Tee for Two

Our guests today are Kate Torgersen and Monina Gilbey. Kate and Monina have worked individually for a long period of time of the area of environmental sustainability in golf. In May 2024, on World Biodiversity Day, they announced their joint partnership Torgersen Gilbey. 

The theme of World Biodiversity Day this year was “Be Part of the Plan” and there is no doubt they are part of the grand plan. Their individual and joint passion for biodiversity is part of their overall commitment to demonstrating at a practical level how golf is not only not an enemy to nature but a profound ally. 

In our discussion today we discuss what environmental sustainability means, how it is implemented at golf courses, why biodiversity is so critically important and the role golf clubs, both private and public, can play in supporting nature and her chain of connection. 

Links related to this episode: 

Torgersen Gilbey: https://www.torgersengilbey.com.au/

Torgersen Gilbey on Socials: 

Facebook: Facebook

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/torgersengilbey/

Environmental Golf Solutions: https://www.envirogolf.com.au/

Green Gecko Studios: https://www.greengeckostudios.com.au/

Rewild Australia Native Nursery: www.rewildnativenursery.com.au 

2023 Community Benefits of Golf Report: https://downloads.ctfassets.net/3urhge2ecl20/5qTs4GUfbkAvnOBApJvzTH/3a23749439c5640f01f08067db0d52ef/Community_Benefits_of_Golf_in_Australia_Report__2023_.pdf

Andrew Fielke, Creative Native Foods chef and cuisine: https://creativenativefoods.com.au/

Kate and Monina’s nominated charity: WIRES Australian Wildlife Rescue Organisation https://www.wires.org.au/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest today is Fiza Errington, General Manager of Gosnells Golf Club in Western Australia. Fiza is one of the new breed of female managers in the golf industry, a role she performs with great commitment and passion. With extensive experience in both sports management and club management, on top of being a former top junior golfer, Fiza brings a wealth of knowledge on various aspects of the game to her workplace, as well as considerable empathy for some of the challenging issues facing women in golf. 

Fiza shares with us her own journey, her ‘scars’ along the way, the juggle of balancing career and family, her thoughts on how women can navigate the pursuit of gender equality in golf, and some exciting changes ahead for Gosnells. 

Links related to this episode: 

Gosnells Golf Club:  www.gosnellsgc.com.au/cms/

Golf Management Australia (GMA): www.golfmanagement.com.au/

Club Management Association of America: www.cmaa.org/

R&A Women in Golf Charter: www.randa.org/en/key-projects/women-in-golf-charter

Fiza’s nominated charity: Perth Foundation for Women (www.perthfoundationforwomen.org.au/)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest today is Karen Lunn. As CEO of WPGA Tour Australasia, Karen is one of golf’s most accomplished administrators and one of the most important thought leaders in the game. 

A former tour player on the Ladies European Tour, the LPGA Tour and the domestic ALPG Tour, Karen amassed 16 career wins around the world, including the 1993 Weetabix Women’s British Open, a highly coveted title. Her experience as a successful player, Chairman of the LET Board and sometime broadcast commentator has given her insight into all corners of the game and she brings this to her current role. 

Fresh off the first concurrent running of the men’s and women’s Australian Open championships, Karen reflects on that week, celebrating the 50-year anniversary of WPGA, and a range of matters pertaining to women’s professional golf, women entering the game, and where our sport should head in the future. 

 

Links related to this episode: 

WPGA Tour Australasia: wpga.org.au/

Australian Golf Industry Council (AGIC): www.golf.org.au/agic/

Vision 2025 (now Women and Girls Engagement Strategy): Vision 2025: The future of women and girls in golf | Golf Australia

Karen’s story on the 50th anniversary of WPGA: WPGA Tour celebrates 50th Anniversary | Golf Australia

Beth Ann Nichols story in Golfweek on course set-up: golfweek.usatoday.com/2021/03/16/lpga-golf-course-setups-womens-golf-pga-tour/

Steve Eubanks story in LPGA News on Minjee Lee scoring ability: www.lpga.com/news/2022/minjee-lees-numbers-even-more-impressive-than-the-friday-63

Karen’s nominated charity: lungfoundation.com.au/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guests today are well known media personality and keen golfer Deborah Hutton and respected dermatologist Dr Anita Lasocki. In the lead up to The Longest Day, the golf challenge run by Cancer Council Victoria to raise funds for prevention programs and research into skin cancer, Deborah and Anita share with us ways in which we can lower the risk of contracting skin cancers. 

Anita has a special interest in early detection of skin cancer, melanoma surveillance and skin cancer management and provides us with some facts around Australia being the skin cancer capital of the world and why it is so important to have a regular pre-golf game skin protection routine all year round.

Deborah has twice fought infiltrating facial skin cancer and is now a passionate advocate for awareness of skin protection, sharing her story, releasing graphic post-surgery images of her face and creating a range of UPF50+ hats which are stylish, sun smart and perfect for golf. 

Links related to this episode: 
The Longest Day: www.longestday.org.au/
Cancer Australia information on melanoma: www.canceraustralia.gov.au/cancer-types/melanoma/overview
Canopy Bay Hats: canopybay.com.au/
Deborah Hutton: deborahhutton.com/
Solbari sun protective clothing: www.solbari.com.au/collections/solbari-upf50-tops-dresses-and-pants-for-women
Ikbul sun protective clothing: ibkul.com/collections/ibkul-golf-apparel
Rigon Headwear: rigonheadwear.com.au/
Deborah and Anita designated charity: www.longestday.org.au/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest today is Nikki McClure. Nikki grew up in a family of golfers but initially didn’t take to the game, preferring other sports. But when personal tragedy struck her young family, it was golf that helped bring her out from a very dark place and then buoyed her as she created a place of light for other women entering the game. 

From reluctant golfer, to beginner rebuilding her life, to entrepreneur in female engagement, to board member of Golf Victoria, to women’s captain at Kingston Heath Golf Club, to the first female club president at this prestigious sandbelt club in its 113-year history, Nikki has approached it all with a commitment to women’s golf combined with positive attitude and a sense of fun. 

Today she shares with us both the tremulous steps and the giant leaps forwards. 

Links related to this episode: 
Fairway Birdies: https://fairwaybirdies.com/

Facebook: Fairway Birdies | Facebook

Golf Australia Victoria:  https://www.golf.org.au/victoria/

Australian Open: https://www.golf.org.au/ausopen/

Nikki’s nominated charity: https://rednose.org.au/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest today is Raj Narayan. Raj is one of golf’s emerging women entrepreneurs, coming from a corporate financial and management background to apply both analytical skills and social awareness to create an online business and networking golf club, the creatively named Emajin. 

From someone who started out hating the game, Raj has transitioned into someone who not only loves it with a passion but to someone who wants to give back to it. To do so, she has looked at the world of golf, turned it on its axis to view from its many sides and then re-imagined it to fit players who for various reasons cannot fit into the traditional club model. 

Today we’re going to hear of her journey through golf, how Emajin came into being and why traditional bricks-and-mortar and online golf clubs can happily co-exist in the golfing landscape. 

Links related to this episode: 

Emajin Golf: https://emajin.golf/

Emajin Flood Relief Fundraiser Page (which is also Raj’s nominated charity):  https://fundraise.redcross.org.au/fundraisers/emajin/fundraise-for-qld-nsw-floods-appeal

Khmer Sight Foundation: http://khmersight.com/

Article on women entrepreneurs: https://womeninindustry.com.au/2021/05/28/women-owners-coming-to-a-business-near-you/

Xero Boss Insights 2021: https://www.xero.com/content/dam/xero/pdf/xero-boss-insights-2021.pdf

Xero Boss Insights 2020: https://www.xero.com/blog/2020/02/boss-insights-2020-your-roadmap-to-being-your-own-boss/

Northeastern University article on four types of entrepreneurship and tips for women to succeed: https://onlinebusiness.northeastern.edu/blog/types-of-entrepreneurship/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest on Tee for Two today is Hannah Brown, PhD. Hannah is a person of serious intellect, a person of reflection and a qualitative thinker on the world she sees around her. Hannah is also a fairly new golfer who speaks with relevance and authority on what a new player encounters as they enter the game. 

Hannah has recently completed a paper for her MBA called Re-imagining the Game and Business of Golf in Australia Through an Inclusion and Adaption Lens, a positive-facing scientific analysis of what golf and the business of golf can become.  

Hers is a unique voice in the game and one to which we should listen if we truly want to embrace and address some of the concerns faced by people wanting to start or remain in golf and see it reach its full potential as the game played for life by anyone and everyone. 

Hannah’s insights are thoughtful, positive and humorous. 

Links within this episode: 

For further information on what diversity, equity and inclusion means, go to the website of the eXtension Organizing Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: https://dei.extension.org/

For information on the two studies mentioned which showed positive implications for business profit through diversity, equity and inclusionary culture and practices, please refer to: 

Diversity Matters (Hunt V, Layton D, and Prince, S 2015, McKinsey & Co)

https://www.mckinsey.com/insights/organization/~/media/2497d4ae4b534ee89d929cc6e3aea485.ashx

Delivering Through Diversity (Hunt V, Prince S, Dixon-Fyle & Lee L, 2018, McKinsey & Co)

https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/business%20functions/people%20and%20organizational%20performance/our%20insights/delivering%20through%20diversity/delivering-through-diversity_full-report.pdf?shouldIndex=false

For information on Hannah’s MBA paper Re-imagining the Game and Business of Golf in Australia through an Inclusion and Adaption Lens or to receive a copy, please contact: [email protected] 

For information on Golf Australia’s work in All Abilities Golf for golfers with disability, please go to: Disability Inclusion - Golf Australia

For information on Golf Australia’s work in Safe, Fair and Inclusive Golf, please go to: Integrity Framework - Safe, Fair & Inclusive golf - Golf Australia

For Golf Australia’s Mission Statement and Acknowledgement of Country, please go to: Mission Statement & Strategic Plan - Golf Australia

For information on Sandy Jamieson’s 1Club with which Hannah started playing golf in an ‘easy, fun and affordable’ way, for information please go to: https://www.1club.golf/ 

and for his story published in Golf Australia magazine in March 2020, please click here.

 

Hannah’s charity: https://catherinehouse.org.au/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest on Tee for Two today is Hannah Green. Hannah recently made golf history by
not only taking out two gender-neutral tournaments in succession in Victoria, Australia -
the 2022 Vic Open and the Webex Players Series Murray River – but, in winning the
second she became not only the first female to win one of The Players Series events in
Australia but the first woman to win a four-round mixed gender tournament on any major
tour in the world.

In doing so, she has succeeded in making a strong statement about women professional
golfers as well as placing Australia in the spotlight. To say her achievement has created
news is an understatement, with it receiving attention on major news outlets around the
world as well as global golf forums.

Hannah is no stranger to big achievement. In 2019 she became a Rolex First-Time Winner
on the LPGA Tour in no less than one of the game’s majors, the KPMG Women’s PGA
Championship. This was the first wire-to-wire victory at a major since 2011 and the first
major win by an Australian since her mentor and good friend Karrie Webb in 2006.

Hannah also represented Australia in the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo and later in the
year won the $1million AON Risk Reward Challenge.

Through it all, she has remained someone with a down to earth attitude, a sense of fun, a
commitment to giving back and a tremendous ambassador for the game and for women’s
golf.

We are very fortunate that she has been able to spend some time to talk with us today.
Tee for Two is hosted by Karen Harding. It is produced on the traditional country of the
Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation in Victoria, Australia, and offers respect to their
Elders, past, present and emerging.

Links for this episode:

Details on the Webex Players Series.

https://pga.org.au/webex/

Details on all things Australasian women’s professional golf.

https://wpga.org.au/

Link to feature story on Ryan Lumsden in Golf Australia magazine

https://www.golfaustralia.com.au/feature/profile-the-life-of-ryan-559794

Details on Hannah’s nominated charity: Challenge

https://www.challenge.org.au/

Hannah’s nominated charity to support the legacy of Jarrod Lyle, who championed kids
living with cancer.

https://www.challenge.org.au/

Tee for Two website.

www.teefortwo.com.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest on Tee for Two today is Bonnie Boezeman.

Bonnie enjoyed a brilliant corporate career including over 20 years with media giant Time
Warner, 13 of them as Managing Director and Chair of Time Life Australia. Her career took
her around the globe before she arrived in Australia in 1983.

It was here that her instinct for helping others took hold, becoming a passion and what she
now calls her life’s work. Bonnie’s generosity has extended in a diverse number of areas and with a broad focus. She has supported charities, organisations and people not only
financially but by lending her considerable business acumen, strategic vision and marketing
expertise.

Within her work as a director of the Australian Golf Foundation, she is the architect of the
Australian Junior Girls Scholarship Program, seeking to bring young girls into the game and
address the imbalance between male and female participation in the sport.

Bonnie speaks to us today about her parallel commitments to business and philanthropy,
how each supports the other, what she draws from her inspiring work herself and her
positive vision of the future for women and girls in golf.

Tee for Two is hosted by Karen Harding. It is produced on the traditional country of the
Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation in Victoria, Australia, and offers respect to their
Elders, past, present and emerging.

Links within this episode:

The Australian Junior Girls Scholarship program and Vision 2025 within the Australian Golf Foundation: https://www.australiangolffoundation.org.au/vision-2025

Chief Executive Women: https://cew.org.au/

Bonnie’s nominated charity: Mahboba’s Promise:

https://mahbobaspromise.org/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest on Tee for Two today is Jane Crafter, one of Australia’s finest professional golfers
as well as one of the game’s best ambassadors. Jane is one of only three women to have
won the Women’s Australian Open in a wonderful career that has seen her be a successful
LPGA Tour player, a respected commentator and broadcaster, a course design consultant
and one of the 25 co-founders of the Legends of the LPGA, the senior tour for LPGA players.

Jane was born into a well known South Australian golf family that includes her late father
Brian, a professional golfer and broadcaster himself, her uncle Murray, a very successful
professional golfer and golf course designer, and brother Neil, a wonderful amateur player
and eminent golf course architect.

Jane’s is a story of love for the game, perseverance and hard work, and having “a good old
Aussie go”. There is a lot to be learned from her about the mindset of a winner, the grace of
a champion and the fun to be had enjoying the great game.

Jane is a warm, friendly and generous guest as she shares insights and anecdotes about her amazing life in golf, her love for family, her home country, its wildlife and people, and its
wine.

Tee for Two is hosted by Karen Harding. It is produced on the traditional country of the
Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation in Victoria, Australia, and offers respect to their
Elders, past, present and emerging.

Links relevant to this episode:

LPGA: www.lpga.com

Legends of the LPGA: www.legendsofthelpga.com

Women’s Australian Open: www.golf.org.au/womensausopen/

Jane’s nominated charity: Kangaroo Island Koala and Wildlife Rescue Centre
https://kangarooislandwildlifepark.com/kangaroo-island-wildlife-park-rescue-centre/

Tee for Two is hosted by Karen Harding. It is produced on the traditional country of the
Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation in Victoria, Australia, and offers respect to their
Elders, past, present and emerging.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.