Maleny’s gender neutral golf tees have opinion divided

No stigma ... Wayne Perske tees off from one of the new markers as Heather Shortall looks on.

By Richard Owen

Since its inception Maleny Golf Club has strived for innovation and is now challenging conventional golfing stereotypes by adopting gender-neutral tees.

Maleny’s club Pro Wayne Perske said the new ‘Farm’, ‘Obi’ and ‘Mountain’ markers were designed to enhance flexibility and encourage enjoyment of the course by all players regardless of their gender or ability.

“This means players can choose which tees they want to play from, according to their abilities without the stigma of being boxed into gender roles,” Wayne said.

“Our course ratings reflect the difficulty for both men and women and players will be able to play competition golf in mixed competitions from the tee block of their choice.”

Wayne said some men would prefer not to play from the red markers because they have been designated as ladies tees for so long.

“By playing from a more appropriate tee-box, more golfers will potentially be hitting approach shots with short or mid-irons instead of hybrids and long irons,” he said.

“This could result in a more enjoyable round, with better scores and maybe even fewer lost balls.”

However, anyone keen to win Maleny’s next Red Belly Challenge on Wednesday April 21 will be playing off the black Mountain Tees.

The club’s recent Facebook post announcing the Tee changes unexpectedly went viral. 

It generated media attention here and abroad after attracting thousands of page views and hundreds of comments, some negative but the majority overwhelmingly positive.

The launch of the new tees, the addition of the course’s third Par 5 hole and construction of a spacious new infinity edge practice green  coincided with celebrations yesterday (13 April) to mark the first anniversary since all 18 holes were opened for play last year.

The golf club’s program of continuous improvement will also see a number of new tees on other holes brought into play soon.

They include the Par 3 5th, the 9th which has been extended from a Par 4 to Par 5, and the Par 4 10th, 13th and 15th holes which will generally lengthen the Par 69 layout and enhance safety.

Plans are also afoot for construction of a larger on-site storage shed which will accommodate member’s golf buggies.

The longer term focus remains on securing sufficient funding for a permanent clubhouse.

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