KOORALBYN Valley Golf Club will receive a major facelift after JHC Subsidiary, headed by Peter Huang, bought the hotel resort from the receiver for an undisclosed sum.
Huang told Inside Golf more than $10 million would be spent upgrading the golf course and facilities.
“We are aiming to open on 27th June,” he said. “It’s a tight schedule, but we will endeavour to do it.
“We are planning to fully renovate the golf course and the resort.
“When the work is complete, it will be one of the most unique resorts in the world.
“It will be the first and only integrated tourism, health and wellness resort in the world.
“We will be offering over 70 different recreational activities. There will be skydiving and water activities, a multiple sports centre, koala centre, crocodile centre, fish feeding, African face massaging and more.
“It will be unique and nothing in the world will compare with Koorlabyn Resort.”
Huang said he planned to market the new-look resort worldwide.
“The Australian market is too small and not sustainable,” he said.
“We need to get international students and international tourists to come to Australia.”
Meanwhile, a local real estate agent said when the resort closed about five years ago it took the heart out of the community.
“The sale of the golf course is going to set the real estate market on fire,” he said.
“There’s even talk about putting a road from Kooralbyn through to Boonah.”
Located in the Gold Coast hinterland 64kms south of Brisbane, Kooralbyn occupies 330 hectares of future urban land, a 100-room hotel build by the Japanese in 1991, 36 lodges, a private airfield, polo field, equestrian field and an international school.
Adam Scott and Jason Day graduated from the school along with Olympic gold medallist Cathy Freeman.
The Desmond Muirhead-designed Kooralbyn layout is one of the best in the land and was once a glamour playground for golfers and their families before it closed and was left to rot.
Professionals and amateurs alike loved the golf course and so did the media.
In the 1990s, the resort would host the popular Battle of the Media competition.
Media personalities from magazines, newspapers, radio and television would flock to the resort in the hope of winning the “battle” and bragging rights over their rivals.
Chief writer David Newbery has been living, breathing and writing and editing golf for more than 30 years. His extensive knowledge of the game comes from covering golf around the world. Hired by Inside Golf in 2009, David previously worked as the editor of The Golfer for 25 years and before that worked for numerous daily newspapers in Australia and overseas. The Brisbane-based journalist describes his golf game as “a work in progress”, but has had the privilege of playing golf with some of the game’s best players including nine-time major winner Gary Player. David enjoys travelling, reading, music, photography and spending time with family and friends – on and off the golf course. 
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