July 5, 2024 • 9 mins
Chris Collins, President of the McLeans Island Golf Club, joined Lesley this week in association with the Elmwood Trading Company.
It’s one of the smaller clubs in Canterbury but one that is thriving after an interesting inception as a combined Working Men's Club.
A golf club in its own right nowadays, and is extremely popular with green fee players.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, we are going out to the president of McLean's
Island Golf Club, mister Chris Collins.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Chris, good morning, Good morning, Leslie. How are you there.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
We got an apology for running late. It's always exciting
when there's a Test match on and we just get
a little carried away.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
But that's okay, I can understand that.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Now, tell us a little bit about McLean's Island Golf Club,
how it was formed, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yes, so McLean's Island's got a very interesting history of
where it came from. So we were formed back in
the early sixties or mid sixties. A group of representatives
got together from eight of the workmen's clubs throughout christ Church.
That was when the first formative meeting was held, and
then it progressed through in the late sixties sixty eight
(00:43):
sixty nine when an agreement for release on three hundred
and fifty eighth is out at McLean's Island was taken
up with the North Cannery Catchment Board.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
And so yeah, it got started back then. And as
you can appreciate, McLean's Island areas such, is based out
on the rum, so there was a lot of stones
to be picked up in the early years. We have
a history that was written up that one person accumulated
the volume and it was over one hundred and twenty
ton of stone were actually packed up and they were
(01:14):
hand picked back in those days Riichi.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
And they'd be big stones too, wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
They not decided a bit of everything.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yeah, oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Sixty nine and seventy that's the course was actually laid
out and planted. Then the club house opening in nineteen
seventy two. Yeah, a very good history. We had our
first inder club team with either the nineteen seventy four
which is a Someone Cup team. So then in nineteen
eighty we progressed through with moving on from the Workingmen's
(01:45):
Club situation and the McLean's Island Golf Club itself was
formed at that stage.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
So how did you become president?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Well, it's one of those things when people move on
and you you move on in life and you change roles.
Something that I did. Moved out of corporate life as
such and started working for myself and then wanted to
get involved in golf and played away but had more
time available to play golf, and then people were short
(02:14):
for committee, so you get on a committee and then
once you're on a committee, you get a job. So
I've now been president for about three years.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Then well I probably really enjoy it. I'm probably lucky
to have you. And not only that, your wife, Sue
is the Women's Club captain.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yes, we sort of kept it in the family, but
so Sue's been and I've been out of the claims
for about fourteen years in total, Sue's been out there
for about seventeen. So again the same thing. There was
a few gaps with the Woman's Committee. Who got on
the Woman's Committee initially and then moved through to be
the Woman's Club captain. That she's held that role for
three or four years as well, so she really enjoys it.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
How brilliant that the peer of you are so heavily
involved that, I mean we always talk. I just have
such a soft spot for volunteerism and it is the
thing that keeps club land going, whatever sport it is.
And if we didn't have, you know, a really strong
robust club system in this country, we'd have no high performance.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
No, it was certainly that, And I mean mcclains itself
got a very good committee, we've got a good executive
We've just had our fifty fifth AGM a couple of
weeks ago. We've got a good three new people coming
in on the committee, so it's really good to see
that we've got people putting your hands up to come
and join us and help out. Without people doing that,
(03:32):
you you don't exist these days. We run our club
on We've got Cave Brown as our club secretary. Jared
Wilson's our course superintendent. Garrett's been with us for thirty years.
He does his apprenticeship out there and just doesn't leave
the place. He treats it like home and that's really
good to have great knowledge.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Yeah, oh, it's fantastic. So what's your membership like?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Membership sits at about two sixty two fifty two sixty.
We'd always like to think we can get more men,
but our biggest issue is where we're placed in christ Churts.
They've been just slightly further out of town. We're the
best value for money club and christ Churts as far
as price goes. Now you can be a senior member
(04:14):
of our club for sixteen twenty five a week. I
don't think you can do that anywhere else in Canterbury
or not in christ Churts anyway, and we've got a
good age demographic of those members. Probably the majority of
playing members are in that thirty to sixty five group,
probably just under twenty percent of woman. Oldest playing member
of the I think he's close to eighty seven, he
(04:36):
plays regularly. So yeah, it's really good and a good
mix of people at a good club.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Well, I mean it's got people like yourself involved totally.
So what challenges and opportunities are there for the McLean's
Island or the McLean's Island Golf Club, They have plenty.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
So we're we're we're based. We've been there for six years.
It was time for infrastructure with starting to wear out,
so irrigation is one of our big things. Without water,
without grass, you don't have a playing facility. Jared's done
a fantastic job to get us through what's been one
of the driest autumns we've had this year. But we're
(05:17):
key projects for the last couple of years. We've done
a new golf cart storage shed, We've replaced a number
of pieces of key machinery around the place, and we've
also started an irrigation project. We we're going to replace
a full replacement of our irrigation. So we've already done
(05:37):
around the greens and in April of twenty twenty five
we're going to do all the fairways. And I don't
think anyone else in christ Church or maybe even in
the country is going to replace irrigation on a golf
course this day and age, well.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
No not. That infrastructure costs is amazing, isn't it. So
what is available to green fee players if they're looking
to head out to McLean's Island this weekend?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
We'd be one of the few crubs and christ Chips
that offer the facility available on both Saturday and a
Sunday for the green fee players. If we look back
to King's Birthday, we will full on all three days
over there. Those three days, you know, we've got bar
and food facilities available and people come out and have
a game of golf and enjoy the place. We've got
(06:24):
an online booking system, so people feel free that they
want to get online. Just pop online, book yourself in,
come out, have a great game of golf.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Sounds good. I guess your grounds person, Jerah would be
happy that there's no frost there today exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I just spoke to Craig about that earlier. A big
delay yesterday for anyone wanting to play golf, and our
Saturday golfers will be off on time this morning. I
think the first one is peed off. It probably have
us seven eight o'clock, so they'll be into it today.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Chris, just going back to your golf what handiceper you.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
On Today'll be playing off about a fifteen, which Sue
plays off without a similar one. So it's always good
competition in the house for us.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Have you had a hole in one?
Speaker 2 (07:06):
No, I did hear your interview earlier, so she was amazing.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Wasn't that amazing?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
It is amazing. It's one of those things for as
much as you play golf, you always wish you're going
to have one. But we did have a gentleman that
had one of our Thursday tournament this week, so he
was lucky, Andrew Clelland was lucky to have a hole
on one on Thursday. I love visited at the club.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
It just gives your hope, doesn't it. It really does it.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
There's always something to look forward to.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Yeah, that's for sure. Look and it was interesting. So
when he was saying with her two holes in one
and the number thirteen out of area that she thinks
it was luck rather than skill.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah, sometimes you think that when you can put the
ball behind the hole and you think how did it
get there and not go in? But yeah, but no,
it's one of those things. Golf's a great place. It's
a great sport to get out and do you challenge yourself,
not anybody else. And now golf club wouldn't be where
it is today without a good group responsors and our volunteers.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah, well it's a great place out at McLean's Island
Golf Club because it's got very good administrators and hats
off to you Chris and your wife sir, all the
big work that you put in out there. But as
you say, you get plenty back because it is a
great beat place to be with your mates playing the
game that you love and well done.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
You know, thank you, Leslie. And where else can you
go and play golf with a recreational area with native birds,
you know, bell birds, peasants, choil and then you've got,
of course we've got the background noise from the zoo
animals across the road, from the lions and the monkeys
and everything else. So it's a great place to be.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Yeah, it's ideal, isn't it. And Chris Collins, you've painted
the picture beautifully.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Thank you, Thank you, Leslie much appreciate your courl fantastic.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
That's Chris Collins. He's done a great job, hasn't he.
McLean's Island Golf Club And clearly the prices are right
for you to get out there, one of the cheapest
around and it's just the ambiance, isn't it of that area.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
More from News Talk set B Listen live on air
or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you
go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio.
Well, we are going out to the president of McLean's
Island Golf Club, mister Chris Collins.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Chris, good morning, Good morning, Leslie. How are you there.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
We got an apology for running late. It's always exciting
when there's a Test match on and we just get
a little carried away.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
But that's okay, I can understand that.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Now, tell us a little bit about McLean's Island Golf Club,
how it was formed, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yes, so McLean's Island's got a very interesting history of
where it came from. So we were formed back in
the early sixties or mid sixties. A group of representatives
got together from eight of the workmen's clubs throughout christ Church.
That was when the first formative meeting was held, and
then it progressed through in the late sixties sixty eight
(00:43):
sixty nine when an agreement for release on three hundred
and fifty eighth is out at McLean's Island was taken
up with the North Cannery Catchment Board.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
And so yeah, it got started back then. And as
you can appreciate, McLean's Island areas such, is based out
on the rum, so there was a lot of stones
to be picked up in the early years. We have
a history that was written up that one person accumulated
the volume and it was over one hundred and twenty
ton of stone were actually packed up and they were
(01:14):
hand picked back in those days Riichi.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
And they'd be big stones too, wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
They not decided a bit of everything.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yeah, oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Sixty nine and seventy that's the course was actually laid
out and planted. Then the club house opening in nineteen
seventy two. Yeah, a very good history. We had our
first inder club team with either the nineteen seventy four
which is a Someone Cup team. So then in nineteen
eighty we progressed through with moving on from the Workingmen's
(01:45):
Club situation and the McLean's Island Golf Club itself was
formed at that stage.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
So how did you become president?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Well, it's one of those things when people move on
and you you move on in life and you change roles.
Something that I did. Moved out of corporate life as
such and started working for myself and then wanted to
get involved in golf and played away but had more
time available to play golf, and then people were short
(02:14):
for committee, so you get on a committee and then
once you're on a committee, you get a job. So
I've now been president for about three years.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Then well I probably really enjoy it. I'm probably lucky
to have you. And not only that, your wife, Sue
is the Women's Club captain.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yes, we sort of kept it in the family, but
so Sue's been and I've been out of the claims
for about fourteen years in total, Sue's been out there
for about seventeen. So again the same thing. There was
a few gaps with the Woman's Committee. Who got on
the Woman's Committee initially and then moved through to be
the Woman's Club captain. That she's held that role for
three or four years as well, so she really enjoys it.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
How brilliant that the peer of you are so heavily
involved that, I mean we always talk. I just have
such a soft spot for volunteerism and it is the
thing that keeps club land going, whatever sport it is.
And if we didn't have, you know, a really strong
robust club system in this country, we'd have no high performance.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
No, it was certainly that, And I mean mcclains itself
got a very good committee, we've got a good executive
We've just had our fifty fifth AGM a couple of
weeks ago. We've got a good three new people coming
in on the committee, so it's really good to see
that we've got people putting your hands up to come
and join us and help out. Without people doing that,
(03:32):
you you don't exist these days. We run our club
on We've got Cave Brown as our club secretary. Jared
Wilson's our course superintendent. Garrett's been with us for thirty years.
He does his apprenticeship out there and just doesn't leave
the place. He treats it like home and that's really
good to have great knowledge.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Yeah, oh, it's fantastic. So what's your membership like?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Membership sits at about two sixty two fifty two sixty.
We'd always like to think we can get more men,
but our biggest issue is where we're placed in christ Churts.
They've been just slightly further out of town. We're the
best value for money club and christ Churts as far
as price goes. Now you can be a senior member
(04:14):
of our club for sixteen twenty five a week. I
don't think you can do that anywhere else in Canterbury
or not in christ Churts anyway, and we've got a
good age demographic of those members. Probably the majority of
playing members are in that thirty to sixty five group,
probably just under twenty percent of woman. Oldest playing member
of the I think he's close to eighty seven, he
(04:36):
plays regularly. So yeah, it's really good and a good
mix of people at a good club.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Well, I mean it's got people like yourself involved totally.
So what challenges and opportunities are there for the McLean's
Island or the McLean's Island Golf Club, They have plenty.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
So we're we're we're based. We've been there for six years.
It was time for infrastructure with starting to wear out,
so irrigation is one of our big things. Without water,
without grass, you don't have a playing facility. Jared's done
a fantastic job to get us through what's been one
of the driest autumns we've had this year. But we're
(05:17):
key projects for the last couple of years. We've done
a new golf cart storage shed, We've replaced a number
of pieces of key machinery around the place, and we've
also started an irrigation project. We we're going to replace
a full replacement of our irrigation. So we've already done
(05:37):
around the greens and in April of twenty twenty five
we're going to do all the fairways. And I don't
think anyone else in christ Church or maybe even in
the country is going to replace irrigation on a golf
course this day and age, well.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
No not. That infrastructure costs is amazing, isn't it. So
what is available to green fee players if they're looking
to head out to McLean's Island this weekend?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
We'd be one of the few crubs and christ Chips
that offer the facility available on both Saturday and a
Sunday for the green fee players. If we look back
to King's Birthday, we will full on all three days
over there. Those three days, you know, we've got bar
and food facilities available and people come out and have
a game of golf and enjoy the place. We've got
(06:24):
an online booking system, so people feel free that they
want to get online. Just pop online, book yourself in,
come out, have a great game of golf.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Sounds good. I guess your grounds person, Jerah would be
happy that there's no frost there today exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I just spoke to Craig about that earlier. A big
delay yesterday for anyone wanting to play golf, and our
Saturday golfers will be off on time this morning. I
think the first one is peed off. It probably have
us seven eight o'clock, so they'll be into it today.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Chris, just going back to your golf what handiceper you.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
On Today'll be playing off about a fifteen, which Sue
plays off without a similar one. So it's always good
competition in the house for us.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Have you had a hole in one?
Speaker 2 (07:06):
No, I did hear your interview earlier, so she was amazing.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Wasn't that amazing?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
It is amazing. It's one of those things for as
much as you play golf, you always wish you're going
to have one. But we did have a gentleman that
had one of our Thursday tournament this week, so he
was lucky, Andrew Clelland was lucky to have a hole
on one on Thursday. I love visited at the club.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
It just gives your hope, doesn't it. It really does it.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
There's always something to look forward to.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Yeah, that's for sure. Look and it was interesting. So
when he was saying with her two holes in one
and the number thirteen out of area that she thinks
it was luck rather than skill.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah, sometimes you think that when you can put the
ball behind the hole and you think how did it
get there and not go in? But yeah, but no,
it's one of those things. Golf's a great place. It's
a great sport to get out and do you challenge yourself,
not anybody else. And now golf club wouldn't be where
it is today without a good group responsors and our volunteers.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah, well it's a great place out at McLean's Island
Golf Club because it's got very good administrators and hats
off to you Chris and your wife sir, all the
big work that you put in out there. But as
you say, you get plenty back because it is a
great beat place to be with your mates playing the
game that you love and well done.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
You know, thank you, Leslie. And where else can you
go and play golf with a recreational area with native birds,
you know, bell birds, peasants, choil and then you've got,
of course we've got the background noise from the zoo
animals across the road, from the lions and the monkeys
and everything else. So it's a great place to be.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Yeah, it's ideal, isn't it. And Chris Collins, you've painted
the picture beautifully.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Thank you, Thank you, Leslie much appreciate your courl fantastic.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
That's Chris Collins. He's done a great job, hasn't he.
McLean's Island Golf Club And clearly the prices are right
for you to get out there, one of the cheapest
around and it's just the ambiance, isn't it of that area.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
More from News Talk set B Listen live on air
or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you
go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio.
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