Bridgetown Golf Club after the Fire

On Saturday 5th February when the fire hit the top of Hester Hill the Bridgetown Golf Club facilities were burned down.

The Club House, the Caretaker’s Cottage attached to the club house, and two sheds were all consumed in the blaze.

Alan Wilson, the club’s secretary, explains the circumstances on that day, “It started out a very hot day, a golf day was planned and the match started at 8am finishing around 12 noon. Smoke was spotted to the north of the club house around 12.30 and the players who were still around the club house were advised to leave.

“But no one foresaw what was to unfold, and there was little idea as to how quickly the fire would consume the buildings.

“When I was first told the Club House was burnt down, I really didn’t believe it, but I was convinced when I saw photos of the burning building posted on the net.

“The buildings and sheds were all insured, the sheds held two mowers, chainsaws, blowers and a large assortment of general gardening tools.

“The other shed contained the fire fighting gear, all in all what was lost can be rebuilt and replaced.

“The club house was a ‘treasured headquarters’, it was there from the beginning, 1915. It held the honour boards, photographs and memorabilia through its 107 years of local golfing history. It was a building which held a lot of special functions over time. With the building history on display, members and visitors would recognise names on boards and the faces of those in photographs of members from long ago, it was always a talking point.

“The Club House was continually being improved upon with its more than a hundred year of use; we had recently installed a much-appreciated air conditioning system. The bar fridges were also recently refurbished. Improvements always came after much debate, what always slows the improvements down is having to find the money to pay for the development.

“The Club currently has around sixty members, for now the club has suspended the playing of golf, but the resilience of the club has shown through and plans are underway to hold a 2022 season around April.

“Talison have offered to supply us with a couple of converted containers. One is a mixed toilet block and the other is an office building which we can use for administration. So, we keep the scores of those playing golf through the year.”

Insurance companies have been contacted and the assessments are underway, sheds, tools, and equipment are easy to replace, the club house and caretaker’s residence will take a while to replace.

Busy bees are being organized by club members, using tools from their homes, to clean the course and remove any hazards the fire may have produced so they can resume playing.

A ’GoFundMe’ page has been established by the Bridgetown Golf Club to raise funds for those items not fully covered by their insurance, the mowers and some equipment which was too old to get replacement value back from the insurance.

The Members of the Bridgetown Golf Club would like to thank all those involved in fighting the fire that weekend, it could have been a lot worse for the town without their response. Bridgetown became a priority; Fire fighting appliances and ambulances came from all the near-by towns with the water bomber aircraft diverted to save Bridgetown. The quick and overwhelming response of the emergency services saved the town.

Bruce Pendlebury the golf club President would also like to acknowledge the great support the Bridgetown Golf has been receiving. “Initially we have had the lend of a mower from the Manjimp Golf Club and another from Adam Davy which has enable us to maintain the greens.

“The Fremantle Public Golf Course has donated us a mower and we are now in negotiations in buying a mower.

“The Bush Fire Volunteer Support Group have given us the lend of a 12,000 litre water truck so we can water the greens. Club volunteers tow a trailer around with a water tank to water those greens the truck cannot reach.

Busselton Golfing Vets held a raffle raising $490. The Bridgetown CWA have donated $500. The Bridgetown Newsagency have run a raffle for us raising $305.

The Margaret River Golfing Club have also donated a sum of money on our ‘GoFundMe’ page which now stands at $11,000.

WA Golf and the Veteran Golfing Association are both in the process of raising money for the club.

We thank all those who have given us their support.