The 2022 SA Golf Industry Awards night was held on Saturday 22nd October at the Hilton and we are excited to announce that General Manager, Barry Linke was the winner of the GMA ‘Excellence in Golf Club Management’ Award from the GMA for his 33 year contribution to the industry.

Click on the link below to view the other winners as well as 

https://www.golf.org.au/sa-awards-honour-golfs-great-contributors

See below Barry Linke’s Nomination

On the 3rd of July 2019, Barry Linke achieved 30 years as General Manager of The Grange Golf Club.  With a turnover of over $7,000,000 each year, more than 2000 members and overseeing 80 staff including the Professional Shop, Barry is responsible for managing a huge organisation.  During his long service, Barry has always looked out for what is best for the club while maintaining good relationships with members and staff.  With stringent financial management, he has had a handle on all aspects of the Club while trying to attract new members and servicing current members.  He continues to strive to make The Grange the leading golf club in South Australia.

In addition to Barry’s normal duties of running two 18 Hole Championship Courses and an award winning hospitality complex, he has initiated and managed these major projects and achieved the following:

  • Wetlands Project – to ensure the sustainability of water resources The Grange worked with the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resource Management Board to initiate a water sustainability initiative, creating The Grange Golf Club Wetland Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) Scheme.
  • The interior of the clubhouse was upgraded in 1995 to the condition it is in today, while the exterior of the clubhouse was renovated with a design that blends in with the Professional Shop. The Locker Rooms were also recently renovated before hosting the Women’s Australian Open.
  • Grange became the first private members golf club in Australia to add a five star Gym to its facilities which is open to members and the public.  In conjunction with the new gym, the Club has also launched Musculoskeletal (MSK) at Grange which is a multi-disciplinary physiotherapy, chiropractic, massage and acupuncture clinic.
  • The West Course was redesigned and reconstructed by Michael Clayton Golf Design with the redevelopment completed in 2007.
  • The East Course was reconstructed by Greg Norman Golf Course Design. The project was completed in 2012 and has produced a championship layout that will challenge and reward players of all skills.

Barry has been an integral part of The Grange hosting a number of major tournaments to enhance the clubs profile and those events include the following:

  • World Amateur Teams Championships in 2008 comprising of the Eisenhower Trophy for Men and the Espirito Santo Trophy for Ladies
  • Australian Amateur Championships and Australian Junior Amateur Championships.  
  • 2007 World Police & Fire Games

Barry’s biggest achievement was getting the Women’s Australian Open to be held in South Australia.  After years of meeting with Golf Australia, the South Australian government, and the South Australian Tourism Commission and Events South Australia, Barry successfully negotiated for the tournament to be held in Adelaide with a three year term involving a Club rotation.  The ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open is joint sanctioned by the LPGA Tour and ALPG, ensuring that it is one of very few truly global golf events staged in Oceania annually. And since the tournament was added to the LPGA Tour’s global schedule, the national championship has become one of the “must-have” titles on any champion’s resume.  This tournament is regarded by most in the Australian golfing community as annually attracting the best-ranked field in Australasia, whether it be men’s or women’s events.   In 2016, Grange hosted the most successfully open in history with the tournament attracting record crowds.  Following Royal Adelaide and Kooyonga Golf Club’s hosting the event, Barry again negotiated for the event to stay in Adelaide for another three years and we were fortunate enough to host the open again in 2019.

Thanks to Barry’s stringent management, 2021/22 The Grange Golf Club had an extraordinary year recording a net profit of $227,050 for the year, which was considerably better than our budgeted expectations while still making the following capital improvements:

  • Completed the upgrade and expansion of the Practice area adjacent the East Course.
  • Constructed a new toilet block on the East Course.
  • Renovated our northern boundary including a new fence all the way along the former Brebner Drive and the planting of over 4,000 trees and shrubs.
  • Replaced of the entire fence along White Sands Drive.
  • Painted the exterior of the Clubhouse and Pro Shop.

The Grange Golf Club was also able make the following achievements since the last awards:

  • A reduction in debt of approximately $310,000 for the year.
  • An excellent year for membership with 112 new members being welcomed to the Club, along with an additional 77 potential members on a waiting list.
  • The Grange fielded eleven teams in Pennant competitions (including McMillan Shield) this year involving approximately 94 people including team managers. It was a successful year.  Seven of our teams (Sanderson, Simpson, Bonnar, Junior Division 2, Junior Sharp, Cleek 2 and Senior) made the Semi-Finals, and four teams (Sanderson, Bonnar, Junior Sharp Cup and Senior) made the Finals.  Two teams won their finals.  The Women’s Sanderson Team won the Sanderson Cup defeating Glenelg at Royal Adelaide and the Men’s Bonnar Team defeated The Vines at West Lakes to win the Bonnar Cup.  Our women have now won 6 out of the last 7 Sanderson Cups, a remarkable achievement!  
  • Introduced a new policy to allow any woman member, regardless of handicap or Grade, to play on whichever course they prefer on Tuesdays, has had a positive response from the majority of women members and resulted in a more inclusive environment for the women at Grange.
  • The Club was part of the AGF Scholarship which is designed to foster a deep love of golf by creating a strong bond between girls (aged 10-16). Five Grange girls are involved in the program which has also partnered with the girls from Flagstaff Hill Golf Club for one session each term, this has been a great way for the girls to meet new golfers and share the camaraderie of the game. 
  • Continuing to achieve the targets set in our updated Strategic Plan: 2020 – 2025.
  • Our Annual Grange Junior Foundation Day was a huge success raising $29,806 for The Grange Junior Development Fund.
  • The Club successfully secured two grants during the year. The first one was for $27,065 from Green Adelaide Board Grassroot Grants to go towards the restoration and sustainability of the Pinery.  We were also successful in obtaining a grant from the Community Recreation and Sports Facility Program with $48,700 obtained for the construction of the new course toilets on the East Course.
  • Recently elected the Club’s first ever Women President – Nicolle Rantanen Reynolds – the first since 1927

Barry has always gone above and beyond working long hours including weekends during events such as Club Championships and Pennant and hundreds of Committee meetings held after hours every month.  He is always looking to add benefits to the members by regularly negotiating new reciprocal club arrangements, individually inducting new members and the list goes on. He is committed to ensuring the Club continues to be recognised at the highest level in Australia’s Golf Clubs providing excellent facilities to our members and their guests.

Barry has also had to work closely with a Committee of 11 members which consists of members and changes every 12 months.  This has made Barry’s position challenging as the direction of the Club constantly changes, however he has always been flexible and professional in his approach.

Barry is well known in the industry and has a wealth of experience and after 33 years of service Barry knows everything about the golf club and can answer any question.  The Grange wouldn’t be the successful club it is without Barry at the helm and we think he is more than deserving of this award.