24 Jul 2025 | Clubs and Facilities | Industry News |

Ten clubs across Queensland receive welcome funding

by Patrick Taylor

Ashgrove1_image
The beautiful Ashgrove Golf Club will be installing a new solar system. Photo: Ashgrove Golf Club.

Ten golf clubs in Queensland have received a welcome boost in the latest round of the Gambling Community Benefit Fund that will help them undertake on and off-course works.

New mowers, clubhouse renovations and power upgrades will all be possible thanks to the GCBF, Queensland’s largest one-off community grants program for not-for-profit community groups.

Designed to help provide services, leisure activities and opportunity for Queensland communities, golf clubs and facilities are the perfect candidates, and the large number of successful clubs is an extremely positive result.

The total grants to golf clubs in Round 123 of the GCBF was just over $300,000, which is a huge endorsement in the sport from the Queensland Government.

Ashgrove Golf Club in Brisbane's north-west received around $30,000, and will be using the money to begin the club's journey in sustainable and renewable energy.

"Our funding will allow us to put a solar system on the clubhouse roof which will be our first foray into renewable energies. It’s a bit of a focus of the club trying to be as green as we can," said Ashgrove's General Manager, Michael Ronan.

"The solar system itself will save the club about $1500 a month in electricity costs, which is huge for our club."

With the recent extreme and devastating weather which swept across Queensland, Ronan said the club must always ensure it is financially secure in the event of more heavy rain. This extra boost is welcome news.

"Given we get hit by so regularly by natural disasters up here, a lot of the club’s capital reserves have gone towards rectification works," he said.

"We've been successful in getting some government money to cover those costs, but at the end of the day the club has had to spend several hundred thousand over the last few years.

"Getting these grants to do these capital items that will save us in future allows us to keep as much aside as possible for those bigger events."

Ashgrove was one of five of the successful clubs to make use of Golf Australia's Grant Writing Assistance Program, which Ronan says made the whole process stress-free.

"Golf Australia's help with the grant writing expertise was great," he said.

"The help through Red Tape Busters, which we've worked with for a long, long time, made the process seamless. They've been very, very helpful. Big shout out to those guys."

Golf Australia's Clubs and Facilities Manager in Queensland, Andrew Leventis says it is pleasing to have such a high number of clubs receive funding in Round 123.

"It is great to see such a variety of clubs receive funding this time around," said Leventis.

"This funding really helps future-proof our golf clubs in Queensland, and it is great to see places like Ashgrove stepping into the renewable energy space.

"A lot of these clubs have had an extremely tough year, so it is amazing to see them receive a boost to help plan for a bright future."

A full list of the clubs that received funding:

Kilcoy (Toilets, 35k)

Nambour (Power upgrade, 32.5k)

Theodore (Mower, 30k)

Townsville (Electrical upgrade, 34.7k)

Ashgrove (Solar, 29.7k)

Canungra Area (Mower, 24.5k)

Charleville (Clubhouse renovations, 29.5k)

Ilfracombe (Ramp, 18.5k)

Pittsworth (Mower, 35k)

Roma (Amenities upgrade, 33k)

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