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Mixed Foursomes Championship held in November – details below.
Junior, Senior & Veterans Club Champs held in November – details below.
Samuel Eaves wins PGA Professionals Championship at The Heritage – details below.
Club President Michael Sargeant’s Message to Members – please see below.
Heritage Members Association (HMA)
The Heritage Members Association (HMA) runs the Club activities and events for the members at the Heritage Golf and Country Club (HGCC, Chirnside Park, Victoria). It elects the Committee, Captain & President, and develops the golf syllabus every year. It’s the goal of the HMA to help foster a great Club environment at The Heritage, and help deliver the best member experience, supporting and advising HGCC of any concerns and ongoing improvements.
Membership is open to all categories of HGCC members – to join, please click on the button below.
NEWS & EVENTS
Mixed Foursomes Championship
November 2024
The Mixed Foursomes Championship was run over two Sundays during November. Congratulations go to our winners, Rhobelle Morrison and Troy Iedema.
Nett Champions were Marnie Gorman and Tony Holt.
Junior, Senior & Veterans Club Champs
November 2024
The Junior, Senior and Veterans Club Championships were held in November.
Our winners were:
- Junior Champion – Ed Sargeant
- Junior Nett Champion – Rourke Hannath
- Senior Champion – John Goddard
- Senior Nett Champion – Robert Fornieri
- Veterans Champion – Bryce Birtwistle
- Veterans Nett Champion – David Craven-Kalber
Congratulations to everyone who participated!
Samuel Eaves wins PGA Professionals Championship National Final at The Heritage Golf and Country Club
October 2024
Story & photo courtesy of PGA Australia
With a 3-under 69 final round, and 9-under total, Eaves was the champion by three shots, this win a long time coming for the Queenslander, who has finished second and third at this championship in the past.
Courtesy of his win, Eaves takes home the winner’s share of the $65,000 prize purse, as well as a spot in next month’s BMW Australian PGA Championship, and a place on the Australian team heading to the Four Nations Cup next year.
Sharing second at 6-under was four time champion Matt Docking, and overnight leader Mitch Smith. With a closing birdie, Docking forced a playoff for the second place on offer in the BMW Australian PGA Championship and place on Australia’s Four Nations Cup team, which he subsequently won.
In the inaugural WPGA Professionals Championships , Katelyn Must was the winner with a 3-over total over the three days at Heritage.
With scores of 71-76-72, Must’s consistency proved the key to her win over runner-up Grace Lennon who finished at 10-over.
As the leading two women of the week, 2024 Australian team members Must and Lennon will be heading back to the Women’s PGA Cup in 2026.
A Message from Michael Sargeant, Club President
October 20204
Thank you for your support in electing me for another term as President of the Heritage Members Association.
Circumstances within our club are certainly different to those that existed during my first term as president. I think it is sometimes easy to focus on the present problems that we see at our club and don’t apply the retrospectoscope to see where we have come from. We only have to look at the condition of our fabulous golf courses today to remind ourselves as to how much effort on the part of our staff and how much investment by our owner Mr Wang, has been expended over the past 4 or so years. For this we should all be appreciative.
This is not to say that we don’t have areas where significant improvements can still be made. I would like to give a very brief outline as to areas where I feel the incoming committee might provide some focus.
First – Communication is always essential in my opinion – communication at all levels – with the members, with the management and with the owner. I will do my best to bridge any of the gaps that may exist at present.
Second – Whilst financial investment is crucial to make our club great again (apologies to Donald), so is the membership. No great club can prosper without both components being recognised – my motto for Heritage is “Our Members Matter”. I believe that we need to explore more ways to improve the inclusivity for new members.
Third – I am well aware that many members are keen to see improvement in the services provided in the hospitality area. Together with the committee, I would like to explore ways in which we might have a greater say in this area.
This is only a brief outline of some issues that I feel are important for the coming term of the committee.
I look forward to what I believe is an exciting time ahead for HGCC. Again I thank you all for your support.
Michael Sargeant, October 2024
To read an extended version of this message, please click on the button below.
The 2024 HMA AGM held on October 14th
October 2024
The 2024 AGM was held in Yarra Room at the Heritage Golf and Country Club on Monday, October 14th 2024.
Michael Sargeant was elected new Club President, taking over from Jaspal Sarai. Michael thanked Jaspal for his work as President and his focus on improving member experience, then summarized his focus areas for the next two years.
Other new committee members elected at the meeting include General Committee Members Greg Miles, Terry Payne and Graeme Ireland.
Captain Bryan Ericson, Vice Captain Graham Gorman, Secretary Marnie Gorman, Women’s President Bev May and Women’s Captain Viv Wilkes will all continue in their roles on the HMA Committee.
When ready, the meeting minutes can be found on the “About HMA” page.
The Heritage Team Challenge 2024
August 2024
The Heritage Team Challenge has been won by Weapons of Grass Destruction, captained by Scott McDonald.
Team members included Peter Dunford, Helen Ericson, Phillip Higgins, Pohkeng Ee, Russell Manning, Guy Messina, Marko O’Boyle, Luke Patrick, Matthew Peacock & Rob Scholz.
David Taylor has continued to offer his support with the $500 MVP award, won by Simon Spaulding, with runner-up Mark Keeble.
Congratulations to all who participated in the 2024 Team Challenge!
Keeley Marx qualifies for US Women’s Open
June 2024
Keeley Marx has been a familiar face at Heritage since she was 8 years old, winning several amateur tournaments including the Junior World Championship in 2022.
Now she has qualified and played in her first international major, the US Women’s Open, held at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.
Keeley is one of only two Australian amateur female golfers to have ever qualified for this tournament. She secured her spot by winning the USGA’s qualifying event at Briarwood Country Club, near Chicago.
She joins fellow Australians Minjee Lee, Hannah Green, Sarah Kemp, Gabriela Ruffels and Steph Kyriacou in the field.
Congratulations Keeley on this great accomplishment!
Both Heritage courses ranked in Top 100 by Golf Digest
May 2024
Golf Digest has ranked both Heritage courses in the Top 100 in Australia for 2024. Here’s what they said about the courses:
#77 Henley: More positive signs out of the Yarra Valley with both courses at The Heritage making the grade for the first time in a decade. This is the first time the more undulant and rustic Henley layout has bettered St John.
#85 St John: The renaissance goes on for the Jack Nicklaus design in Victoria’s Yarra Valley. The course is a PGA Tour of Australasia host once again and a fixture in our ranking.
Heritage wins Senior Men’s Handicap Pennant for 2nd Year in a Row
March 2024
Congratulations to the Senior Men’s Heritage Gold Team for winning the Eastern Courses +55 Senior Men’s Pennant for the 2nd year in a row!
Team Captain Darryl Maher led the side to victory in the final, 4 1/2 to 3 1/2 over the Eastern Green team.
Contributors to the team this year were David Craven-Kalber, Ron Sankey, John Ghirardello, Darryl Maher, David Ball, Chris Hull, Rob Hannath, Greg Miles (all pictured) and Bryan Newman, Wayne Reddaway, Carl Stevenson & Graham Gorman.
Congratulations Gold Team!
Heritage wins 2nd Annual Lakeside Golf Club / Heritage Golf & Country Club Challenge
March 2024
The 2nd annual Lakeside Golf Club / Heritage Golf & Country Club Interclub Challenge was contested on March 30th, with a strong field of 103 players.
After a foggy start to the day, the sun emerged revealing the stunning St John course, which is in great nick.
Heritage edged past Lakeside for a narrow victory, based on aggregate stableford scores.
Lakeside Captain David Baldwin presented Heritage Captain Bryan Ericson with the ceremonial urn after the match.
Congratulations to all participants on a great day!
Club Champions for 2024 are Marc Massarotti and Jazy Roberts
February 2024
The 2024 Club Championships were completed on Sunday, February 18th in great weather on the beautifully presented St John course.
The men’s Club Champion is Marc Massarotti and the women’s Champion is Jazy Roberts.
Other winners were also determined on the day, and include:
- B-Grade Champion: Louie Cheng
- C-Grade Champion: Lachlan Overall
- Women’s B-Grade Champion: Lee Watson
- Women’s C-Grade Champion: Pohkeng Ee
The complete list of gross & nett winners for men and women can be found on the Honour Board page.
Congratulations to all competitors that took part in the 2024Club Champs!
A Message from Bryan Ericson, Club Captain
February 2024
After serving as Vice Captain for over a year, I’m truly honoured to become the Captain of the Heritage Golf and Country Club.
On behalf of all members I thank Peter Hall for the great job he has done as Captain. Peter, your efforts and enormous contribution during your reign as Captain is appreciated by all, and you have left some big shoes to fill.
I have been a member of the Heritage Golf & Country Club since 1998 before construction was completed. I could see the vision that Jack Nicklaus had for the course and immediately fell in love with the concept. And having played many of Jack Nicklaus’s courses around the world I honestly believe this to be one of his best designs.
My role as Captain is to work to deliver the best golfing experience for all members. This needs to take into consideration our diverse membership base, varying golfing experience, and everyone’s expectations. Please be assured that I’m always open to hearing your opinions and encourage you to raise any issues you feel need addressing. I will work towards delivering to all members a great golfing experience.
I am a servant of the membership base and along with Vice Captain Graham Gorman, I look forward to working with the HGCC Management and Ownership to represent you, our members. And I intend to continue the work towards building the Heritage Golf and Country Club as one of the finest golfing establishments in Australia and the Asia Pacific, and one that you can all be proud of.
Bryan Ericson, February 2024
Griffin goes wire-to-wire at the Heritage Classic
January 2024
It was all about Matt Griffin this week, as the Victorian opened with an incredible 11-under 61, and never looked back on his way to hoisting the trophy at this year’s Heritage Classic.
Starting his final round five shots clear of nearest challenger Jak Carter, Griffin had shots to work with, but made sure of the win with a clinical final round 3-under 69, to finish at an unbelievable 24-under par.
As he walked down the final fairway with kangaroos bounding along ahead of him, Griffin had a six shot lead, and could comfortably soak up the atmosphere as the sun set on a magical week in the Yarra Valley.
“It was nice to play really well through that middle stretch of the round, and those birdies on the early part of the back nine kind of took it away from everyone else,” said Griffin.
The win this week marks Griffin’s first since his triumph at the 2016 New Zealand Open, where a then younger player surely didn’t think his next trophy would be an eight years away.
The return of the Heritage Classic to the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia was a resounding success, and players will now doubt be looking forward to a return to The Heritage Golf and Country Club in 2025 and 2026.
Story and photos courtesy of PGA Australia website
