A central Queensland club is about to be transformed thanks to the generosity of a local council that has tapped into the boom in golf, and a street-smart committee that refused to let the club die.

Calliope District Golf Club, an 18-hole facility an hour’s drive south-east of Rockhampton, is having a new irrigation system installed as a result of a new arrangement with Gladstone Regional Council’s adjacent waste water treatment plant.

Venue manager Deborah Gatenby said the improvements were expected to be completed around May this year.

As works continue six days a week two or three holes have been out of play each week but the 400-plus members are confident that the pain will be worthwhile when the final project is completed.

Gladstone Council has been diverting waste water to the golf course for more than 20 years, but previously paid a minimal fee of several thousand dollars a year to do this.

Five years ago when the Covid pandemic hit hard, the club fell into several hundred thousand dollars of debt, and was in dire trouble. “Our infrastructure was done, and they owed all this money to the members,” said club president Paulette Lindley. “The club at the time said ‘we need to sell’.”

After some negotiations with the council for a sale, a new committee headed by Lindley came into place. The club told the council that it was no longer for sale.

Having researched the substantial cost of alternatives for the council’s disposal of grey water, the committee asked a much higher fee.

It was a turning point.

“They (the council) came back to us and said ‘we can’t do that, but the way it will work is if we redo the infrastructure, replace the irrigation,” said Lindley.

“We’re getting a full ‘refurb’ now. We think that it’s going to be a facility that will attract more people. We’re very appreciative of what the council is doing.”

The project is worth around $5 million and includes full irrigation of the course and driving range as well as soil remediation work.

“The course is going to be green all year,” said Lindley. “Not just in summertime.”