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It also covered an internal dispute over governance decisions that had escalated to a point where Victoria Golf Club was taken to the Federal Court by one of its own members.
The dispute concerned Els, a South African-born hospitality executive who was recruited in 2021 as general manager, and a prominent lawyer who was a member steeped in the traditions of the club.
The lawyer had declined to be involved in the story. This masthead chose not to name him to protect the identity of others embroiled in the saga.
The original story said Els had been recruited with a mandate to modernise the club.
Tensions began to boil over midway through 2022. According to three sources familiar with the matter, the issues involved compliance, particularly inside the clubhouse, rather than sweeping reforms.
According to official correspondence from Victoria to all its members and seen by this masthead, Els and two members lodged complaints concerning the lawyer and another member.
Following an independent investigation, according to the court documents, the board determined the pair had breached the club’s code of conduct and issued reprimands, which they accepted.
More significantly, the board found that comments made by the lawyer to Els constituted conduct “unworthy of a member” and proposed to suspend his membership for 12 months – a sanction that was never finalised after the lawyer commenced legal action alleging he’d been denied procedural fairness.
In documents lodged with the Federal Court and obtained by this masthead, the lawyer sought an injunction to restrain Victoria and its directors “from making any finding … whether the Applicant is guilty of conduct unworthy of a member of the VGC, or from suspending or purporting to suspend him … otherwise than for sufficient reason, in accordance with the Constitution, bona fide, and in accordance with the principles of natural justice”.
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Victoria’s written response to the claim reveals that a total of five complaints were made.
They accused the lawyer of breaching the code of conduct’s principles of integrity and mutual respect.
The case went to court-ordered mediation and ended with a confidential settlement reached without admissions of liability. The settlement required the lawyer to withdraw proceedings, accept a reprimand and provide Els with a written apology, which has been seen by this masthead.
“Dear Mr Els,” the apology said. “I refer to a meeting held between you, me and the club captain at the golf club on 28 June 2022 during which I made some comments that you have said caused you distress and anguish. If what I have said or written has caused you distress or anguish, I apologise to you for that.”
The apology ended a short but dark chapter in the club’s otherwise peaceful history. Apart from Els, everyone involved is still a member. The vast majority of people The Age spoke to about the club had glowing things to say about it.
This masthead approached Victoria Golf Club to seek comment on the dispute, but also asked club captain Bruce Peacock about the character of the club and what he felt set it apart from others.
“The members describe it as their sanctuary … [a] very local community and a big part of their life … it’s home for them,” Peacock said.
Victoria Golf Club, where Jeremy Howe (left) hit a hole-in-one, Antonie Els was general manager, Geoff Ogilvy is a member, and former US president George H.W. Bush visited.Credit: Michael Howard
The Age had also interviewed Collingwood premiership player Jeremy Howe, who had scored a hole-in-one there and was looking to become a member.
Howe, who was playing at a sponsor’s day, pulled a four-iron, aiming simply to find the fairway and survive the opening hole, which is a tricky short par four.
Instead, he carved a place in Victoria folklore.
“I absolutely flushed it,” he says. “It landed eight feet short of the pin, trickled up … and then just disappeared when it got to the left edge of the hole.”
“A mate who started on the 13th said they heard blokes erupt,” Howe laughed. “Everyone just went ballistic.”
Victoria member and Australian Cricketers’ Association boss Paul Marsh, who previously ran the AFL players’ union, remarkably also scored a hole-in-one on the first at Victoria – a slam dunk, meaning the ball didn’t bounce on the green before going in the hole.
“It was one of the best golfing moments of my life,” said Marsh, who also attested to the inclusivity and social fabric of the club.
The story covered how women were admitted as members from 1925, 60 years before state premier John Cain forced the Melbourne Cricket Club and other men-only clubs to do the same, and now women account for 30 per cent of members.
Jeremy Howe after his outrageous tee shot at Victoria Golf Club.
The club had hosted an American president – in 1998 George H. W. Bush shared in the tradition of a “short drink” with members on the 16th hole while he was in town for the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne – and staged eight Australian Opens (four men’s and four women’s). US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy is a member, and the late Peter Thomson, a life member, once said the club had a “special character”.
The dispute formed only a small but significant part of a broader portrait. In the interests of transparency this masthead agreed to share with Peacock details from a near-final draft of the story. Within hours, the club’s lawyers had sent their letter.
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The symmetry was hard to miss. A story about Victoria Golf Club being taken to court by one of its own members was met with possibility of court action by the club.
The Age decided to hold off on publication and work on telling readers how the club had tried to stop part of the story from being told, despite the details coming from publicly available court documents and club correspondence, not from Els.
The original version of the story was briefly published to The Age website on Sunday morning because of a technical issue.
On Sunday, the club wrote to its members, advising them that the story had been taken down “following what we understand to be an editorial decision by the publisher”. This was not the case.
Neither the editor nor the sports editor of The Age heard from the club, so how they came to that conclusion is a mystery.
In the end, a story about a golf club turned into something much bigger. It became about what happens when private institutions, often populated by privileged and well-resourced individuals, are exposed to public scrutiny.
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