A string of Queensland clubs who have been devastated by flooding in the past two years are bouncing back thanks to grants from the Queensland Government.

A perfect example is Carbrook Golf Club, between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, which suffered major losses in two floods in February-March 2022 and again last Christmas.

Carbrook General Manager Scott Wagstaff said the club applied for and received $1.5 million in government grants to future-proof a facility that sits adjacent to the junction of the Logan and Albert Rivers.

The club was closed for a full month in the first flood in 2022 and another three weeks soon afterward. “It was the biggest flood we’d experienced in the history of the club,” said Wagstaff. “It was a very long journey to come back.”

Then at Christmas 2023 the club lost most of its bunkering in major storms and had to seek out another $50,000 to repair them.

Queensland’s Sport and Recreation Department and Industry Development Authority has come through for golf clubs through this period. Golf Australia offered up a connection for the clubs with the grant-writing authority, Red Tape Busters.

The government funding has allowed Carbrook to rebuild … literally. “We had erosion issues,” said Wagstaff. “Our first tee was falling into a lake and our carpark was falling into a lake. That gave us funds to get an engineered solution, a rock batter effectively. We rebuilt our first tee, and we also did irrigation but most of the rest went on four kilometres of concrete paths this year.”

Carbrook is flying again now, with around 1000 members, full tee sheets and a waiting list for membership (which began in 2020, another first).

“It’s part of the deal of living on a flood plain,” said Wagstaff. “The floods are the biggest risk and challenge. We were on a really good growth phase heading into Covid and it helped us a bit. Our members are pretty active.”

At Tamborine Mountain Golf Club in the Gold Coast hinterland, the Christmas flooding destroyed the roof of a patio at the clubhouse and there was no electricity for 12 days, meaning that the greenkeeper had to hand water many of the greens.

But a grant has helped the club not only pay an insurance company excess but replace the roof and fight on. “The sport and rec people physically came out, and it’s been a God-send,” said Gerry Moloney, the Club President. “We’ve replaced it with something that will last longer.” Queenland grants: Tamborine Mountain – Sport and Rec $5000, QRIDA $50,000, S&R disaster recovery $56,000 Mossman - S&R $5000, QRIDA $10,000 Carbrook - S&R $5000, QRIDA $50,000 Half Moon Bay - S&R $5000, QRIDA $50,000 Beaudesert - S&R $5000, QRIDA $10,000

Southport - $5000 Cooktown – QRIDA $8900