Keith Coghlan found golf via cricket, as a means of getting together with his Lower Eltham CC mates that didn’t involve crouching behind stumps wearing little pads and big gloves. He came to Portsea relatively late, yet has made a profound impression.
As Portsea raises the bat to acknowledge a wonderful first century, Keith is one of four living life members. It’s an honour he holds dear, illustrated by how moved he was when the news was first delivered.
“I remember walking into the clubhouse the next time I was there, and standing in front of this board with the (other 17) life members on it. And thinking, ‘I’m not deserving of being on that board.’ I still pinch myself to think that somehow I’m one of them, when there’s so many others who could be.”
Trip to Ireland which included seven Portsea members, Michael Proud, Keith Coghlan (back row third from left), Steve Gibbs, Orm Thomas, Michael Power, Phil Carter, Neil Pope.
As far as the game itself is concerned, self-deprecation might be his biggest asset. Keith readily admits his golf prowess is average at best, that he was always “one of those guys with a handicap up the wrong end of the scale”. But he knows the fulfilment that comes from being part of something, and is eternally grateful he and Helen found their way to Portsea.
His cricket crew first played golf at Ivanhoe, and then Green Acres in Kew where he remains a member. In 1984 the Coghlans bought a block at Blairgowrie and built a modest beach house. Soon, like-minded weekenders were all around them. In 1993 one neighbour (Michael Proud, who is still a Portsea member) said, “Why don’t we join a golf club?”
Helen joined too, and daughter Michelle, now in her 50s, has recently followed them into the PGC fold along with son in law Stuart and grandson Sam. Keith laughs that all golf courses are intimidating to a high handicapper, and that playing has always been about the social aspect of sharing a lovely walk with good company, and a drink and meal afterwards.
(Left to right) Daughter Michelle, wife Helen, Keith, and son in law Stuart – all Portsea Golf Club members
Soon after becoming a member, wise heads sensed the career accountant had something to offer that would be more impactful than clean ball-striking and a good short game. At a dinner for three couples at a friend’s Sorrento home, one guest, a Portsea board member, steered the conversation to the club’s ongoing struggle to attract new members and increase revenue.
“I said to him, ‘Why don’t you tell the members about this, where it’s at?’” Keith recalls. “And that was it.”
Taffy Richards was soon on the phone, and over a coffee convinced Keith to join the board. He had some board experience through dealings with clients, and had been president of his cricket club. Next thing he knew, he was treasurer of Portsea GC.
“Thinking back to those days when I joined the board and had a look at what we were dealing with, I just saw it as another client I’d been confronted with who had some issues,” Keith says of how he approached the challenge. “I dealt with it on the same basis as I would in my professional capacity.”
The club was at a low ebb, and having people look to him for advice – as the only accountant on the board – was confronting. At length the decision was taken to sell land and build a new clubhouse with hotel accommodation. Keith notes there were “some really good heads” on committee, forward-thinkers who knew serious action was required.
Keith with Eddie McGuire onsite of the new clubhouse build in 2012
His life membership acknowledged two decades of service to the club, including board and sub-committee roles and acting as something of a sounding board and mentor for the finance committee. He prefers to hail the work of others, like Taffy Richards, Chris Duffy, Michael Power, Neil Pope and Paul Cannon and push his own contribution into the margins.
The centenary year will be especially celebration-worthy, with Keith targeting a return to playing in February after a torrid recovery from a second knee replacement that was compounded by his femur making way for steel rods connecting knee to hip. It’s been a hefty price to pay for all those years of wicketkeeping, but his spirit is undiminished.
“The golf club became the centre of our life down there,” he says of a cherished weekend ritual of driving to Blairgowrie after work on Friday, golf on Saturday – Helen with the ladies, Keith the men – then dinner with friends. “It gives us a sense of enjoyment, to know we’re going down to Portsea.
“I really love walking out of the clubhouse down to the first tee, looking down through the valley and up to the green. If you’ve got a few shadows across there and the 18th fairway, it’s just beautiful.”