$1.1 million upgrade for Newdegate Country Club at heart of community

The Newdegate Country Club is midway through its first ever major upgrade with plans to unveil the modern facility by the end of the year.

The bricks and mortar building has hosted hundreds of sporting events, open days, birthdays, and funerals events during more than 50 years of operation.

The country club is run by members of the local golf and bowls clubs — who use it in winter and summer respectively.

Run by members of the two local sporting clubs, the site is an institution of the Newdegate community with a capacity of about 150 people.

The $1.1 million renovation project includes new carpets, levelling the infamous crooked floor, and installing a new ceiling to improve acoustics inside the club.

The exterior will be rendered and the interior will be gyprocked, and new air-conditioning installed.

The toilet areas will be upgraded and a universal bathroom will also be added.

One of the biggest highlights includes a “major revamp” of the kitchen, which Newdegate Country Club building project secretary Clive Morton said had generated a lot of excitement in town.

“The layout has been a bit of a headache for the kitchen ladies, with no dishwasher and a layout space that isn’t very functional,” he said.

“Updating the building will make all of the events we host here nicer and a bit more attractive for the people attending.”

Newdegate Bowls Club captain Beau Waddell said it was the first major upgrade for the club.

“It has been a while in the making, and the refreshed building will be really great for locals and visitors,” he said.

“We have a larger recreation centre in town but for smaller events it really serves a great purpose. I think the upgraded building will attract more use.

It has been a great thing to have the support of the community, the field days have helped improvements in the local community for years.

Newdegate local Marj Davey was 39 when she attended the official opening of the club in 1969 and has fond memories of “lots of laughs” at the venue.

At the time it opened, her and her now-late husband Mick owned and ran the local roadhouse but would spend their weekends at the club playing bowls.

In the years that followed, Mrs Davey would have all manner of jobs at the club including cooking in the kitchen, working behind the bar, and selling raffle tickets.

She even held the role of president for “a couple of years” and said she still played bowls, but joked her skills were “nothing to write home about”.

“We used to come down every weekend, play, have a few beers and then go home,” Mrs Davey said.

It is an important part of our community.

The renovation has been co-funded by the Newdegate Machinery Field Days which has contributed $100,000.

The Federal Government has given $400,000 through drought and COVID stimulus grants, while the town’s Community Cropping Group has contributed $300,000.

The Shire of Lake Grace has filled in the balance — nearly $300,000 — of the $1.1m total.

While the project won’t be completed in time for this year’s field days, Mr Waddell said that he hoped it would be finished in time for Christmas.

Read the full Newdegate Machinery Field Days program here.