This page is for historical data that we feel should be archived.
If anyone has any articles or documents, please forwarded to webmaster for inclusion.
Malcolm Macpherson receives his Australian honours award
By George Thorne
On Thursday the 14 of March, along with his wife Marjorie, Len Symons, my wife Elaine and I were invited to attend Government House to witness the presentation of the Australian Honours a Wards to 118 worthy recipients by Her Excellency the Honourable Linda Dessau AC Governor of Victoria. Malcolm was presented with the Medal of the Order of Australia for his service of twenty – nine years to Veteran Golf. After the presentation ceremony, the recipients and guests were invited to light refreshments in the gardens of Government House.
George Thorne, State Secretary
Victorian Veteran Golfers Association Inc.
Photo – Malcolm pictured with his award and I enjoyed a celebratory drink after the presentation of his award in the gardens of Government House.
Malcolm Peter Macpherson for an Order of Australian Medal
By George Thorne
In late 2016 the President and Council members of the Victorian Veterans Golfer’s Association took the opportunity to nominate, Mr. Malcolm Peter Macpherson of 14 Mable Street Camberwell 3124, for Membership to the Order of Australian Medal (OAM) for his continuous service of twenty-nine years to the Association.
The VVGA has been incorporated since 1991 and operates as a legal entity under the terms of the incorporation act. Its purpose is to foster, promote and encourage the playing of golf, among the Members of Districts within the Association, in the spirit of goodwill and enjoyment of the game. His service to Veterans Golf is as follows.
Eleven years, Secretary /Treasurer to the Australian Veterans Golf Union. Eighteen years on the Melbourne District Veterans Golf Committee, including nine years as President. He served as Captain of the Victorian Veteran Golfers Association 1988-1992, Association Secretary / Treasurer 1991-2014, Association Treasurer 2015 -2016. Malcolm was made a Life Member of the Victorian Veteran Golfer’s Association in 1998.
Malcolm was a foundation member of Veterans Golf in Victoria.
During his time as Secretary /Treasurer, he introduced by the obtaining the fixture golf programs for the following year, from the twenty-one golf Districts in Victoria, editing and producing them in a booklet form to be printed, and sent out to all members of the Association by the start of the golfing New Year. He was also able to obtain a major sponsor to offset the cost of this project.
With his foresight, for the past fourteen years the Association, has had a website, where members can find information such as minutes of meetings, download entry forms for events, district contacts, results from events, Country and Metro news, and much more. This has greatly improved our communication with our members. With the changing of the handicapping system for golf, Malcolm was able to set up through, Golf Victoria, the opportunity for all Districts, on the completion of all events, they were then able to send the scores from their daily events to Golf Link for re-handicapping purposes.
During the past four years, he has also been heavily involved in the changes to the Association Constitution, and Model Rules with Consumer Affairs. In early January this year, I was notified that our nomination to have Malcolm Peter Macpherson for an Order of Australian Medal had been accepted. On the 19th of April this year he will attend Government house to be presented with his medal.
George Thorne, State Secretary
Victorian Veteran Golfers Association Inc.
Photo of Malcolm Peter Macpherson OAM.
Luncheon at the Commonwealth Golf Club 2017
On Sunday, November the 28th the executives of the VVGA, newly elected President Allan Henderson, State Secretary George Thorne, Captain Daryl Dunford, life member Malcolm Macpherson and their wives, hosted a luncheon at the Commonwealth Golf Club to thank Luke and Glenda Richter from Parmaker for their outstanding sponsorship to the Association for the past twenty three years, a sponsorship that Luke said he would be pleased to continue.
Back row left to right. Daryl Dunford, George Thorne, Luke Richter, Malcolm Macpherson and Allan Henderson.
Front row left to right. Glenda Richter, Marjorie Macpherson and Elaine Thorne.
VETERAN GOLF
By Malcolm Macpherson
At a recent meeting of the VVGA a query was raised as to the benefit of being an affiliated member of the Association and the value of membership.
It occurred to me that this is a question that should be addressed. After 29 years on the VVGA Council and 26 years as Secretary/Treasurer and Treasurer, 11 years as Australian Veteran Union Secretary/Treasurer and 18 years on the Melbourne District Veterans Committee including 9 years as President I am in a position to answer this question.
There are over 30000 Veteran Golfers in Australia affiliated with their respective Districts. In Victoria we have 3883 affiliated members. They come from 21 Districts Associations each with its own autonomy. The Districts are allocated into 6 Zones North, South, East, West, Central and Metro. Each Zone is represented by a Councillor elected at the AGM each year. The Councillor acts as a liaison between the Districts and the Council. There have been 47 Veterans who have taken on the Councillors responsibility over the 33 years since the creation of Veteran Golf. They have all been dedicated and prepared to put in effort and accept out of own pocket expenses to ensure the Veterans achieve maximum enjoyment from well organised tournaments etc. They have been prepared to sacrifice their time for the benefit of others and develop Veteran Golf.
The VVGA is most grateful to sponsors who were of great assistance in developing Veteran Golf. National Australia Bank and Heart Health were the major sponsors but The VVGA decided that rather than rely on Financial assistance it would be prudent to be self contained. The business has been operated from Affiliation fees for many years. We are grateful to Parmaker who sponsor the annual Fixture Book and to KR Media for free space in the Hacker Magazine.
The VVGA has been incorporated since 1991 and operates as a legal entity under the terms of the Incorporation Act. Its purpose is to foster, promote and encourage the playing of golf among or by members of Member District Associations in the spirit of goodwill and for the enjoyment of the game.
In Victoria Veterans play at over 200 clubs and have the opportunity to play in 5 well organised VVGA Events each year. This boosts club and local economy.
It is realized that the majority of Members prefer to play in their own District but there is always the opportunity to play in other District State and Interstate events.
The VVGA have developed a Web Site which provides fixtures and relevant information to all members and this has established a strong form of communication .The VVGA has joined Golf Link and has created the opportunity for Districts to record veteran scores for handicap purposes on the Tier 1 site thus taking advantage of technology without sacrificing the personal touch.
Veteran Golf Associations have been well accepted in the golfing fraternity as a viable and well organised units providing the opportunity for senior golfers to enjoy competitive golf and enhance fellowship. Both Federal and State Governments have endorsed Veteran Associations for providing this facility for senior citizens and consider it a boost to their health and life style.
The contribution of $4 per member affiliation fee makes all this possible.
VVGA ENGRAVER PERRY FLETCHER
Perry has been supplying and engraving Veteran Trophies for almost 30 years. When he called to drop off the 2014 Trophies he was on his way to the Australian Tennis Open to engrave the winners name on the magnificent trophy.
Perry first engraved the Australian Open Trophy in 1982. 2014 is the 31st consecutive year he has engraved the top awards.
In the early days when Perry was situated in Prahran, the 5 main trophies, Mens Singles, Ladies Singles, Mens doubles, Ladies Doubles, and Mixed Doubles were delivered to his Studio early in the morning and picked up later that day because of their high value. This was usually a week or two after the event.
When Perry moved to Mornington he would travel to the Tennis Centre, usually 3 weeks after the completion of the Open and engrave the major trophies and also the wheelchair and Junior trophies as well.
For the last 4 years he has been asked to attend the Tennis Centre on the days of the Ladies and Mens finals and engrave the trophies when the winner has been decided.
He also engraves trophies for the Best Ball Boy and Girl, Chair Umpire for Men and Ladies and the Wheelchair and Juniors. He is usually filmed completing his task and this receives worldwide coverage.
Perry has a wealth of stories and has engraved the names of many champions. Matts Willander was his first engraving on the Mens and with Sampras, Agassi, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic to name a few. He has had an interesting journey so far.
Perry was awarded honorary membership of the Victorian Veteran Golfers in 2007 and attends the State Championship event each year to engrave the winners trophies. Each year a worthy Veteran receives the Perry Fletcher Award and has his name engraved on the trophy Perry donated in 1993.
All veterans are very proud to be associated with Perry and admire his great artistic skills and appreciate his long term loyal support.
Malcolm Macpherson