Elsie Lange
A fire at Romsey Golf Club which damaged tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment and infrastructure has been described as “a bit soul destroying” by president Anthony Lakey.
“The battery in one of the machines shorted out and that machine caught fire, it spread to everything,” Mr Lakey said.
Mr Lakey said despite having insurance for most of the equipment, the heightened cost of machinery, shipping and repairs means it won’t cover all of the replacements and fixes necessary.
A GoFundMe fundraiser for $15,000 has been started to fill the gap.
He said he “almost fell over” when someone from a machinery company told him what he thought was about $200,000 worth of gear would cost more than double that to replace.
“Shipping prices have gone through the roof… we couldn’t accommodate the massive price rises after the last 12 or 15 months,” he said.
“Like all small clubs, you work your backside off to get stuff in place.
“We’ve worked for the last ten years to get machinery as good as we can possibly afford.. [when you] lose so much machinery in one hit and so much other stuff, it really sits you on your backside.
“Mind you, it doesn’t sit you back as much as having your house flooded.”
The October 6 blaze destroyed or irreversibly damaged mowers, rollers, irrigation, a tractor and other infrastructure integral to keeping the golf club running.
Even the shed sustained significant damage and because it is a Macedon Ranges council asset on crown land, the club will have to wait to find out its fate.
“They’ll have to look through that shed and decide whether it’s viable or whether it’s got to come down, and that will of course open up all sorts of questions,” Mr Lakey said.
To make a donation to the not-for-profit club, head to: www.gofundme.com/f/romsey-golf-club-needs-help-to-repair-fire-damage
Elsie Lange
