Golf provides vital social connection
Posted on: 28 November
For Willetton senior John Mealor, golf is more than just a hobby. It’s a lifeline.
Aged 94, John remarkably still plays 18 holes of golf twice a week at Whaleback Golf Course. Not only is the sport his connection with the outside world, but it helps to keep him both physically and mentally fit.
He’s far from alone, according to the Australian Golf Industry Council’s (AGIC) recent Maximising the Community Benefits of Golf Report for 2024, which placed John alongside 166,000 Australians who would be inactive without golf. The report also highlighted how the sport supports good physical and mental health for all ages.
“I don’t want to go into a nursing home,” says Mealor. “And golf keeps me healthy and active. I live on my own and it can get quite lonely, so golf offers me companionship, even if it is with players who I have never met before.”
A regular face at Whaleback since 1991, John’s twice-weekly rounds of golf have become more challenging since the loss of his vision, yet with some help from aged care service provider Silverchain he can be found on the 1st tee every Tuesday and Friday morning. While he still hits the ball very well, and remarkably straight, Mealor now relies on the help of his playing partners to locate his ball.
“In my younger days, when I was a better golfer, I knew from the feel in my hands which way the ball was going off the clubface. I still have that, and I can see a flash of the ball in my peripheral vision, but I do need some help finding my ball.
“Whaleback has always been so good to me, pairing me up with the right people,” he says. “They really look after me and they are doing a magnificent job of keeping the course in good condition.”
The former flight engineer in the British Air Force was a handy golfer in his youth – John played off a 2-handicap – and he still manages to bump it round the course pretty well, hitting his trusty 5-hybrid cleanly off the fairway with surprising power and accuracy.
“It’s my favourite golf club,” he laughs. “It only cost me $10 – and it’s a ladies’ club!”
According to the AGIC report, over 80% of golfers consider golf venues to be important for social connection, with the sport providing around a billion dollars’ worth of social benefits each year, mainly via physical and mental health benefits. The physical exercise associated with golf releases endorphins and serotonin that improve mood, and regular exercise has been evidenced to reduce stress, depression and anxiety.
Whaleback’s annual value contribution, calculated using AGIC’s Value Benefits Assessment tool, is approximately $4.4 million annually.
Contrary to popular belief, the report also indicates that golf courses offer significant environmental benefits. Academics at the University of Melbourne undertook an assessment of golf course biodiversity and found that the structural complexity of vegetation on golf courses is around 50-100% higher than that of residential gardens and urban parklands.
Additionally, beetle and bug abundance on golf courses is 610 times greater than that within nearby parks, while there are around 50% more bird species on golf courses than in urban gardens and parks.