Kameruka Golf Course (NSW) Considered for Heritage Nomination

The Heritage Council of NSW has given notice of its intention to consider listing the Kameruka Golf Course on the State Heritage Register (SHR) in acknowledgement of its heritage significance to the people of New South Wales.

The Kameruka Golf Course is likely to be of State heritage significance for its historical, associative, technical, aesthetic, research, rarity, and representative values.

The Kameruka Golf Course likely has rarity and representative value as the oldest golf course in its original design layout in NSW and Australia.

Its original nine-hole design form and configuration remains undisturbed from its original completion in 1915 (with only minor modifications). It is the only remaining example of a complete golf course in the ‘Penal Golf’ architecture style in NSW and in Australia generally.

Additionally, it is one of a handful of such golf courses existing around the world. For these reasons, it may have technical value for the successful achievement of adapting the ‘penal style’ of golf course architecture to Australian conditions. It may also have aesthetic value as it exhibits the ‘quirkiness’ that is a common characteristic of penal architecture.

Historical Value

The golf course likely has historical value for its ability to demonstrate the history and development of golf course architecture in the state and nationally. Through its designer, the Scottish professional golfer Laurie Auchterlonie, and builder, the English professional golfer and greenkeeper Ernest Banks, the course represents the direct transplantation of British ideas and thoughts on golf course design directly to Australia. As such, it may also have research value as an important benchmark or reference site for the study of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century golf history and architecture.

It can also yield substantial historical and archaeological information, through landscape analysis, about the adaptation of penal style golf architecture to Australian conditions.

The Kameruka Estate

The golf course may have associative value for its strong associations with the owner of the Kameruka Estate, Sir Robert Lucas Lucas-Tooth (1844-1915), who was the driving force being its creation. It may also have historical value for its connection to the historical development of the Kameruka Estate and Sir Robert’s long-term vision for the property, including the establishment of a private village, with additional facilities for tourists.

Construction and opened during the early years of WWI, the golf course likely has historical value for is clear connection with the tragic events of this war. Seven of the nine holes were named after the battlefields or events of World War I: Gallipoli, the Crater, Ypres, Shrapnel Gully, Hill 60, Salonika, and the Labyrinth.

Have your say

Any members of the community, owners, managers, organisations or other interested parties are invited to make a written submission regarding the proposed listing and significance of the Kameruka Golf Course.

Submissions should be posted or emailed to the Heritage Council of
NSW at the following address during the public submission period commencing on 13 July
2022 and closing on 10 August 2022:
Heritage Council of NSW
Locked Bag 5020
PARRAMATTA NSW 2124
heritagemailbox@environment.nsw.gov.au