Club swings into membership drive

Like many other sports in the north, golf is struggling to attract regular participants and Whangarei golf clubs are no exception.
The new board of the Sherwood Park Golf Club, however, believes it  can attract new membership - not by targeting the district's other clubs - but by focusing on the rapidly growing community surrounding the club in the Maunu and Maungatapere areas.
"It's growing rapidly out here, in Maunu in particular," board member Marty Maher said.
"We're hoping to tempt new people into golf or attract people who have been away from golf for a number of years back into it." 
The idea is to build the club into one of the focal points of the area and, as a first step towards that, an open day will be held on Sunday, April 25, to introduce as many people as possible to the club, which members believe is  an under-utilised facility that still maintains the friendliness of a country sports club.
"Sherwood Park is an extremely friendly club and so, hopefully, we can use that to create a bit of a centre for the community up here," Maher said.
Many players travel considerable distances to take part in the well supported Saturday and Wednesday haggles, which cater to players of all abilities.
During the week, the men's and women's veteran golfers appreciate the easy walking nature of the course. The nine-hole players gather every Tuesday and are rapidly growing in number. 
Six years ago, the club members showed their ability to work together in an ambitious project to install irrigation and fairway watering. Despite the drought, the course now looks like a green oasis in the middle of a sea of brown.
 The board sees 2010 as another big year for the club, with a new set of projects to be completed. Key for  the board is the complete revamp of the clubrooms, which have served the club well in the past but are now in need of an overhaul.
This will be another ambitious project for the club as the board investigates ideas such as adding a gymnasium and café.
 The club is a licensed facility and, through enhancing the clubrooms, it is hoped that the club will be utilised not only by golfers but by people throughout the community.
Junior golf is also a major focus of the board and planning is under way to provide more opportunities for juniors  to play and receive coaching.
The open day will give juniors a free opportunity to give the game a try. The course will also be open to anyone - either new to golf, new to the area or just wishing to dust off the clubs and try out the facilities of Sherwood Golf Club.