McLeod Country Golf Club is an 18-hole golf course located in Mount Ommaney, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is commonly referred to as the "Women's Club" as it is administered by women. However, the club is open to both men and women golfers. The women golfers are the members and the men are the associates and referred to as fellow members. The board of directors consists of seven women. The fellow members' committee organises and manages its own competitions, and two committee members represent the fellow members at board meetings.
History
It was November 1966 and the Ashgrove Golf Club Associates had just completed their Saturday round of golf and proceeded to the Associates Annexe to partake of a refreshing drink, only to find that the area now contained a billiard table and was being used by the members. Ideas of a Women's Golf Club had been bandied around since 1963, and this event served to increase the interest in ascertaining if such an action was feasible. It was made known to Miss Hilda Reid and Miss Kathleen Atherton that Centenary Estates were offering land for the development of a golf course. They subsequently met with Mr Peter Lightfoot, general manager of Centenary Estates. Several meetings with some highly respected professionals in golf and business took place. Many of these professionals had opinions for and against the plans to form a golf club to be administered by women. McLeod Country Golf Club soon became a reality. On 20 September 1968 Kathleen accepted the duly signed agreement between Centenary Estates and The McLeod Country Golf Club. The purchase price for the land was $1 if the buyers built the course, which Peter Lightfoot duly handed back to the committee. That one dollar note is now displayed in the foyer of the clubhouse. The initial nine-hole course was completed in 1972. The name McLeod was used to honour Miss Gertrude McLeod, who had devoted her life to promoting women's golf in Queensland. She was president of the Queensland Ladies Golf Union for 30 years and president of the Australian Ladies Golf Union for five years. The seed was sown and the growth of the club meant some very hard work needed to be undertaken to make this venture a success. The membership base increased and there was always someone willing and able to take on a land clearing task or fund raising venture. Some of their fund raising exercises were truly novel and unheard of in today's society. The Founding Members and many of their spouses are held in high regard by all members. The Founding Members are honoured at the club's Anniversary Day and Founders Day celebrations. On Founders Day, those who are able, play in the Wednesday competition and along with other "Founders" are then acknowledged at a lunch with other members on the day. This tradition is one of the major events of the club.
Scorecard
Scotsmen's Day
In September 1975, a group of McLeod Fellow Members of Scottish ancestry sponsored a Saturday Mixed Event, that came to be known as Scotsmen's Day. The Scotsmen as a group supplied the trophies and always managed to find a company that brewed a special malt beverage as a major sponsor. The sponsors themselves did not play in the event, but stayed in the clubhouse, enjoying a sit-down lunch whilst partaking of the major sponsor's product. Over the years their numbers have reduced due to natural attrition, but they still manage to find younger Fellow Members of their heritage to join them. The day is capped off with a Dinner Dance in the evening where "The Haggis" is piped in, in traditional style, and Scottish ballads are sung throughout the evening. The event is still going strong today.
Members
Rae Livingston Livingston was a founding member and the first elected secretary of McLeod Country Golf Club. Livingston was elected as a councillor of The Queensland Ladies Golf Union, in the mid-1970s, and chaired the Match Committee of the QLGU for several years. After holding the position of vice-president of the QLGU from 1981, Livingston was elected as president of the QLGU in 1986 and served as president for four years. Livingston was also a Queensland delegate to the Australian Ladies Golf Union and conducted seminars on the Rules of Golf for over 20 years. Livingston worked with Bob Touhey to bring the Ladies Masters 72 holes Open event to Queensland. Stella McMinn AM McMinn was an active member of the social committee, a life member and produced the first newsletter of McLeod Country Golf Club. McMinn was very active in the Women's Athletics movement. She was a life governor of Athletics Australia, a life member of Queensland Athletics, vice-president of Australian Women's Athletics Association, long serving president of the Queensland Women's Amateur Athletics Association, senior vice-president and long-serving official of Queensland Athletics. Rachel Hetherington
