a fundraising campaign for golf clubs devastated by the recent record-breaking North Queensland floods.

Golf Australia Chief Executive Stephen Pitt announced during the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open in Adelaide that an online donation campaign would be led by Golf Australia, and would be backed by golf legend Karrie Webb.

Advising that public donations over $2 would be tax deductible and that Golf Australia would also offer support through government advocacy, Pitt advised “it’s taken a huge toll on those communities.

“From a golfing perspective, it’s devastated a number of clubs. We’ve had 16 that have experienced incredible damage. There’s probably a damage bill that’s in excess of $20 million, so it’s very significant.

“From Golf Australia’s perspective - and I know Karrie’s directly experienced this being based in Townsville and having done a lot of work with the Townsville Golf Club among others - we’d like to start a fundraising campaign to help all those clubs affected and to do some government advocacy to try to get some additional support.

“There are clubs that remain under water. There are clubs that have had greens washed away. It’s gut-wrenching, particularly because they are really important facilities within communities. We’d like to lead a charge and band together to help those clubs and get them back on their feet.”

Webb, who lives in Townsville when in Australia, said the floods had been devastating to many of her friends.

She advised “obviously growing up in north Queensland we’ve experienced floods before, but never to this extent, at least not in my lifetime.

“I’m just devastated for the north Queensland community, especially the Townsville community. My family were all very fortunate, but I’ve got a ton of friends who weren’t so lucky and who had various degrees of flooding through their houses, and the clean-up goes on. My heart goes out to everyone in Townsville dealing with that.”

Ricki Lasky, the LPGA’s chief tournament business officer, said all on Tour had taken notice of the extreme weather in Queensland.

 Lasky added “it really hits home when you see the damage around Townsville and especially when it’s an area so close to Karrie’s heart.

“The LPGA family has close ties to Australia, and we extend our most sincere sympathies to all affected.”

Golf Australia’s clubs and facilities support program is supporting 21 clubs throughout the affected areas, with disaster recovery advice and help to secure funding through the Queensland Government’s Disaster Recovery Program.

Fundraising events will be held in Queensland to benefit all affected by the floods.

In the interim, donations to affected clubs can be made at asf.org.au/projects/golf-australia.

Image: Devastation at Townsville Golf Club. Courtesy of Course Superintendent Jason Foster.