LIAM DURKIN
GOLF
By LIAM DURKIN AS long as the Traralgon Golf Club exists, the portraits of Judy Elder and John Cameron will be on the wall as life members. The pair were recently bestowed with the honour after many years of loyal service to the club. Judy has been with Traralgon Golf Club for 26 years, while John has served an astonishing 41. The new inductees join just 15 other people as life members at TGC. In addition, John joins wife Heather as a life member, while Judy is the first woman in some 20 years to receive life membership. While neither ever got involved with the club seeking personal glory, both said it was a great thrill to be formally recognised. For Judy, even a few tears were shed. “I’m really chuffed, it is nice to be acknowledged for all the hours you put in over the years,” she said. “It has been my second home really … helped with lots of clinics and catering and whatnot. “I was a teacher in the day so it was nice to put my organisational skills into practise and feel like I was helping people, it has been great working with teams.” Judy played tennis and squash before taking up golf, and quickly became involved in all facets of club life at Traralgon. She was captain in 2001/02, and helped maintain the gardens and serve Friday night meals. On the course, Judy has won a number of pennant titles, as well as overseeing many scoresheets at the administration desk. “The arrival of technology has made a big difference, we used to do everything after competitions by hand on paper,” she explained. “The course has definitely improved over the years, with all the volunteers and the greenkeepers doing a great job.” Judy has formed a rock-solid team alongside husband George, who Judy said was “very supportive”, helping in the upkeep of the course and keeping-up with the catering required for various functions. These days, the pair are actively behind a very strong senior group of golfers at Traralgon, with membership hovering around the 100 mark. For John Cameron, if there has been a committee at Traralgon Golf Club in the last 40 years, there is a good chance he has been on it. As well as being an active playing member, John has served on the course committee, financial committee, drainage committee and turf committee. Not to be outdone, he also served on a committee that ultimately led to Traralgon Golf Club moving from a general committee structure to a board structure. “That board structure was instituted about 20 years ago. One of the positions they left off was director of membership and sponsorship, I’m not quite sure why,” John recalled. “I moved a motion that we reinstate that role … and then I got lumbered with it.” Accepting all these roles, John said he was happy to serve a club that has given him so much. “The course committee as far as I’m concerned, it’s like a free gym session, you come up here and keep fit,” he said. John’s introduction to Traralgon Golf Club was fairly pedestrian – given a three month introductory membership by wife Heather. Little was anyone to know what it would lead to. With his name now among the true greats, John said there was one element that gave him the most pride. “It is a great honour, I suppose it is nice to join my wife as a life member, I know how much work Heather put in,” he said. “One of the things I notice about Australian culture is all of our regional sporting clubs rely on considerable volunteer effort, and I think this, as much as anything, is a celebration of all that.” A cricketer in his younger days, John took up golf full time at the age of 47, after realising his body could no longer back up playing golf on Sunday’s after sending down bulk overs the previous day. Although describing his golfing game as “just average”, John has collected a few awards and ticked off a number of milestones in his playing career, including shooting his age. “I was lucky enough to play in four pennant premierships, which I was very pleased with, and a foursomes championship with my wife,” he said. “They were probably the highlights.” As their names are now ensured in the annals of Traralgon Golf Club history, Judy and John both agreed it was the people above all else who had made it a great club to be at. “We have a great band of volunteers, we probably get three quarters of a million dollars worth of work done a year,” John said.
