Chris Durrington It was an awards night like no other with over 450 of the Queensland and Northern NSW golfing fraternity gathered in the grand ball room at Jupiter’s Casino for the Annual Queensland Golf Industry Awards on Tuesday night March 21. This being Yamba’s first nomination for any award in a field of around 40 golf clubs, afar a field as Cairns, we weren’t overly confident, but when the announcement came that Yamba had won Best Regional Tournament out of the five finalists it was fair to say we were somewhat overjoyed. This award has been over 10 years in the making for Yamba, with the help of many of Yamba Golf and Country Club’s current and ex board members, as well as staff, all contributing to it’s success. Yamba Golf Club hosts three annual pro-ams and, with The BWAC ladies tournament held in February, we are still receiving praise from the international pros months later. The award comes from the nomination by the Queensland PGA and voted for by the professionals who actually play in these tournaments; it is one of the greatest honours we can receive. A lot of the praise has to be passed to our course superintendent Mark Ryan and his green staff for the condition in which the course is kept all year round; with the board and Mark tasked at keeping the course in tournament-like condition 12 months of the year. So when the tournament actually came around it was to his credit the way in which it was presented. The announcement received a huge amount of applause, with many dignitaries taking the time to congratulate us personally and saying that they have heard nothing but great things about our little town and course. The CEO of Mackay, which has won this award five times since its inception, congratulated us personally and commented that we were worthy winners. Our course and club is just going from strength to strength in a climate that sees so many clubs folding and it is great to know that we can provide a top quality golf course that can match it with the best. Chris Durrington is Yamba Golf and Country Club’s golf operations manager.