Poorer golf clubs under pressure as developers eye prime land

Melbourne’s poorer golf clubs are merging, relocating or closing – in some cases for residential development – while the city’s richest sandbelt courses thrive.

And with some clubs facing decreasing memberships and considering selling to developers, the Andrews government on Friday released a report to help decide the fate of land currently used for golf.

The sport is still popular, played by more than 300,000 Victorians and making an $849 million contribution to the state economy.

But almost half of Victoria’s 374 golf courses are in financial stress.

While exclusive courses in Melbourne’s “sandbelt” – among them Kingston Heath in Cheltenham, Metropolitan Golf Club in Oakleigh and Royal Melbourne in Black Rock – charge around $4500 annual membership and are thriving, the city’s second-tier courses are fading.

There are 23 golf courses abutting or just outside the city’s urban growth boundary being eyed by residential developers for rezoning. Already eight former golf courses in metropolitan Melbourne are being redeveloped for homes.

“Participation rates in golf are pretty stable, but a lot of clubs are struggling,” said Richard Allen, a member at Royal Melbourne with a handicap of three.

Mr Allen, who runs a financial public relations firm, was asked by Planning Minister Richard Wynne to chair the government’s Golf Task Force that wrote Friday’s report.

Clubs just within Melbourne’s urban growth boundary or just outside were particularly vulnerable to redevelopment for housing, he said. “Property developers are circling prime land, and clubs struggling for money are looking for a solution.”

Mr Allen said many golfers were now using pay-for-play courses rather joining a club. “Young people are thinking ‘Why would I belong to a club when I could spend the money and play at 20 great courses around Melbourne?'”

The report finds that only 3 per cent of golf club memberships are juniors, and just 20 per cent are females.

Mr Allen said people no longer felt they had time for 18 holes. “People have so many things in their lives; four hours on a golf course, they just can’t make it work,” he said.

The highest profile club to shut, sell its land to developers and move outside the city to build a new course is The Eastern.

At its peak its Doncaster course had 1000 members, but by 2008 it had fallen to 650. It sold to developer Mirvac, which is building hundreds of homes on the Doncaster hill land.

The Eastern moved its club to the Yarra Valley, to a new course designed by Greg Norman, and now has 1100 members and a waiting list of more than 250 golfers.

The club’s general manager Ben Telley​ said selling its Doncaster land had relieved financial problems and provided members with a new course.

He said the rise of quality public courses had changed the dynamic for private clubs. “Once upon a time a public golf course was very average but we have seen the emergence of high-end high quality facilities,” he said.

These included St Andrews Beach Golf Course and Moonah Links on the Mornington Peninsula and the popular courses in Tasmania’s Barnbougle.

The government has called for submissions on the issue, with Mr Wynne saying that while golf courses provided activity, exercise and open space, “many clubs are facing challenges as participation rates change”.

Source: The Age Victoria