For quite a few issues we’ve been writing about all the good things happening in and around the Waitemata Golf Club in Devonport. We’ve discovered a really well-run club that is delivering big time for its members. A key person who has been driving this focus on achieving excellence is long-time member and current chairman Tom Chandler. I had the pleasure to play a round of golf with him recently.
Tom Chandler has been a member of the Waitemata Golf Club since 1983, that’s 36 years. He loves his sport, having played rugby for North Shore and coached after his playing days. He still follows the local Shore club. So he is well known in the local community. These days he tries to play golf twice a week. On a Wednesday – the day we played, and Saturday. He’s off a 13 handicap which is pretty handy.
The day we played we were joined by Stu Nicholls, another hardworking Waitemata Golf Club board member/director (playing off a +0.2 handicap), and local golf member Mick Scivier, who’s a regular on a Wednesday. He’s obviously a cunning partner selector is Tom, he took one look at me and chose Mick as his partner – a choice that was to pay dividends for him by the end of the round, as the 16-handicapper came home with more than 40 stableford points. If I didn’t know him well I may have called him a burgler! Mick started with a birdie three on the first hole and proceeded to sink several very long putts during the round to play well below his handicap.
Tom Chandler’s a left handed golfer and hits a pretty consistent ball, but I guess you would if you have been doing it consistently over almost four decades. He tells me his best round is 76 off the stick at Waitemata, but he would have added 10 or more shots to that during the round we shared on a superb day in May.
During the round I was able to chat with Tom about his role at the club that has 800 members, and plays host to over 50,000 rounds of golf a year. It’s a busy place. He's been on the board of management for nine years and is in his fourth year as chairman. He says they face challenges but the club is in good heart, financially sound, and is clearly well organised. I understand Tom’s leadership has played an integral part by ensuring they are planning well for the future. An example is the $600k they have spent on drainage in last six years to improve the course.
“We took a punt on getting our young GM Hayden McCullum on board, he was previously second in command at Akarana, but we are thrilled with the energy he has brought to the club,” said Tom Chandler. “He’s a real people person and has driven some great initiatives in the time he has been with us. Members and visitors will have seen some significant improvements to the course and the facilities as well as the amenities for golfers. We have never been busier and a great deal of that is down to how comfortable the members feel with the extra ‘comfort’ bits at the club – the clubhouse and bar, the food, the cafe, the great team in the pro shop, the excellent professional tuition we have and I guess the friendly nature of the place in general. Hayden is playing a big part in many of these things, assisted by many others. Sponsorship is also strong which is great.”
We probably don’t celebrate the champions of our local sports club enough as a community. And that is what Tom Chandler is as the clubs hardworking chairman. He was also the champ on the day we played golf, but to be honest that was largely due to his partner Mick and his 40 plus stableford points. I thought my round of 90 and 37 points was pretty good, but sadly Stu and I were well beaten on the day. But it was very enjoyable, even though we had to buy the beers afterwards – but they still tasted good!
