One of the biggest tournament's on the region's golf calendar will come to Glen Innes next week and, according to one of the organising committee members, the whole town will benefit.
More than 130 entries were received for the New England District Golf Association's women's tournament which will be held from Wednesday to Friday next week.
The event is held every year and each town in the New England region hosts every seven years. Glen Innes' will be the 82nd time the tournament has been held and NEDGA secretary Di Brown said the response has been phenomenal.
"It has just been amazing, the response has been incredible," she said.
"We have got people coming from Armidale, Ballina, Byron Bay, Barraba, Caloundra, Grafton, Port Macquarie, Gunnedah, Guyra, Inverell, Kyogle, Pacific Gold Coast, South West Rocks, Tamworth - we have a huge field."
During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, golf clubs across Australia received a huge boost in participation due to it being one of the few sports or social outings people could access.
Brown believes the added participation has flowed on to the coming tournament.
"Our club has gone up in numbers and I know it has improved in financial status because golf is something we can all do and even when COVID was around, you could go out in small numbers, you could go out in twos so you could still play," she said.
"We are enjoying the fact golf is something we can still be a part of."
Not only will there be plenty of action out on the golfing greens, Brown said the whole town will receive a boost.
"I am so excited, we have amazing sponsors on board, all our prizes come from local Glen Innes," she said.
"We have the drought, the fire and now we have this amazing golf tournament so we are giving back to our local supporters.
"Tournament prizes come from our locals so I think that is a great thing. We have got a good diverse mix of people and businesses, we have some great ones coming on board so we are very excited. A lot of the ladies, they will shop, they will enjoy going to all our tourist places, and our businesses."
Ellen Dunger
Originally from the Blue Mountains, I spent my teenage years in the Riverina at boarding school before moving to Bathurst in 2012 to complete Bachelor of Sport Studies/ Bachelor of Communications (journalism) at Charles Sturt University. I started my career at The Blayney Chronicle in May 2015 and worked casually, one day a week at the Central Western Daily later on that year. I moved to Armidale in March 2016 to take on the role as the Northern Tablelands' sports journalist. Played a variety of sports in my lifetime including touch football, league tag, gymnastics, dance, cross country running and equestrian. Always happy to hear news and tips. www.facebook.com/ellendungerjournalist/
Originally from the Blue Mountains, I spent my teenage years in the Riverina at boarding school before moving to Bathurst in 2012 to complete Bachelor of Sport Studies/ Bachelor of Communications (journalism) at Charles Sturt University. I started my career at The Blayney Chronicle in May 2015 and worked casually, one day a week at the Central Western Daily later on that year. I moved to Armidale in March 2016 to take on the role as the Northern Tablelands' sports journalist. Played a variety of sports in my lifetime including touch football, league tag, gymnastics, dance, cross country running and equestrian. Always happy to hear news and tips. www.facebook.com/ellendungerjournalist/
