HE’S a Hollywood heavyweight with more than 30 million followers on Instagram.
So, Mark Wahlberg is not a bad ally in the fight to save Moore Park Golf Club, the closest 18-hole course to the Sydney CBD.
While making a movie in Sydney, Wahlberg has been playing more than the odd round of golf around town and has been spotted at Ellerston in the Hunter Valley as well as at Moore Park and even Royal Sydney while killing time between shoots.
And the superstar actor was gobsmacked when he learned of plans to get rid of nine of the 18 holes at Moore Park to provide more green space for residents around nearby suburbs like Waterloo and Zetland.
Wahlberg felt strongly enough to post a video pleading with Sydneysiders to save the 100-year-old golf club’s complete layout.
An avid golfer, American actor Mark Wahlberg has joined the fight to save Moore Park.
“It’s been here for more than a century; it’s been giving people hundreds and hundreds of years of pleasure and joy,” Wahlberg lamented in a short video.
“Just people being able to come out and get a nice healthy walk, spend quality time together with family and friends.
“Please, I’ve seen lots and lots of parks and I haven’t seen too many lovely public golf courses like this that have access for everybody.
“Please save Moore Park Golf Club.”
Plans to shrink Moore Park golf course were announced late last year and have since raised the hackles of golf lovers all over Sydney.
The Moore Park Golf Club, with its multi-story driving range, is amongst the busiest golf facilities in the country.
Last year Premier Chris Minns claimed denser housing in the area was the reason behind the need for more green space.
He also reminded golfers that Moore Park Golf Club was just one of 13 golf courses in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, while omitting to say Moore Park has long been regarded as one of the busiest courses in the whole country.
Chief Executive Officer of Golf Australia, James Sutherland has been doing his bit to try and save the course as well.
Sutherland has been behind a petition circulating calling on golfers to save Moore Park from being trimmed to just nine holes.
“For a golf course that means so much to so many, participation opportunities will be substantially impacted and our diverse Moore Park Golf regulars and visitors will find it very difficult to access a round of golf,” said Sutherland.
“We think there is a fairer way to keep and enhance 18 holes of golf, the driving range and new mini-golf, while creating amazing parkland in the many undeveloped areas of Moore Park.”
