Canberra Public Golf Course swings back into business – for a good cause

The newly rebranded Canberra Public Golf Course at Narrabundah – along with 22 Canberra businesses including DOMA Group, Vantage Strata, Colliers, Link Capital Partners, Vale Projects, Region Group and Morris Property Group – has raised thousands of dollars for two charities supporting babies and children.

A portion of the proceeds went to Dante James, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at five months old, and Roundabout Canberra, which provides essential baby and children’s goods.

Canberra Public Golf Course co-owner Jarrad Bell said he wanted to raise at least $3000 for each cause, from sponsors, entry prices and individual donations at each hole … which they did.

“For $10 a go, if you hit the longest straight drive, you went into the draw to win a snowboard donated by Straight Line,” he said.

“And you could pay to get a hole-in-one on your scorecard for a $50 donation to help you get closer to winning.”

The event ended with an after-party where one player from each team was challenged to score a hole-in-one to win one of two weekend getaways on the South Coast.

Mr Bell paid tribute to the day’s sponsors, including Harbourview House, Mr Consistent Cocktails, Straight Line Sports, Capital Brewing, Hard Fizz and Balter Brewing.

He promised this would not be the last event of its kind, with plans to host similar days on a quarterly schedule and smaller events even more regularly.

“We want to use the course to do good for the community in any way, shape or form that we can and also get people playing golf,” he said.

Since their takeover last year, the five self-described “golf-obsessed” co-owners have been making over the course as well as the culture.

“Most golf clubs, you’ve got to wear a collared shirt, you have to be a friend of a member, if not a member, to play on it,” Mr Bell said.

“They’re very strict about who can play, how they play, whereas we wanted people to be able to simply access golf.

“Golf is for everyone, and we really want to make it cool, fun and for that younger demographic.”

Roundabout Canberra CEO and founder Hannah Andrevski said her charity relied on community donations such as those from Canberra Public Golf Course.

“We’re a small grassroots charity with minimal ongoing funding, so when there are organisations in the community who fundraise on our behalf, we’re extremely grateful,” she said.

“It means that we can put money towards essential [baby and children’s] goods that families need that we might not get enough of through donations.

“We’re talking about consumable items like nappies, wipes, toiletries, those types of things that are in really high demand.”

Ms Andrevski said community demand for Roundabout’s services had increased by about 50 per cent a year since 2021.

“There are lots of families that are really struggling with the cost-of-living pressures that we’re all experiencing now,” she said.

“Families are just having to choose between paying for food, petrol or essential goods for their children.”

She said Roundabout’s services helped to relieve some mental and financial pressure on families.

Ms Andrevski also encouraged people to volunteer or donate items or funds to Roundabout.