Click for Member History
1984 | First games played at Cammeray, Castle Cove. then Northbridge GC |
1984 | Ten second rule introduced |
1986 | First annual tournament against "The Morning After The Night Before Golf Club" |
1986 | Ten second rule abolished? |
1987 | Last tournament against "The Morning After The Night Before Golf Club" (click for photos) |
1987 | Click here for photos taken in 1987 at Northbridge Golf Club |
19?? | SMERGS first tour?? |
1992 | SMERGS name introduced |
1993 | First Mountain Masters played |
1993 | SMERGS first annual dinner held |
1993 | SMERGS handicap system first used |
1993 | The first ANZAC Day Trophy |
1994 | Rick Chadwick first said "I can never win off my handicap" |
1994 | SMERGS' white shirt introduced together with famous SMERGS logo |
1995 | First Curtley Cup |
1995 | Riverside Oaks Country Classic |
1996 | Mother Mary McKillop Cup |
1996 | SMERGS' song first sung |
1997 | Click here for photos from Rick Butler's 50th birthday party, April 1997 |
1998 | SMERGS' black shirt introduced |
1998 | The first Buenes Aires Cup |
1999 | First Di, Dodi and the Driver Memorial Cup |
1999 | First SMERGS Memorial Cup |
1999 | First St Nicholas Cup (at St Michael's) |
1999 | The first Beige Jacket |
1999 | The first Carlos Road Cup |
2000? | Web page set up by Simon Rowe |
2000 | Riverside Oaks Tweed Jacket first played |
2002 | SMERGS' green Murray shirt introduced |
2002 | The first Newcastle Flyer |
2003 | 17 August - the Green Croc Award (courtesy Ken Miller) awarded for the first time |
2005 | The SMERGS Hall of Fame created and first member inducted (Rob Lowndes). Only anointed members may appoint future members. |
2006 | 2 Oct - The first Croc'n'Brock Memorial Cup to determine the Pairs Champions |
2006 | Second member (Phil Stabback) inducted to Hall of Fame |
2007 | 28 Jan - a new record on the back nine by Ian Baker with 29 points (34 hits off 23 handicap) |
2007 | 13 May - a new stroke record, 31 strokes on the back nine by Alan O'Donovan (before the temporary holes came into play) |
2007 | 8 Sep - The first Killara Cup played on APEC public holiday |
2007 | 16 Sep - First day on new temporary course while dams built. 10 holes each Sunday until further notice |
2008 | 13 Apr - Peter Burns scores an Eagle on the par5 6th hole at Cypress Lakes. |
2008 | 20 Apr - Return to the traditional back nine after completion of dams. Possibly lowest team score ever with just 7.5 pt average and four players in team! |
2008 | 25 Apr - Rob Miller farewelled in style at Chez Hillyard. Read the Ode to Robbie. Rob takes leave of absence at end June to live in Syracuse. |
2008 | 1 June - Rob Miller departs for Jamesville NY. Leaves legacy of SMERGS Quotes! |
2008 | 20 June - Inaugural Avondale Medal |
2008 | 23 November - Inaugural Northern Beaches Open |
2009 | 5 October - Lowest recorded four player team average of 9 points (Thornton, Lowndes, Waddington, Figgis) - but see 20/04/08), lowest CROC score of 3 points (Waddington), and lowest overall average of 10.25 points (8 players), and the winner had just 15 points - and it was a lovely morning!! |
2009 | 11 November - RNGC Club Captain, Lindsay Domingue, joins us on the 10th tee to congratulate (and thank) all SMERGS for 25 glorious years! |
2009 | 20 November - Annual dinner and four new Hall of fame members inducted - foundation members Peter Burns, Rick Chadwick and Phil Alexander, and Nick Hillyard. |
2010 | 11 April - Simon Rowe reaches zero handicap so 10 strokes added to all SMERGS handicaps |
2010 | 24
October -
Phil and Helen sell their lovely Wentworth Falls house so the Carlos Road Cup
returns to Blackheath as the Blue Mountains Classic after an 11 year absence. The Nick Hillyard Pastel Challenge introduced for "the most sartorially elegant pastel attired SMERG golfer" to see if anyone could match Nick's normal attire! |
2010 | 14 November - A rule change!! In future one shot will be deducted from handicaps for every four weeks absence. |
2010 | 14 November - Photo taken showing heritage collection of four SMERGS shirts |
2011 | 13 February - First SMERG booked for speeding on way to golf (Tim Becker). First recorded instance of a group calling through the group behind while looking for lost balls and generally stuffing around! |
2011 | 26 March - SMERGS sponsor Medley 2BBB and Individual Stableford in Saturday competition as "SMERGS of Royal Northbridge". |
2011 | April - RNGC News and Views features an article on SMERGS including Annual Dinner Ode |
2011 | 13 June - Queens Birthday Club Championship and the second team (Chadwick, Ferreira, Miller, Webb) finished a record one hour behind the winning threesome. |
2012 | 25 April - all SMERGS handicaps reset, mostly to club handicaps, and all future games, including majors, to be played based on SMERGS handicaps while club handicaps become of academic interest only. |
2012 | 5 August - The Country Classic (Tweed Jacket) moves from its traditional home at Riverside Oaks to Lynwood Country Club due to rising costs at RO and general difficulty in dealing with staff there! |
2013 | 31 March - Rick B wins with 17 points from a handicap of one to add 10 strokes to everyone's handicap |
2013 | 21 April - SMERGS celebrate Alan Waddington's 70th birthday at Il Perugino. Click to read Nick's Ode "Can you believe how old he is?" |
2013 | 8 November - SMERGS annual dinner. Phil Alexander reconfirmed into the Hall of Fame (in absentia!) |
2014 | 12 January - Another record? Five turned up and played together. All finished within one stroke (four with 45 hits, one with 44) and with scores within two points (16 to 18) and a two way tie to share the huge number of balls! |
2014 | 9 June - Peter Macdougall drops to 0 so ALL handicaps adjusted up by 10 shots |
2014 | 13 July - And another record? Peter Thornton wins four weeks in a row and five times in six weeks |
2014 | 19 December - 30th Anniversary Dinner held at Northbridge Golf Club |
2014 | 21 December - Another record! Nick Hillyard has one putt on each of the nine holes to win The Bobbick with just 9 putts. |
2015 | 3 April - Inaugural Royal Northbridge Easter Open held over 18 holes on Good Friday |
2015 | 13 April - RNGC is 80 years old. Click here for Kim McGlinn's detailed history |
2015 | 19 April - Peter Macdougall drops to 0 so ALL handicaps adjusted up by 10 shots |
2015 | 20 November - Annual DInner again held at NGC. Click here for photos |
2016 | 17 March - Nick Hillyard elected President of Sydney Veteran Golfers Association |
2016 | 8 May - In his absence, Rick Butler drops to zero so all handicaps up 10 shots |
2016 | 3 October - Founding member Phil Alexander died peacefully after long illness. Click here for Phil Stabback's tribute at 10/10/16 funeral service. |
2017 | 1 January - Handicaps for overseas resident members adjusted upwards to 18 and will in future lose a shot for every SIX weeks not played. See handicapping rules |
2017 | 23 February - believed to be the first winner of both front and back nine without winning overall in a major`, Steve Figgis wins both in the KOCUP |
2017 | 21 August - Golf NSW Newsletter publishes a history of SMERGS written by Nick Hillyard. Click here for article. |
2017 | 12 November - Rick Butler hits a blistering 36 shots for 16 points to drop his handicap to zero so all handicaps raise 10 shots. |
2017 | 17 November - Annual Dinner at RSYS and farewell to Ray and Kim. First performance by the Smerg Brothers (later the Triple Bogeys). Click here for photos and more |
2018 | 17 June - One group of Waddington, Bell and Butler scored three birdies on the 17th green from 6,5 and 3 metres respectively |
2018 | 9 September - DDD match, Figgis plays Webbie and together lose 5 balls on the 10th and score a DDD record high of 11 and 12 shots each on the same hole. |
2018 | 22 November - Annual Dinner at NGC. Click here for photos and here for words to "The Legend of the SMERGS" |
2019 | 11 January - Annual Dinner at NGC. Ricky B wins his tournament at St Michaels to drop his handicap to +1 so all handicaps increase by 10 shots. |
2019 | 20 January - Two teams with total seven players exceeded 20 points average. Two with 22 points, three with 21 and two with 20. |
2019 | 7 April - Steve Penny joins Smergs. |
2019 | 6 December - Annual Dinner at NGC. Click here for Peter's full scorer's report. Click here for start of photo gallery. Click here for Nick's tribute to Lonnie Donegan. Click here for The Triple Bogeys' tribute to Bob Dylan |
2019 | 22 December - Declan O'Donovan joins Smergs and, as father Alan is playing more often and handicap was +1, all handicaps increased by 10 shots. |
2019 | 29 December - Nine players and seven finished with 21 points! Winner was Mike Bell with 22 points. A seven way tie for second. Records galore. |
2020 | 19 January - Ken Miller scores a record 29 points on the back nine off 22 handicap with just 35 shots. Seven 3's and two 4's! |
2020 | 24 January - SMERGS runs a successful golf day to raise over $60,000 for BlazeAid. Click here for event summary by organiser Nick Hillyard |
2020 | 2 February - More records created with just six players all hitting between 40 and 45 shots. 21 points won the Croc and an average of 22.33 paid for coffee. |
2020 | 5 April - new rules adopted to play in pairs to minimise risk from COVID19 pandemic and to comply with government/NGC advice and regulations. No more coffee statistics will be collected while the rules are in place. |
2020 | Feb - Peter Thornton's brother in law Neil McLaren joins SMERGS after several guest appearances over recent years. |
2020 | May - The Golden Putter. Previously also known as The Bobbick until extensive research by Peter Thornton revealed the error. Click here for Peter's research revealing the true name should be The Bobbitt. |
2020 | 16 Aug - David Thornton joins SMERGS and on 19 Nov 20 becomes first smerg to marry while a smerg, Click here for photo. |
2020 | 7 Sep - First Ladies event ever with the Goodwill Pairs. Teams of Louise Ferreira and Sue Webb, and Robyn Burns and Bernadine Penny |
2020 | 12 April - NGC's Black Tee rule adopted for players 65 years and older. |
2021 | 22 Mar - First handicap review as a result of Covid absences and other distortions leads to Peter B gaining 5 shots, and Johnny F 2 shots and Roger's handicap being tied to Nick's. Rules tidied up. |
Start | End |
SMERG |
Introduced by |
1984 | Phil Stabback | Carlos Road | |
1984 | Rob Lowndes | Carlos Road | |
1984 | 2016 | Phil Alexander (died 3 October 2016) | Carlos Road |
1984 | Rick Chadwick | Carlos Road | |
1984 | Peter Burns | Carlos Road | |
1984 | 2007 | Mike Bell (rejoins in 2014) | Carlos Road |
1984 | 1987 | Russell Spear | Rob Lowndes |
1986 | Alan Waddington | Peter Burns | |
1986 | Tim Becker | Rick Chadwick | |
1986 | 1987 | Lynton Franzi | Rick Chadwick |
1987 | Nick Hillyard | Alan Waddington | |
1987 | 1990 | Russell Higlett | Peter Burns |
1987 | 19?? | Peter Stenning | Phil Alexander |
1991 | Peter Macdougall | Peter Stenning | |
1991 | Peter Thornton | Peter Burns/N Hillyard | |
1992 | Ken Miller | Rick Chadwick | |
1994 | 2008 | Robert Miller | Ken Miller |
1994 | John Webb | Carlos Road | |
1995 | Rick Butler | Nick Hillyard | |
1996 | 2012 | Simon Rowe | John Webb |
1996 | Steve Figgis | Alan Waddington | |
1996 | 199? | Julian Tre Evans | Nick Hillyard |
1997 | 1999 | Andy Knott | Nick Hillyard |
1998 | Gary Skulander | Rob Lowndes | |
1998 | 1999 | Tim McAndrew | Andy Knot |
1998 | 2002 | David Spencer | Robert Miller |
1998 | 2007 | James Halliday | Rick Chadwick |
1999 | 2014 | Bruce Rowe | Simon Rowe |
2001 | 2002 | Steve Ashby | Simon Rowe |
2004 | 2015 | Alan O'Donovan | Gary Skulander |
2004 | 2013 | Ian Baker | Rob Lowndes |
2005 | John Ferreira | Ian Baker | |
2009 | Roger Meadows | Nick Hillyard | |
2014 | Mike Bell returns | Carlos Road | |
2015 | Steve Urwin | Rob Lowndes | |
2017 | James Halliday returns to the fold after a ten year absence | Carlos Road | |
2018 | Alan O'Donovan returns to the fold after a four year absence | Gary Skulander | |
2019 | Steve Penny | Gary Skulander | |
2019 | Declan O'Donovan | Alan O'Donovan | |
2020 | Neil McLaren | Peter Thornton | |
2020 | David Thornton | Peter Thornton |