The club received the award for its staging of the Legends Tour Pro-Am between February 25 and March 1.
RRGC golf pro Steve Loader said their event was one of 80 played across Australia last season and described the win as “rewarding and humbling”.
“Even in Victoria there are bigger events, with bigger prize pools and played on courses which might be rated higher, yet ours is the one players voted as the best,” Loader said.
“I’m not 100 per cent clear how we get to be in the Victorian swing, but it works for us – we were nominated four years in a row for an award in NSW golf and never won it,” he laughed.
“But really, the best thing about this is it is a players’ award – which means despite all the other courses they played, they liked ours best – you can’t get a better recommendation than that.
“We work hard to look after the players well and make this more than just another round of golf and obviously we do a good job of that.”
Loader said the other plus in staging the event was the club’s own members get a lot out of it as well.
He said they get to play with some of the former big names of the pro circuit – the Legends Tour is for golfers aged 55 and older – and on the flip side, the pros go back to their own clubs and talk about the courses they have played.
“And that means they are talking about us, spreading the word about Rich River, which will encourage more people to come and try our course,” Loader added.
“It’s a great experience for our members, playing with people who have been on the circuit for decades, and for me it is always good catching up with people you did your apprenticeship with,” he said.
“And yes, I played in the tournament, just not very well – but I can claim I was a bit distracted trying to help run the whole thing as well.”
Loader also thanked Moama Bowling Club for its major sponsorship, which allowed the RRGC Pro-Am to stump up a $30,000 prize pool.
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