Brisbane GC leading the way to gender equality

POSTED ON March 17, 2019 @ 3:16 pm

The Brisbane Golf Club has become one of the first golf clubs in Queensland to completely remove playing restrictions based on gender, allowing all Members to play golf at any time of the week.

In May 2018, the Club introduced ‘gender neutral time sheets’ on Saturdays and from April 2019 will move to this model seven days a week.

Traditionally, golf clubs have allocated certain days of the week to exclusively male or female golf, and a large percentage of golf clubs continue to do so.

Brisbane Club President, Mr Phil Wikman said the Club’s Committee had voted unanimously for the change at last month’s Committee meeting.

“The feedback on gender neutral timesheets on Saturdays has been very supportive and the decision to take the next step was extremely well supported,” said Mr Wikman.

“We believe this decision positions the Club as a forward-looking, progressive Member environment,” he said.

Just last week The Australian Human rights Commission, in conjunction with Golf Australia, launched “Guidelines for the promotion of equal opportunity for women and girls in golf.

The Guidelines provide information on the operation of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and practical guidance on how golf clubs can promote equal opportunity for women and girls”.

In addition to gender neutral timesheets, Brisbane Golf Club has gender neutral membership categories and facilitates the inclusion of women in its governance arrangements.

The Brisbane Golf Club has 326 female Members which reflects 23% of its total membership. The 2017 National Golf Club Participation Report has this number at 20%. The 2018 statistics are expected to be published at the end of May 2019.

The Club also has one of the most successful Ladies, Let’s Golf programs in the State. Almost 50 ladies who had previously never picked up a golf club have graduated from this program and are now either full or six-day Members.

The Brisbane Golf Club was established in 1896 and is the oldest golf club in Brisbane and the third oldest in Queensland.

It is ranked in the Top 100 golf courses in Australia and has hosted the Queensland Open on a record 21 occasions.