By Rob Willis
So NSW Premier Chris Minns has seemingly bowed to pressure from Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore and the interest groups she supports in reviewing the use of the land occupied by the Moore Park Golf Club in Sydney.
A flourishing facility, catering to all levels of golfers, those from close by, visitors from interstate and overseas, young and old, beginners and the advanced, Moore Park is a public golf course located within five kilometres of the city. It is the closest 18-hole course to the centre of Sydney.
For those not up to speed, the proposal is to ‘repurpose’ nine holes at Moore Park to provide recreational space for the local apartment dwellers due to Sydney’s ever-increasing population density.
I could, and will, get into the benefits the course and club provides, included in that an injection of funds into the coffers of the Centennial Park Trust, custodians of the lands on which it is situated. There will hardly be a financial benefit to the Trust, and therefore equating to taxpayers needing to fund the shortfall, when someone other than the golf club maintains the grounds currently occupied by the nine holes of the course which Minns, Moore and the government are planning to shut down and turn into public parklands.
When quizzed on the potential of taking over half of an extremely busy golf facility, one providing a highly utilised public service to the local community, Minns stated he would leave other golf courses alone, with this decision in relation to a specific problem relating to the need for recreational greenspace in the immediate vicinity of Moore Park.
Interestingly, the Moore Park course hosts more than 500,000 people each year, with 82 per cent of those living within 10kms, meaning many locals are already making good and regular use of the land he is looking to repurpose.
Then not so long after hearing the news of Moore Park, I drive three-hours north to Forster, for a couple of days of golf, rest and recreation.
Played the Tuncurry course, an exceptional regional layout, presented in outstanding condition, enjoyed a beverage in the $3million government-funded clubhouse, which is just two years old and is one of only two in NSW to feature a purpose-built golfing museum, then comes word that the course being on Crown Land, Landcom, another government entity, were accelerating plans to force the revamp of 11 holes.
What they might spin to describe as an upgrade, with holes closest to the ocean making way for a proposed 2,000 residences, the restructure also included moving the recently built clubhouse and (maybe, maybe not), the only golf heritage display housed at a regional venue.
So much for the State government not impacting any other golf courses. No doubt there are many more under threat, not just in NSW but further afield. Just last month Inside Golf detailed the challenges facing the Oakliegh public course in Melbourne.
On the surface, the two highlighted may sound like isolated instances. In relation to Moore Park, Sydney is growing, more people, less greenspace, blah, blah. As far as Forster-Tuncurry is concerned, people are perhaps moving away from the big smoke, and more residential dwellings are required. Forster is a busy spot during holiday periods, perhaps more short-stay accommodation is needed. The question remains however, whether the potential development needs to have such a significant impact on the existing golf course.
But isolated as they may be, the ramifications are sending alarm bells around the golfing industry. During Inside Golf’s travels around the country over the past month attending and supporting annual awards nights and dinners, many from golf’s governing bodies, course managers, people with a genuine interest in the sport and the game, expressed concern that if Moore Park ‘falls’ the precedent will be set.
If Moore Park, one of the busiest golfing venues in the country, a club with a history dating back to 1913, a course that currently tee off more than 90,000 rounds a year, 80-percent of that annual total being 18-hole rounds, succumbs to the wishes of Minns and Moore and becomes a nine-hole entity, and the industry will be on notice that no golf course is sacred, no club safe.
Additional pages of Inside Golf would be needed to detail all the reasons Moore Park Golf should survive as is, that it delivers a diverse and significant introduction to golf with Sydney Golf Academy’s catering to 27,418 students over a 12-month period, 74 percent on those in the introductory groups being women’s enrolments.
Or that Moore Park, or golf in general, provides wide ranging health benefits. And as mentioned previously, Moore Park delivers significant economic benefit to the local community.
Add that Moore Park Golf takes part in active environmental practices. Let’s hope Clover’s Sydney City Council ground staff would continue to upkeep and maintain the proposed parklands in a similarly responsible fashion.
I say leave our golf courses alone. What do you say?
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