The Story of Oxley Golf Club
Origins: 1928 – 1929
Oxley Golf Club derived its name from John Oxley – the New South Wales Surveyor-General who first explored and charted the Brisbane River region in 1823 on the HMS ‘Mermaid’. Exactly 100 years to the month after his death in 1828, the Oxley Golf Club was born.
In 1927 two prominent public-spirited gentlemen, Mr. Tom Kerr (prior to becoming State Parliament Member for Sherwood) and his friend Mr. Alex Robinson, set out to serve the needs of the Oxley-Sherwood-Graceville District after recognising growing popularity for Golf.
After securing the option to purchase 25 acres of land on Ipswich Road and a lease for 120 acres of Crown land across Boundary Road in May 1928, a public meeting was held in the Sherwood Parish Hall in favour of forming the Oxley Golf Club.
Gathering their friends and volunteers, Tom Kerr and Alex Robinson began transforming what was originally farmland – clearing everything except the odd gum tree and a strip of wattle scrub along its southern border (now removed). The amount of work required was immense, taking the team 12 months to complete the Clubs first 9-holes with sand greens.
When the course officially opened for play in March 1929, there was a total of 58 enrolled members – 21 men and 37 women. As enrolment increased, the women continued to remain the larger party of members for the first few years of the Club.
The Journey to 18-holes: 1930 – 1949
By 1934, the great depression forced Oxley Golf Club to close their 9-hole course – only maintaining the 9-holes using a hand mower for greens and a hired horse-drawn mower for fairways.
It wasn’t until 1935 when members of Oxley Golf Club fully experienced playing on grass greens – having had sand greens for the past 6 years. Overjoyed by the results, members quickly became passionate to build another 9-holes, with the Club having negotiated another Crown lease for a strip of land from the Police Paddock in the same year.
During the construction, efforts were made to mark off fairways by planting various young trees however success wasn’t seen until officials from the Forestry Department assisted the Club with expert advice. Having found success in planting rows of pine trees, a scheme to create a World War II Memorial evolved whereby for five shillings, a member could bear their/relatives name who made the Supreme Sacrifice, on a tree.
Despite an 18-month drought in 1936, the new course managed to officially open as Brisbane’s 10th 18-hole golf course in February 1937.
Four years after opening as an 18-hole course, an unexpected article appeared in the press in early 1941. The Police Department had posted a 90 days’ notice to vacate the six acres the Club had been renting on informal tenure. This notice was heartbreaking for the Club, after a large amount of money and labour was spent transforming the clay-like land into what was the 17th Fairway.
Keeping their spirits high, the Club tackled the task of restructuring the entire course layout for what was essentially the 3rd time in 12 years.
Thankfully, after purchasing a comparable size of land opposite the Police Department and restructuring the course, the Club saw a tremendous rush back to the playing fields with a total of 267 members by 1948.
Struggles with Couch Greens: 1950 – 1979
In culmination from high demand, water availability, and an early mistake of smoothing fairways with a grader, the fairways had compacted to almost bitumen hardness. From 1958, Engineer Col Graham (a later Club President from 1965-66), started experimenting ways to establish a good mat of grass including the construction of our dam.
For a while, spreading sawdust proved to be a good method of softening the greens – at least it was, until dropped cigarette butts would smoulder in never ending circles.
In 1961, Col Graham had convinced the committee to purchase a pull behind aerator called the ‘Renovator’, crowning Oxley Golf Club as the first club in Queensland to own such a machine. The results were incredible, with several Brisbane clubs paying to hire Oxley’s shiny new toy.
With seemingly endless passion, Col Graham also saw a measure of success with his unique method of fracturing a solid, impermeable layer which had formed below the surfaces of three greens. He achieved this by inserting carefully calculated amounts of gelignite into the green before setting them off – lightly puffing up the ground.
Oxley again took lead in 1965, by becoming the first golf club in Queensland to have a fairway sprinkler system to both combat dry spells and take advantage of the aerator when rain was absent. The sprinkler system was designed by the committee and built by the club’s dedicated ground staff through trial and error over 18-months using polythene piping.
Member Interview:
After severe damage from the 1974 flood and too many winters devoted to salvaging the couch greens from diseases caused by frost, the Club once again proved its pioneering spirit – becoming one of the first Clubs to convert one of its couch greens to 328 Bermuda grass in 1978. Lead by the expertise of Course Superintendent, Ian Earp, the next nine years saw all 18-greens converted using well known course architects Ross Watson and Burley & Berndt.
To Be Continued…
More videos and written history to come!
Article Author & Video Editor: Jaden Codega (2026)
Written Sources:
Our First 75 Years – History of Oxley Golf Club (2003) HP Bert Skilton
Oxley Golf Club Golden Jubilee Magazine (1978) Ian Dunbar
Author’s Note:
Writing this piece became a timeline-focused puzzle I never expected to become so invested in. Thanks to the many current and past members who generously shared their stories, photos and support, I was able to help retell the story of the Oxley Golf Club in both written and video form.
Thank you for allowing me to continue preserving our Club’s history and highlighting the spirit the Club has consistently embodied since the very beginning.