The Huon Valley Golf Club has recently completed a major upgrade to their picturesque 12 hole course near Huonville. The club spent a total of $160,000 on the works with half the money sourced from two State Government grants.
The works began last year with the installation of a 17KW solar system consisting of 58 Trina 300w panels designed and installed by Kingston company Powercom. The club’s power costs were reduced by almost $3,000 on the previous year and in a full year a saving in the order of $4,000 is expected.
In February a series of works began to improve the water supply and course irrigation. The old metal water main along golf course road to the clubhouse was replaced with new poly pipe, irrigation lines were extended to the 2nd & 13th tees and practice area and the power line running to the water pump was placed underground and connected to the solar array. This work was carried out by club members Robbie Griggs Electrical, Gene Paul, Sam Calvert’s Huon Dingo Service and Sean O’Neill of Aqua Line Plumbing with assistance from volunteers at the club.
The focus then shifted to building cart paths to improve access and minimise damage to the fairways during winter. A total of 900 metres of paths were constructed on 5 fairways, designed and supervised by Club Captain Stuart Randle and Vice Captain Dennis Kelly with work done by Channel Earthmoving, Gene Paul and Stan Watson Builders with help from the Club’s faithful working bee members (including Stuart & Dennis who are equally adept with shovel and rake). The paths are not only a pleasure to ride and walk on but have visually enhanced the course. The paths will be extended to more fairways as funds become available.
In April major drainage works were carried out on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th fairways to improve playability during the winter months. In previous years these fairways have sometimes had to be closed for periods when low lying areas became unplayable. This work was carried out by Nic Hansen’s Total Turfcare who have been responsible for similar works on sporting grounds and golf courses all over the state. The work involved installing over 1,500 metres of 600mm deep drainage and collector channels, backfilled with washed gravel and soil, with the surface fertilised and seeded at a total cost of $72,000. The improvement on these fairways is already being experienced by members as the winter rains commence.
Thanks is due to Life Member Jimmy James who was instrumental in initiating and progressing many of the works and continues to provide invaluable service to the Club.
The club particularly acknowledges the generous support from the State Government, without whose support most of these improvements would not have eventuated.
The course is maintained to a high standard solely by a group of long serving volunteers. Visiting players from other clubs in Tasmania and interstate continually remark on the excellent condition of the course. The Club is confident that these latest improvements will further enhance the reputation of the course and attract new members and visitors.