The new Gardiners Run suits members to a tee

By David Newbery

What started out as a vision came to fruition last month when Chirnside Park Country Club near Melbourne relocated its golf course to nearby Lilydale in the Yarra Valley. 

Twelve years ago, the board and management at Chirnside Park Country Club came to the realisation its golf course was fast approaching its used-by-date courtesy of technology and, arguably, poor vision and planning when the golf course was first designed and built more than 50 years ago.

The club’s general manager Barbara Kelly said there was no alternative but to relocate. “The golf course was developed in mid-60s and was one of the first in Australia with a housing sub-division,” she said. “It was probably 40 years ahead of its time.  “It was a good layout but it had poor drainage, was hilly and had neighbours on the right-hand side of 17 of the 18 fairways. 

“Due to the design (most right-handed golfers slice the ball), there was a lot of neighbour damage and the golf course became too costly to run.” 

Not only that, the golf course didn’t have a water supply and was losing members due to the hilly terrain.  “We didn’t have enough water storage on site so during the drought that became a nightmare because we could only water the greens. “The course was very hilly and when it was built it didn’t have proper drainage. “So, 12 years ago, the board decided that we should look for a more suitable site,” Kelly explained. “So, we sold this land to CSR Building Products.”

Kelly said Chirnside Park Country Club didn’t sell off all its assets. 

The club retained 11 acres where the clubhouse, two bowling greens and six tennis courts are located. “It’s already in the middle of the housing estate and by adding another 500 houses where course was there are opportunities for the facility to be extremely viable.” 

Chirnside Park CC enlisted Pacific Coast Design (PCD) to provide the club with a master plan.  PCD director Phil Ryan said the company was keen on the project “because of the way the board and management approached it”. “The club didn’t want the hardest golf course in Australia,” he said.  “They didn’t want a top-100 course. They wanted a great golf course for the members – something that is a test for the low handicapper and fun for members.

“They now have a course that is 6282m from the back tees. The fairways are wide and welcoming with mounding on either side to try to direct golf back into the play zone. We have tried to create something that is an enjoyable experience for members.” Because Gardiners Run was built on an old quarry site, a huge amount of material had to be brought in.

“We did have our challenges,” Ryan said. “Top soil on the site was in scarce supply so we had to bring in a fair bit of sand.”

Located in the picturesque Yarra Valley, Gardiners Run has views to the Dandenong Ranges. In years to come, the golf course and clubhouse will block out any potential residential properties. 

“We wanted to site the clubhouse and the golf course so that it was a private and an intimate golf experience in a few years,” Ryan added. Some 80 strategically-placed bunkers will keep golfers thinking and guessing. 

“The bunkers aren’t overly deep. We want the members to feel if they are in a fairway bunker, they can hit a reasonable shot and get out,” Ryan said. “There are sand faces so you can see where the bunkers are. 

“If they are in a bunker, they should have a reasonable shot at getting out – not have five or six in there.”

While the greens are reasonably well protected, there are a number of approach avenues available to golfers. “Generally, my attitude is if you want to tee up and hit a putter down the fairways you should be able to putt all the way to the green,” Ryan said. “This golf course has not been designed for professionals, but it’s very easy to toughen up. Once you bring the fairways in you will find it a very tough golf course.” 

According to Ryan, the secret to playing the course successful is to not over-hit the ball. “Place the ball anywhere on the fairway and you will have a reasonable round,” he said. “If you try and push too hard you will get into trouble. Most holes have three different tee positions while some of the longer holes have four.”

Ryan said the female members were delighted with the new layout. “The feedback from them is that the course is fantastic,” he said.

“That’s one of the things we like to hear about. We spend a lot of time on trying to accommodate a range of golfers – not just the low handicappers.”

 Ryan said Barbara Kelly had made working on the Gardiners Run project extremely enjoyable.

“Barbara took over as project manager in the last 12 months of golf course construction and did a fantastic job,” he said.

“Without her, the place wouldn’t have got built. She has been there a long time and the core of the committee have been there a long time and they have had to jump through a lot of hoops in the last 13 years to get this over the line.  “It was pleasing to see the members’ response to Barbara and the committee on the opening night and they appreciate how much work they put in.

“A lot of people don’t realise how much work she put into the project, but we do.  “On opening day there wasn’t one person who didn’t have a big smile on their face and that was very satisfying. We just want to make the client happy.”

Membership at Gardiners Run is $1200 per annum with a $700 joining fee. The golf course is open to the public six days a week. Green fees are $49 midweek and $59 on weekends. 

The new clubhouse has a comfortable lounge area, an area for corporate functions and the kitchen is open six days a week (Tuesday through Sunday). There is a pro shop, driving range, practice putting, chipping and bunker area. “Everyone should come and have a look,” Kelly said proudly. 

# # #

What’s in a name?

IT took plenty of research and discussion to come up with the name Gardiners Run golf course.  Chirnside Park Country Club general manager Barbara Kelly told Golf Industry Central the club was trying to find a name that had some significance to the area. “We did some digging through the archives and found that John Gardiner, who is the same Gardiner from Gardiners Creek had occupied about 15,000 acres of land in the Yarra Valley,” she explained. “The land that the new golf course is on and our former site are both part of original Gardiners Run. “The original Chirnside Park Estate was actually bought by John Gardiner’s cousin William Fletcher and the area was called Mooroolbark Park.”

According to the records, Irishman John Gardiner was one of the first white settlers of Melbourne and recognised the potential of the land in Hawthorn and the Yarra Valley.