Two years of anticipation dashed in the last week

By Paul Gueorgieff
Editor, Golfer Pacific NZ

Two years ago a group of us from our golf club where made aware of tournament in New South Wales.

We were immediately attracted to it.

It was to be held at Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales. That in itself was a drawcard as Coffs Harbour is a popular Australian tourist destination.

The tournament was to be held at the Coffs Harbour Golf Club. That added to the appeal.

The Coffs Harbour course comprises 27 holes of equal quality and the three-day tournament would use all 27 holes which meant each day of the tournament would present it’s own challenges.

The attractions didn’t end there. On the rest day of the tournament you had the option of playing at Bonville Golf Resort — one of the best resort courses in Australia.

A good number of us put up a hand to play at Bonville. But we also put up a hand to dine there after a round of golf. Bonville is a golf club that has 12 different champagnes on the menu — and I mean champagne, not just bubbly wine.

Remember this is two years out from the tournament. Many of us were showing much interest.

But would numbers fall away when it actually came to commit to bookings?

Not at all. One year out from the tournament we booked accommodation for more than 25 of us. We booked out a whole motel. Air fares were booked later in the year as each of us took advantage or airline specials.

As the time drew closer the anticipation grew and grew and grew.

But then came the bombshell. One week out from the tournament, the New Zealand government announced travel restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Most of us reluctantly went about making cancellations.

A few of the group made the decision to accept the New Zealand travel restrictions and decided they would still attend the tournament.

Then a day later the Australian government announced similar travel restrictions and the hopes of the remaining few planning to attend the tournament were dashed. None of us went to the tournament.

I felt robbed. I fully understood the need for the travel restrictions but when you have looked forward to something for so long it was very difficult to accept.

At this point I must congratulate the motel we were to have stayed at. It repaid all of us in full, apart from a small administration fee. The motel’s name was Smugglers On The Beach. Well done to them.

At the time of writing I was still struggling to get hold of anyone from internet travel agent Webjet about a refund of airfares.

Next year’s tournament of the same organisation is to be held in Adelaide. Many of us are already looking forward to that. Let us pray that the coronavirus pandemic is well behind us by that time.