More than 400 guests gathered at Jupiters Gold Coast on Thursday night to recognise the outstanding achievements of the Queensland golf industry at the annual industry awards last night.

The evening recognised the achievements of those from the PGA of Australia (Queensland Division), Golf Managers Association Queensland (GMAQ), Golf Queensland as well as the Golf Course Superintendents Association of Queensland (GCSAQ).

In some of the night’s most anticipated awards, Victoria Park Golf Complex Director of Golf, Tim Porter, was recognised for his efforts taking out the Coca-Cola QLD PGA Club Professional of the Year, while KDV Academy Director of Instruction Richard Woodhouse and coach to Tour Professionals Tim Hart
and Brett Rankin, was humbled when presented with the prestigious QLD PGA Teaching Professional of the Year award.

"It is such an honour to be receiving this award and congratulations, not only to my fellow PGA Professionals who have won awards tonight, but also to all the other finalists for each of their respective awards," said Woodhouse.

"I feel the industry is in a great shape at the moment here in Queensland and I am lucky enough to be working with a large amount of up and coming talent which will no doubt be the future face of our game over the coming years."

Porter and Woodhouse will represent Queensland as finalists for both the Australian Club Professional and Teaching Professional of the Year of which will be awarded at the Greg Norman Medal during the week of the Australian PGA Championship.

The GCSAQ recognised the talents of many of their dedicated superintendents across Queensland with Michael McCombe from Maleny Golf Club taking out the Superintendent’s Achievement Award. 

Michael’s efforts in opening the Maleny Golf Course were congratulated given the large scale effort in doing so with primarily a small volunteer workforce.

"This award is owed to the long term vision of the club and it’s board of directors and with the second 9 holes of the course due to open in the not too distant future, I am very privileged to be working at such a great progressive facility" said McCombe.

The winner of the GMAQ Manager of the Year was a popular choice with Maroochy River Golf Club’s Charlie McGill being presented with the award. 

Charlie was instrumental in a year of success for the club after it’s transition and relocation to Horton Park Golf Club.

"Congratulations must go to not only a dedicated board of directors but also the staff who have worked extremely hard over the past year to make the transition as smooth as possible." said McGill.

The Headland Golf Club received the coveted GMAQ Golf Club of the Year award and was recognised for their achievements of playing an active role in growing their Junior Membership and implementing a widely successful Women in Golf program.

The state’s leading amateurs were also acknowledged with Golf Queensland’s Karis Davidson winning the Junior Female Amateur of the Year award for the second year in a row. 

Other award winners, who will no doubt become household names over the coming years, include Charlie Pilon who took out the Junior Male Amateur Golfer of the Year as well as Anthony Quayle and Rebecca Kay winning the Male and Female Amateur of the Year respectively.

The evening also saw 20 PGA Trainees graduate to Full Vocational Members and were recognised for their dedication in achieving their goal of becoming the next generation of PGA Professionals. Trainee Captain and 2015 QLD Trainee of the Year Winner Rick Coleman captured the thoughts of all of those
who received their graduation certificates.

"We are very honoured to be with so many people who have dedicated themselves across the industry and we hope that we can continue to give back to all of those people who have supported us across our PGA Traineeships," said Coleman.

"We are all here, trying to achieve the same thing, to grow and develop this wonderful game of golf that we all believe in and the graduating class of 2015 are confident we can have a positive impact in the coming years."

2016 Queensland Golf Industry Award Winners