A major new study into Australian golf club governance has uncovered some uncomfortable truths, including a persistent gender imbalance and a growing divide between how directors and managers see their own performance.
The 2026 National Club Governance Report, described as the most comprehensive assessment of golf club governance ever conducted in Australia, surveyed 1,139 leaders across more than 600 clubs nationwide. The results paint a picture of an industry still finding its feet on the boardroom side of the game.
Golf remains a serious business in this country. More than 1,300 clubs cater to 470,000 members and 1.8 million round players, run by over 11,000 volunteer directors and supporting 30,000 jobs. The top 150 clubs alone manage revenue nearing $900 million and assets worth more than $2.4 billion.
But the numbers behind the numbers tell a different story. Just 57 percent of golf leaders believe directors clearly understand where the board’s job ends and management’s begins, the lowest-rated measure in the report for the third year running. Almost half of boards, 44 percent, remain focused on day-to-day club operations rather than long-term strategy.
Only 63 percent believe their board has the right skills and expertise to meet current and future strategic needs. Capital planning is another soft spot: 72 percent of directors believe their board actively governs long-term capital planning, but only 60 percent of managers agree.
Women remain badly underrepresented too, making up just 20 percent of respondents with barely any movement in recent years.
Perhaps the starkest finding is the gap in how boards rate themselves. Eighty percent of directors think their board is effective, but only 70 percent of managers agree, a pattern that’s held steady across previous research and suggests boards may be marking their own homework a little generously.
The divide between volunteer-run and professionally managed clubs is even more pronounced. Clubs with paid management structures scored +18 on the report’s strategic balance scale. Fully volunteer-run clubs scored between -17 and -19, effectively operating in an entirely different governance culture.
Golf Australia CEO James Sutherland said the findings should be a wake-up call, not a criticism.
“Boards are consistently overestimating how effectively they are performing, and the gap between how directors and managers experience governance is significant,” Sutherland said.
He was quick to stress the push isn’t about turning clubs into corporations. “It is about helping clubs and their leaders build the capability, confidence and structures required to make better long-term decisions, support their communities and harness the significant opportunities currently in front of the game.”
The report lands off the back of a successful pilot of the Golf Australia Club Governance Program, run with the Australian Institute of Company Directors, which trained 775 participants from more than 360 clubs last year. More than half of those who went through it, 52 percent, said it directly changed how their club approached governance.
AICD Managing Director and CEO Mark Rigotti said the results reinforce a simple truth. “Good governance doesn’t happen by accident. It requires investment in skills, ongoing education and a commitment to continuous improvement.”
Well-governed clubs leading the way
Mandurah Country Club in Western Australia is a clear example of how modern governance can directly support performance, sustainability and long-term growth. Recognised by Golf Australia as the inaugural winner of the Most Outstanding Club, Facility or Place to Play (Metropolitan) award, Mandurah’s transformation has been underpinned by a deliberate shift to stronger governance, clearer strategic planning and long-term decision-making.
In just two years, the club transitioned from a traditional committee structure to a streamlined six-person board supported by specialist governance subcommittees. This created clearer accountability, faster decision-making and stronger strategic oversight.
That governance reform has delivered significant outcomes on and off the course. Membership has grown beyond 1,200 members, the highest in the club’s history, while the club has recorded an operating surplus exceeding $940,000 and achieved record participation levels.
Importantly, the stronger governance structure also enabled confidence in long-term investment decisions, including a clubhouse expansion and a fully funded $2 million irrigation upgrade designed to future-proof the facility and support continued growth.
What makes Mandurah’s story particularly compelling is that its success has not come from changing its culture or community focus, it has come from modernising how the club governs, plans and makes decisions.
(Photo Left to right: Ron Stone, President Mandurah Country Club, Peter Margin, Chair of Golf Australia, Gary Colquhoun, PGA Professional Mandurah Country Club)
The report lays out five priorities for clubs looking to lift their game:
- Clarify the role of directors — adopt a Board Charter and enforce the governance-management boundary
- Build a more capable board — through skills-based recruitment, staggered terms, training and succession planning
- Strengthen board leadership and accountability — particularly through chair effectiveness
- Focus the board on business and strategy — not operations
- Strengthen long-term planning — especially capital planning
The next intake of the Golf Australia Club Governance Program relaunches on July 21, with clubs and directors encouraged to register their interest.
