On Thursday 27 August, twenty-two players from the Dutch, Swedish and Norwegian chambers teed off at St Lucia Golf Links for the first Chambers Social Golf Day, and played for a trophy that had never been won before. The Chamber of Chambers now has its first name on it.
Everyone on the same fairway
Our chambers spend most of the year running events for our own members. This was an attempt to do the opposite — put several chambers on the same course on the same afternoon, and open it up to anyone else in Brisbane who fancied a Thursday out of the office.
It worked. Roughly a third of the field were not members of any chamber. One of our players, Florian de Groot, is visiting from the Netherlands, was the only golfer among the friends he is staying with, found the day through the ticket page and arrived not knowing a soul.
The format was nine holes, two-person Ambrose, carts compulsory, tee off at 1:00pm. Ambrose means the best shot counts, so nobody who had not swung a club in years held anyone up, and the people who play every week still had something to prove.
How it played out
The first Chamber of Chambers goes to the Dutch Chamber of Commerce Queensland, courtesy of Blair Luckman and Aegir Brands, who came in at 33 strokes, two under par.
Floyd de Kruijff and Florian de Groot finished second on 36, and Art Key and Ryan took third on 37.
| # | Team | Chamber | Strokes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blair Luckman & Aegir Brands | DCCQ | 33 |
| 2 | Floyd de Kruijff & Florian de Groot | DCCQ | 36 |
| 3 | Art Key & Ryan | DCCQ | 37 |
| 4 | Anton Brooks Cederqvist & Shane McCarthy | Swedish | 38 |
| 5 | Willa Keyner & Johanna Brands | DCCQ | 39 |
| 6 | Rhyss & Martina Harvey | Norwegian | 40 |
| 7 | Dan Pearson & Caroline Kennedy | Swedish | 41 |
| 8 | Alex Rich & Laurent Van Helden | DCCQ | 44 |
| 9 | Viktor Santesson & Marie McIntyre | Swedish | 46 |
| 10 | Timmy Speelman & Lennard Borst | DCCQ | 49 |
| 11 | Chris Lillie & Andrew Lambros | DCCQ | 52 |
In the interests of full disclosure, DCCQ hosted the day and fielded fourteen of the twenty-two players, so the home chamber winning the first one is not the upset of the century. The Swedes and the Norwegians are welcome to bring more teams next year and settle it properly.
Fifth place on 39 went to Willa Keyner and Johanna Brands, the only all-female pairing in the field and the team that finished ahead of six teams of men who will be quietly reviewing their own scorecards. Willa is also the youngest player to have contested the Chamber of Chambers, a record she holds for at least a year. Five of our twenty-two players were women, which is not enough, and it is the thing we would most like to change in 2027.
Longest Drive went to Dan Pearson on the ninth, presented by Bennett & Philp Lawyers. Closest to the Pin was won and then, in the finest traditions of social golf, abandoned: Floyd de Kruijff put his tee shot to within four metres on the second and then left before presentations. Runner-up Lennard Borst takes the moral victory and no prize whatsoever.
A Garmin Approach S12 golf watch, donated by our major sponsor AITSC, was drawn as a raffle across the whole field so the day’s worst golfer had the same chance as its best. It went to Art Key.
Thank you to our sponsors
A first-year event depends on the people willing to back it before it has any history. Three businesses did.
- AITSC was our major sponsor and donated the Garmin watch. Thank you to Matthew Luong and the team.
- Bennett & Philp Lawyers sponsored a hole and were represented on the course by Chris Lillie and Andrew Lambros, who also presented the Longest Drive and then generously donated the wooden spoon to their own firm.
- Axis Clinic sponsored a hole and set up at the first tee, so nobody started their round empty-handed. Thank you to Kylie Copeman, Zoe Lucock and Britta Cederqvist.
Everyone came off the course to The Pavilion at Hundred Acre and was joined by the people who had sensibly skipped the golf and come straight for the drinks and canapés. Thirty-one people were involved across the day, including two who walked up and bought tickets on the spot.
Two more thank yous. Anton Brooks Cederqvist did the legwork that turned an idea into an event: the venue, the format, the tee times and the long tail of chasing people for their numbers. Britta Cederqvist ran the day on the ground and took most of the photographs below.
From the day
The Chamber of Chambers stays with DCCQ until August 2027, when it will be defended at St Lucia Golf Links. Every chamber is invited and so is everyone else, because you do not need to be a member, Dutch, Scandinavian, or any good at golf. If you would like to play next year, or to sponsor a hole, write to us at info@dccq.org.
