​The Goodna Golf Club, later to achieve greater prominence as the Gailes Golf Club, was formed on Monday evening, February 4th, 1924. According to press reports, "upwards of thirty" attended the meeting, which was held in the hospital's Recreation Hall. Unfortunately, the minutes have not been preserved. The Club's first asset was a donkey. Gailes Golf Club owes its existence to Dr Henry Byam Ellerton, a pioneering expert in psychiatry who moved from England to Queensland in 1909. Dr Ellerton took up the post of Inspector of Asylums and Medical Superintendent at the Hospital for the Insane at Goodna.

A keen sportsman, Dr Ellerton enjoyed cricket for many years, but when his eyesight began to deteriorate in his mid-forties, he turned to golf, initially joining the Brisbane Club. The travel was irksome and, to a man of his temperament, an appalling waste of time. His wife suggested he build his own course. The only land available was the uninviting waste outside his garden fence, but undeterred, he walked the land until he knew every tree and hollow.  He was determined to build a course, and naturally, it would be of championship standard and the best in Queensland. Official permission was essential, and, keenly interested in the fledgling field of occupational therapy, he made a compelling case to the authorities for the benefits golf could bring to recuperating patients.

Approval was granted immediately, and the doctor, now approaching fifty-two years of age, took up the challenge with enthusiasm.  The Goodna Golf Club, later to achieve greater prominence as the Gailes Golf Club, was formed on February 4th, 1924.

The course was officially opened by the patron, the Premier of Queensland, the Honourable B.G. Theodore, M.L.A. Still, in his plus fours following a morning round with Dr Ellerton, the Premier ceremoniously drove the first ball.  Mr Theodore’s drive was described as “a low screamer of 220 yards”. Four of Queensland’s leading amateurs played an exhibition stroke round.

They were Frank Boyce, Tom Hunter, and the Brown brothers, Jack and Charlie, each of whom was a foundation member of Goodna.

The initial nine-hole layout proved very popular.

On Opening Day, the course measured 3,300 yards and was easily the longest nine holes in Queensland.

The clubhouse, decked out in bunting, was officially opened on August 1st, 1925, by the Governor of Queensland, His Excellency, Sir Matthew Nathan. A grand, two-story affair, it was sited near the railway siding, as in those days, there were few cars or roads.

Construction work on the second nine holes was completed early in 192,9, and improvements were then made to the first nine.

So why the ultimate name change? With the advent of the new railway siding, the Goodna golf course was no longer at Goodna. It was at Gailes. This confused visitors travelling by rail, who often alighted at the wrong stop, so in 1935, Goodna Golf Club became Gailes Golf Club. It was clear the course was special, and recognition came with hosting the Queensland Open in 1952 and again two years later.

In 1955, Gailes became one of the few Queensland courses to host the Australian Open, and in 1999, it welcomed the Australian Senior Open.

While Gailes Golf Club has an illustrious history and has always championed the traditions of the game, it is equally committed to maintaining and improving its excellent facilities for the enjoyment of current and future generations.

Source GGC

 

Research Note

An average of 35 patients worked on the course per day

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