Long-Serving Bomaderry Bowling Club Leader Enjoys Retirement

Garry started at the Club, under his father’s management, as a casual teenager performing duties including cleaning and servicing gaming machines. 

Taking over from his father was never his intended plan.

“I started in the club industry when I was 16,” he recalls. 

“It was actually like a second job for me back then, while I was doing my mechanical apprenticeship.”

Staying with the one employer for his entire career, Garry helped steer Bomaderry Bowling Club through periods of growth, industry disruptions and the challenges of an evolving social landscape. 

Among his most significant achievements was overseeing the Club’s amalgamation with the local RSL Club in 2016 - an initiative that secured the long-term viability of both venues. 

This also led to another amalgamation, with Nowra Golf Club. The latter, Garry says, is an achievement he is most proud of.

“That was probably the best one—taking a Club that had fallen on hard times and turning it around,” he says.

Throughout his tenure, Garry witnessed sweeping changes in the club environment. The impact of the introduction of smoking bans in 2007, which, virtually overnight, transformed patron behaviour and forced venues to adapt quickly.

“We had to adjust,” he says. “We built smoking verandas and designated gaming areas, but patronage levels dropped significantly when those laws came in. It was a huge shift,” he says.

Similarly, the advent of random breath testing reshaped the way members socialised.

“When RBTs came in, we had courtesy buses running every night, dropping people home,” he explains

“After it came in, people just didn’t drink the same way anymore. It made things much more responsible.”

Asked about where he sees the club industry heading, Garry points to the need to diversify and evolve to meet the expectations of younger generations who are drinking less and seeking broader experiences beyond gaming and alcohol.

“It’s about finding what members need now,” he says. 

“Golf and bowls are still strong, but clubs will have to keep adjusting to stay relevant.”

Garry says his achievements can very much put down to the working relationships he enjoyed with board members over his years at the helm.

“I’ve been successful because of that relationship with management and the board,” he says.

Anthony Field, who has taken over as CEO, says the transition has been smooth thanks to Garry’s guidance and decades of stability.

“It was certainly a very easy transition,” Anthony says. 

“I’d been working with Garry for around 21 years, and about 18 of those years as manager. We have a very similar leadership model, so it wasn’t a difficult change.”

Anthony acknowledges Garry’s contribution to the Club and the broader industry, noting that his involvement extended well beyond Bomaderry Bowling Club itself.

“Garry was wrapped up with the Club Managers Association for many years, he served on the committee, and he was president of the Shoalhaven Liquor Accord for over a decade,” he says. 

“There’s a lot of history there that I’ve inherited.

“He created a modern venue that’s very different to the old-fashioned bowling club it once was. The amalgamations and renovations over the years have put us in a strong position.”

Looking to the future, Anthony says the Club is already starting conversations with members about modernising the constitution and planning for the next 10 to 20 years.

“We want to make sure we survive what some other bowling clubs experience—and that’s closing their doors,” he says.