Five communities. Five very different approaches. One common goal: making golf feel like a game for everyone.
From women finding their feet in the game to families, juniors and people with disabilities discovering a place on the course, these five stories show what happens when golf becomes more welcoming, social and accessible. Each was recognised among Golf Australia’s 2026 National Awards of Excellence winners and each offers a glimpse of where the game is heading.
Townsville Golf Club: Golf, giggles and growth
Townsville Golf Club has built a genuine women’s participation pipeline, from come-and-try sessions right through to full membership, anchored by its signature i-GiGL program (the name deliberately playing on “giggle”), which blends professional instruction, on-course mentoring and a champagne lunch.
The numbers speak for themselves: 387 women through Get Into Golf sessions, 58 new memberships and a 250 percent year-on-year jump in social rounds. What’s driving retention is a self-sustaining mentor model, where past program graduates become mentors for the next intake. Club patron and World Golf Hall of Famer Karrie Webb has even attended an i-GiGL event. The club took home the Women & Girls in Golf Award.
Half Moon Bay Golf Club: Making the game accessible to all
Half Moon Bay Golf Club has made accessibility the centrepiece of its identity, investing in two ParaGolfer machines, installing audible tee signs for blind golfers and employing a PGA professional specifically trained to coach people with disabilities.
The club has signed the R&A Women in Golf Charter, offers NDIS-discounted memberships and hosted all-abilities divisions at the Great Barrier Reef Masters Games. Two member surveys have directly shaped a new strategic plan and a modernised constitution reflects the club’s commitment to strong governance alongside genuinely inclusive participation. Half Moon Bay was named Most Outstanding Club, Facility or Place to Play (Regional) at Golf Australia’s 2026 National Awards of Excellence.
Maribyrnong City Council: Taking golf to the people
With more than 40 percent of residents born overseas, Maribyrnong is one of Australia’s most culturally diverse municipalities and home to just one private and one public golf facility. Rather than waiting for residents to find golf, the council took golf to them.
Through the Active Maribyrnong program, Council partnered with Golf Australia, Westgate Golf Club and Medway Golf Club to deliver sessions in local parks using modified equipment and non-traditional formats. Girls Can Week golf sessions reached capacity and Get Into Golf registrations filled within 48 hours, proof of just how much unmet demand exists for accessible golf in diverse communities. Maribyrnong received the Local Government Recognition Award.
The Pat GC: Buckets, bubbles and breaking down barriers
Formerly West Beach Parks Golf, The Pat GC’s February 2025 rebrand signalled a fundamental shift in how a metropolitan golf facility sees itself, not as a golf course, but as a community hub where “all golf is golf”.
Its “Buckets & Bubbles” clinics have engaged more than 110 women in a casual, social, pressure-free environment, while Sunday DJ “Chillout Sessions” work to break down old-school golf stereotypes altogether. The numbers back up the shift: junior membership up 105 percent, under-30s membership up 150 percent and short course rounds up 24.5 percent to 35,600. The Pat GC was named Most Outstanding Club, Facility or Place to Play (Metropolitan).
Gove Country Golf Club: A town game
In Nhulunbuy, a remote community of roughly 3,000 people in Arnhem Land, golf has become something close to a town-wide pursuit.
Gove Country Golf Club achieved 415 MyGolf registrations in 2026, an 87 percent increase on 2025, meaning roughly 14 percent of the entire town is now involved in junior golf.
The ripple effect has been striking, 35 percent of junior golf mums have taken up the game themselves, inspired by watching their kids play. Gove Country Golf Club was named MyGolf powered by Ripper GC Venue of the Year at Golf Australia’s 2026 National Awards of Excellence.
