The largest club affiliated with CFA’s Sports and Recreation Association (SRA) is the CFA Golf Club with almost 100 members. It officially teed off about four years and Cranbourne Senior Station Officer Rick Read is one of the organisers keen to welcome new members. He has a handicap of 14 but it was 11 just over a year ago, honest!
“We’re proud to be the biggest and the most active CFA club,” says Rick and they’re proud enough to all wear CFA Golf Club apparel.
“We’ve got volunteers, staff from many CFA departments and also some retired members. At the moment most of us are from Districts 8, 13 and 14 but there are also members from Ballarat, Stawell, Geelong and Bendigo.”
Every six to eight weeks the club runs a competition using a handicap scoring system (stableford) with vouchers and trophies for categories such as overall winner, nearest the pin, longest drives of the day and last place. Some prizes are funded by golf shops while the members’ small competition fee means plenty of prizes on offer at each event. They also run a two-day tournament at Portsea each year in memory of well-respected District Officer Max Owen.
“The majority of our rounds are mid-week and we make a day of it,” continues Rick, “playing at different golf courses mostly in outer metro Melbourne. We tee off in the morning then we often have a sit down lunch or barbecue at the club house by early afternoon.
“Each year we run what we call the ‘Masters Trip’ played over three days in well-known golfing areas around the state. We’ve travelled to the Murray River region and the Mornington and Bellarine peninsulas in recent years and played some exceptional-quality courses. Bulk buying power and establishing and maintaining great relationships within the golfing industry means we can provide excellent value for money for our members. That’s something we’re proud of.”
“It’s a catch up and we always have a laugh – golf is secondary.”
Golf, good company, travel, cheap rates: sounds good? To find out more, phone Rick on 0438 882 391 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Author: Leith Hillard