Dear Members,
In July, the Board will undertake two workshops as part of the implementation of our new Strategic Plan. The purpose of these workshops is to develop the overriding Direction, Vision and Values the Club should be working to.
Strategic Plans are vital to set a Club’s Direction. We operate with nearly 1200 members with all members having varying thoughts and opinions on what they want, or what they believe the Club should be doing. However, the Board still has to find the balance between these differing demands as well as the external regulations faced by the Club. A Strategic Plan helps set the Club’s guiding direction while we are dedicated to our Vision.
Along with Grant, our General Manager and many W.A. Golf Club Board members and Management, I attended a two-day Governance course delivered by The Australian Institute of Company Directors, hosted by Golf Australia. What was obvious from the course and the interactions with all the Golf Clubs was the difficult task Golf Clubs now face having to manage the performance expectations of their members while conforming to the many regulations. Although Clubs have always been governed by member volunteers, our Regulatory Bodies now hold these volunteers to account to the statutory obligations of Company Directors.
It is appreciated that any golf club member deems the core issues being the provision of services at the club. However, the greatest increasing risk to Golf Clubs to manage in 2025 and beyond, is the compliance and conformity to Regulatory Bodies. MCC has already had to manage many instances where a Regulatory Body was involved with an issue, or the Club was able to manage issues to prevent the need for Regulatory Bodies being involved. If the Club was not in a position to appropriately address these, the outcomes could have been dire.
Fortunately, through previous strategic planning process and outcomes, our past Committees and members had the foresight in understanding this changing world of Governance, to restructure our Club Committees, as well as improve processes we manage to, which ensures that as a priority our Club, its members and employees are all protected.
Compliance cannot be our sole and only focus as it is imperative to balance this with the need to deliver excellent outcomes to members. We would hope members identify this over recent years with improvements at our Club such as major maintenance projects, course changes, the obvious extensive clubhouse improvements, improved member services, and a strong financial position to deliver all of these outcomes. All undertaken whilst maintaining our extensive core member golf program.
The majority of feedback from the Strategic Planning Survey was positive but we accept that there will always be members that feel the Club should concentrate efforts or outcomes in different directions. We encourage members to give their feedback appropriately in writing to the Club at any time. Addressing this feedback with the Club allows improvements to services and the interaction may allow members to understand the issues and therefore can alleviate frustrations members may have.
To all our member volunteers that work constructively for the betterment of all members, I thank you. I would especially like to acknowledge the Board of MCC, who I know work in the members best interest to provide excellent services, but also diligently work on behalf of all members, to meet the responsibilities and legalities the club is now required to comply to.
I look forward to seeing you at one of our workshops later in July.
Ron Stone
President
Published on 3rd July 2025
