Spotlight: John Williams, President of Rawhiti Golf Club

Celebrating Nearly 100 Years of Community, Culture, and Golf

This week, we’re thrilled to feature John Williams, President of the Rawhiti Golf Club, a cornerstone of Christchurch’s sporting and cultural landscape with thanks to The Elmwood Trading Company.

A Unique Partnership

The Rawhiti Golf Club stands out as a rare model of collaboration: the golf course itself is a Christchurch City Council asset, but it’s managed jointly by the club and the City. This partnership ensures the course remains accessible, well-maintained, and deeply connected to the local community.

A Century of History

Approaching its 100th anniversary, Rawhiti Golf Club has seen generations of golfers pass through its fairways. From humble beginnings to becoming a vibrant hub for sport and social connection, the club’s legacy is woven into the fabric of Christchurch’s eastern suburbs.

Embracing Diversity
Rawhiti has long been a proud partner of the Samoan Golf community, hosting multi-cultural events that bring together players from all backgrounds. These gatherings celebrate not just the game, but the spirit of inclusion, friendship, and shared heritage.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm in association with the Elbald Trading Company. Let's talk
golf and go out to the Rafiti Golf Club and
their president is mister John Williams.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Good morning, Good morning. How are you this morning?

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Oh we really got you out there at the moment.
You're on the golf club on the course.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
No, no, not just yet. I'm at home, yeah, talking
to you guys, and later on I'll be down there
making sure that it's still there and going okay.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
I've often walked through there. Actually, it's a lovely area
of the city. It took a pounding in the earthquakes
that we know, but it's pretty unique, isn't it. Raffiti
Golf Club, tell us a little bit about the history.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Well, Raffiti golf clubs are almost one hundred years old.
First few games of golf were played in the early
nineteen thirties. It started as a nine hole golf course
on the east side because the road used to go
through the middle Share rev And then the road was
closed and turned into a walkway as you know, and

(00:59):
then was fully opened up to an eighteen whole golf course.
And it's been like that since about the forties. I
think we've had eighteen holes and it was originally called
a Lynx golf course, and now it's not a Linx
golf course because we've got trees everywhere, which are upsets
quite a few golfers. But I don't mind.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
You know, Oh that's interesting, isn't it? And you know,
how do you keep the water on the course keep
those greens looking pristine.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
We've got two bors, one on the back nine and
one on the front nine, and we have a you know,
full irrigation system that keeps our greens predominantly and our
tee blocks nice and green. And with the northwest wind
you know that whistles down through the golf course, we
have some irrigation that does the fairways as well. But

(01:52):
at the moment we've had a decent amount of rain
over the last few weeks, so you know, the whole
place is looking really nice and green everywhere.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
Oh, I bet it is. Because the interesting part for raffiti,
despite you guys running it, it is a christ City
Council as set, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yes, it is. In twenty thirteen, the city council were
going to close the golf course down. They wanted to
use the west side of sure Ev they were going
to do a housing development out there. But our president
at the time, Many Many and his wife, Sally Many,

(02:30):
they decided and we all decided as a club and
the general community that you know, Rawty domain was a
Rowty domain and you know, how can you think you
can put houses out there? So we went picked a
fight with the council and we won then. So, but
the deal with that was that we had to maintain
and run the whole golf course ourselves. That was sort

(02:53):
of like twenty thirteen, was not long after the earthquakes,
and so the council didn't really want to start putting
any more money into Railwady Golf Club and the irrigation
took a wee bit of a pounding, you know, over
the earthquakes. But they wanted houses because the land was good,
you know, it's all sand. We had no liquefaction, nothing moved.

(03:15):
There was a few little pumps and bumps that changed
out there, but generally, and so we've been running, maintaining
and keeping the golf course ourselves since, you know, twenty
thirty twelve years ago.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Now, I remember that, I certainly remember that the upsurge
in support for it, and you mentioned Many Many and Sally,
and I guess that's another one of your partners, really
is the Sarmuron golf community as well, and Many Many
having in Sally. They just did such a fantastic job,
didn't they.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean Shelly and Many they
put their lives on hold for twelve months, maybe a
bit more, and there was a week cottage next door
they moved into there. And I mean when we started
in two thousand and thirteen, the council left us Greensmer
and not much else, and so we had a contract

(04:08):
to come in for the first three years to maintain
the course for us. And then over that time we
had volunteers all over the place. We had full volunteers
in our shop seven days a week. Shelly and Many
ran all the other side of the business, you know,
wages and things like that. And so that's how we

(04:30):
really got going through our solid base of volunteers and
we were able to accumulate funds and so we started
buying equipment and today we have a very nice implement
shed full of equipment that we own and able to
maintain the golf course completely ourselves.

Speaker 1 (04:53):
No, that's brilliant, I know, you've got about three hundred members,
quite a few juniors. You have club days Wednesday and
Sun Day and you know your neighbors of the New
Brighton Rugby Club have had a brilliant year as well.
I mean despite I mean you guys got hit harder
than anyone, really, didn't you on the East side after
the youth quakes, And I guess you are for me
the epitome of the sport and recreation area of christ

(05:16):
Church and how you've may have taken a few years,
but look at you now.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, yeah, we're going really well. We've you mentioned juniors everywhere.
Friends as works on the committee of Way eighty golf
course and she was mentioning the other day about how
many juniors are playing at their golf course and we've
got the same, you know, teachers on strike, teachers only

(05:44):
day off. That'd betweenty and thirty young people come down
for a game. And because quite a few golf courses
don't let young people onto their golf courses unless they're members.
And there are a certain age where as we encourage
young people to come down and have a game. There's

(06:06):
a few that live on the North side and you
see the four or five of them walking down the
path coming to the shop, pay their money and the
way they go. Last Sunday, there was three young boys
on the number one T block with one set of
golf clubs, and I went over and I said, hey, guys,
you know, not trying to put you off or anything

(06:26):
like that, but you really need to have at least
two sets of golf clubs. So a couple of days
later I was down there and here's these three young
guys and they've got another set of golf clubs. And
I suggested to them and hunt everybody's garage, you know,
all the old granddads and your aunties, and that there's
bound to be a set of golf clubs and somebody's
garage somewhere. And yeah, and that's what they've done. And

(06:47):
they come back and of course, you know, like thirteen
and under to join the full memberships fifty dollars, our
juniors up to eighteen, seventy dollars. And so my mum
and dad are coming down and signing up their children,
their boys, mostly boys, to play golf, you know, seventy
dollars in the nation, come down and spend four hours

(07:08):
on the golf course. And the majority of them are respectful,
and you know, and I remind them sometimes and we
all do that. You know, there's members everywhere. Behave yourselves,
keep moving and generally, you know, the young young boys
out there, you know, enjoying themselves and boys or boys,
but yeah, they're generally enjoying themselves and having a good time.

Speaker 1 (07:31):
Great stories, fantastic. Look, I know Todd Hall is still
a member up there, isn't it. He started his golf
at Rafiti and he's still a member. And I guess
you know you've had famous people like that help you
out over the years.

Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah, Yeah, Todd's our life member and our patron, and
him and his wife Marian. They come whenever, you know,
like mixed games we have you know, closing day, opening days,
you know, closed the season, open the season. They always come.
And the tradition on which was started quite a few

(08:03):
years ago, the patron opens the game of this season
and closes the season. He must tell a joke. And
so Todd's taking hand with a passion and he always
gets up and tells a good story. He comes on
mixed games and whenever he can, whenever he's not traveling
the world playing golf that him and Marian do. The

(08:28):
latest trip. One of our members passed away and I
got a text from him to pass his condolences. We're
in Vietnam playing golf. So good old Todd. He's been
just an amazing member. He's a humble man, he you know,
he just says that, you know, I'm just a brighton butcher,

(08:48):
you know, comes out and joins him with us and
has a game, has a laugh, has a few beers afterwards.

Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yeah, fantastic, John Williams, you have painted the picture so beautifully. Raffiti.
It's challenges, it's growth where it is in the world
of club land here and you know again that magic
V word volunteers and what they've done. Yourself as well
as president of Raffiti. Thank you so much for coming
on here and telling us a little bit about the club.

(09:15):
We're all a bit before it. Have just loved it.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
Thank you, Oh no, thank you so much for having
the opportunity and thanks to Mike Gongnet wrung me out
of the blue and you do you want to go
on news talk to you and I'm like, wow, here
we go, you know, and so you know, thank you
so much for being able to talk about Raffiti Golf
Club this morning, and I hope a lot of people
are listening and come down and have a game.

Speaker 1 (09:36):
Sounds good to me. I know that Craig Kur will
be out there in the flash. John Williams, thank you
so much of a brilliant weekend.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
For more from News Talks B listen live on air
or online, and

Speaker 1 (09:47):
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