| The Oakbank Golf Club - one of the state's oldest, being founded in 1892 - was located at the famous Oakbank Racing Club's racecourse for 100 years.
The two clubs reflected the Johnston family's sporting interests and it is perhaps not surprising that the founding generations took a Scottish (frugal) approach in designing their sporting facilities: a combined race course and golf course on the same piece of Johnston land! This innovative approach wasn't unique however, as Musselburgh, also Scottish, and reputedly the oldest golf course in the world, features the same combination of sporting venues.
Prior to the advent of irrigation, golf in South Australia was generally played only during the winter months, when the ground was soft and the grass, green. By holding the main horse racing event at Easter (as still happens today), the tees, greens and fairways were re-created soon after Easter each year and the golf course was enjoyed until the grass dried off in the following spring. The Racing Club's stands provided excellent club room facilities, but visiting players (and many locals!) found the local hazards - especially the ever-present race track railings - required extreme caution. Contact between golf ball and railing inevitably resulted in extreme and unpredictable deviation from the intended course! There were no bunkers, but the railings and other racecourse structures more than compensated as hazards.
In 1993 the new Oakbank Golf Course was laid out on land that has been owned by Johnstons since 1858. The gently undulating site was used for farming and grazing for many years, but during the First World War, when the state rail network was extended from Balhannah to Mt Pleasant, part of the property was acquired by the government for the railway. By the 1960s, the railway had given way to road transport and the land was re-purchased by Johnstons. The eighth hole is a reminder of the railway era, as the tee is situated on one of the embankments that carried the main line and the green is at the apex of a triangular-shaped spur line.
The transformation from farm land to links-style golf course began under the direction of long-standing Johnstons' company secretary - and avid and very competent golfer - Bryan O'Leary. Hundreds of trees and shrubs were planted and for the first few years there was little impediment for the golfer who strayed off the beaten path from tee to green. Ten years later, it's a different story; the vegetation now creates a spectacle in its own right, a wonderful habitat for the Adelaide Hills' birdlife, and a real incentive for the golfer to maintain direction down the marvellous fairways.
The course is ideal for the recreational golfer: it is a comfortable 30 minute drive from Adelaide, is easily traversed, has no bunkers and is irrigated throughout the summer. There are 9 holes and the men's par is 68, with a course length of 5315 metres; for women, the par is 72 and the course length, 5176 metres.
The golf course has been home to the Oakbank Golf Club since it moved from the race-course (with a one-year interlude at Mt Pleasant) at the end of the 1993 season. The Club's main focus is its own competition and social programme, but casual players and groups are most welcome when the course is not required for Club events.
The clubhouse is named O'Leary Clubhouse as a memorial to Leo and Bryan O'Leary; respectively, father and son, who held the position of secretary/manager of Johnstons from 1905 until 1993.
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Oakbank Golf Course