The Links Golf Course Reconfiguration Plan
The Links Shell Cove is an 18-hole, members and public golf course located in a magnificent coastal environment south of Wollongong in New South Wales. The Links Shell Cove currently has a Par71 and a length of 6,054m, as currently measured from the back markers.
Location of the golf course provides spectacular vistas and challenges for golfers and course staff alike, particularly during windy conditions. The golf club has 550 playing members but also caters for corporate and social golf.
Occupying an area of approximately 70ha, The Links Shell Cove is a large, crescent-shaped parcel of undulating land functioning as a catchment to a large, regionally-important SEPP 14 wetland located on the southern border.
Bounding its eastern and south-eastern side is Killalea State Park, a well-known coastal conservation park occupying 265ha. Turf grass species on The Links Shell Cove comprises kikuyu fairways and tees and “Dominant Supreme” (a blend of SR1019 and SR 1020 bentgrass) on the putting greens.
The expanding adjacent suburb of Shell Cove, one of the fastest growing residential developments outside metropolitan Sydney, has over 3,000 home sites. Many existing homes are located on elevated land adjacent the golf course’s northern boundary and have magnificent vistas over the course and southern coastline.
The Links Shell Cove is owned and managed by Shellharbour City Council.
To capitalise on some of the vistas offered across the golf course and the demand for prime home sites at Shell Cove, Shellharbour City Council councillors approved a business plan for The Links Shell Cove. The business plan allows for a new residential development of 40 housing sites on the old 9th hole, located on elevated land adjacent the clubhouse.
As a result, part of the business plan involves re-routing and re-grassing of several existing fairways, construction of three new putting greens and tee complexes resulting from loss of the existing 9th hole.
The proposed development is an expansion to several existing home sites already located on this parcel of elevated land. Part of the business plan also involves enacting poker machine entitlements with subsequent redevelopment of the clubhouse.
Click here to read full article in GIC E-mag Winter issue 2016
