Beachside Golf Course UPGRADE

Mollymook Golf Club are investing in the future of golf by committing to player safety and the preservation of our community asset

Beachside Golf Course is now open to the public!

Beachside Golf Course is open to the public and we welcome bookings.

The 1,200m Par 28 layout remains a good test for low markers with a few well-placed bunkers and undulating greens to tackle.

Beachside Golf Course Opening Ceremony

Mollymook Golf Club held an official opening of the Beachside Golf Course. It was a beautiful sunny day where the new course was celebrated as an asset to the local community and for the many visitors to the area.

To read more on the event, check out the article by the Milton Ulladulla Times. 

Beachside course re-opens with a hole in one in the first group!

Mollymook’s 9 Hole Beachside Course reopened for members this morning with the club’s Life Members hitting the opening tee shots.  Playing in the first group were Life Members, Don Clugston and Joan McMullen along with recently retired Veterans Committee members, Stan Steed and John Jones.  With 165 years of golf membership at Mollymook between the group, it was great to have these special members be the first to enjoy the new course layout.

After literally months of rain, the “soft opening” for members today was almost postponed again after more rain late yesterday however the maintenance team came in early and did their best to get the course open for play today.  The renovation of the course started on the 1st August and was tracking ahead of schedule after the first month when the weather started playing havoc with the construction team having to stop and restart several times over the last few months.

The course has some new grasses introduced to Mollymook with TifTuf Bermuda (couch) on the Tees, Sir Grange Zoysia surrounds and a mixture of A1/A2 Bent Grass on the greens.  The remainder of the course is kikuyu grass.  A new irrigation system was also installed to improve the coverage of sprinklers from tee to green.  Over 1.6 kilometers of concrete cart paths have also been built to keep carts on the course all year round.  The club has invested over $1,000,000 into the new course to provide a safer playing environment while also making the course more attractive for new golfers to play.

The first group arrived at the signature 7th hole around 8.00am and the Veterans long term President, Stan Steed hit the perfect tee shot 127 metres down the hill towards the green.  The ball landed just short of the green, bouncing on and rolled straight into the hole for the new course’s first Hole-In-One.  It may be some sort of record for a player in the first group playing on a new course recording a Hole-In-One.  The club’s Golf Manager, Barry West and Executive Assistant, Tonia Lavalle were standing on the side of the green and witnessed the ball rolling straight into the middle of the cup. 

The 1,200m Par 28 layout will still be a good test for low markers with a few well placed bunkers and undulating greens to deal with.  The shorter layout will still play long enough for most members as several holes play much longer than their yardage uphill.  Some of the downhill holes will obviously play shorter like the 7th hole which Stan found very easy to play this morning.

Construction Works Update - January 2022

Progress report - hole by hole:

Week 20 & 21 & 22

• It’s all done bar the shouting!

• An incredibly tough last month and a half with the outrageously wet weather made finishing off the final sanding and grassing works challenging to say the least.

• Vast quantities of solid turfing had to be bought in to mitigate against further washouts while concreting paths proved a very tough affair with infrequent dry days available for pouring.

• It was disappointing we missed the soft opening on the 13th of December, but with nearly 150mm rain falling in the preceding week, it made it impossible to complete all the works necessary to have it safe enough to play.

• With the course now open to members, we have just some additional cart paths to lay and the practice nets to install while we continue to tie in the cart path edges and washout areas.

Week 17, 18 & 19

• They say a picture says a thousand words, so this pretty much sums up the past three weeks!

• With over 150mm falling in the past week and over 260mm falling in November combined with only 11 rain-free days during that period, it's been, as Mark Pullinger our site superintendent eloquently puts it, a crime scene!

• The only positive over the past three weeks is that we have managed to at least get the putting green put to bed during the 5-day period from the 1st through to the 6th December to get this finished and seeded. Obviously, a lot has happened since then which will see us having to retrim and the entire area once this horrible weather moves on.

• Cart paths have managed to progress at a reasonable rate despite the rain days and are now about 75% complete.

Week 16

• Although the weather was slightly better for most of the week, the practice putter was still too wet to work.

• Just as things started to dry out, another 40mm hit us late in the week and over the weekend just past with more on the way.

• In an effort to reduce any further damage to the practice green base, we took the unprecedented move to cover the base with builders' plastic in the hope any water would sheet off and not get into the clay base as has been the case over the past 4 weeks. So far so good.

• The base will most likely sweat a bit, but this is the lesser of two evils and once the rains clear off for just a couple of days or so we hope to get back on it to finish it off.

• Cart paths continue to be poured as and when the weather allows.

• Solid turfing is ongoing to tee tops and surrounds.

• Bunker sand has been ordered and is scheduled to start going in next week weather permitting.

• Greens continue to be fungicided and fertilised while irrigation lines are topped up and finished.

• Any additional wet spots picked up during the rains continue to be drained.

• General tidy up is now underway as we head towards to soft opening in just over 3 weeks time.

Week 15

• Just when you thought it couldn’t get any wetter – It just did!

• From the 4th through to the 14th of November over 125mm of rain has fallen with only one rain-free day during that period. Two days received over 30mm of rain, while 6 days received over 7mm of rain. Horrendous.

• Great from growing-in point of view, but a disaster for building, particularly when the green bases are being prepared for sanding which is the case for the practice putting green which has been a stop start affair for the past 4 weeks. No sooner do we get a break in the weather and start to trim the base, than we get another 5mm to set us back two more days.

• We tried to get some sand loads in early in the week, but it just caused a mess and became in-operable and depressingly frustrating.

• Cart paths similarly had to take a break as access around the site become impossible for the concreting trucks.

• Turfing on tees 1, 7 and 9 where the only bright parts of the week.

• Until we get 3 or 4 really good drying days on the practice putting green without any further rain, it will be very difficult to get the base trimmed and rolled again prior to us getting the sand on. In the meantime, we will have sand delivered as soon as practicable and have it ready to go at a moments notice.

• Fairways are filling in well, albeit with the amount of rain, the site is incredibly muddy which may warrant some additional solid-turfing in high traffic areas to kick things along.

Week 14

• Wet, wet and then even wetter!

• A most frustrating two to three weeks with constant rain causing much grief and significantly hampering progress on the practice putting green and finishing works.

• Without the ability of getting sand into the base of the green, works have come to a stand still on the practice green until the weather dries up.

• All greens have had a granular fertiliser and trace elements applied.

• All irrigation lines have been top dressed and rolled.

• 7th Greenside bunkers have had 2 of the four bunkers drained.

• Practice green has had the base shaped and rolled and the surrounds topsoiled. 2 loads of sand have been installed in the well but then the rains came and turned it all into porridge! Once it's dried out, we will have to roll it again before resuming the sanding.

Week 13

• Slightly improved weather has allowed some progress on the PPG.

• Cart path works have also resumed, albeit some parts of the site are still very wet.

• Drainage in front of the 2nd green has now been fixed – history of sub surface drainage was collecting water from the old 1st green and discharging it near the 2nd green some 1.2m underground! Very frustrating and time-consuming work.

• 3rd green has had the rain damage rectified and has now been reinstated.

• 4th has had the tee turfed.

• 5th has had tee top turfed and additional drainage installed in the wet boggy areas.

• Irrigation installed on 7th tee and is now ready for grassing.

• 9th has kikuyu turfed on the surrounds.

• All greens cut and fertilised and pre-emergent applied.

• Kikuyu spriggs / stolons have taken root and will be monitored over the coming weeks. We may need additional solid turf areas leading into the soft opening to allow traffic to get to-from the greens & tees to avoid the unnecessary damage.

• PPG has had the clay pushed into the base and drainage installed tapping into the existing drainage system which like the 2nd, was a pandoras box with three separate sub soil drains buried some 1.2m underground - Nightmare! Sand expected to be installed in week 14 and irrigated & seeded by the end of week 15.

Construction Works Update - September 2021

Progress report - hole by hole:

• 1st – Tee pegged out and green 40% bulked.

• 2nd – Tee and green stripped ready for shaping.

• 3rd – Tee stripped and green sanded and shaped.  Surrounds topsoiled and waiting for final trim.  Irrigation installed andgreen drainage installed.  Bunkers have been shaped and drained.   Solid turfing surrounds and seeding of green itself will be undertaken next week.

• 4th – Tee stripped and clay base formed.  Green sanded and shaped with surrounds topsoiled.  Irrigation installed and green drainage installed. Will be turfed and seeded next week

• 5th – Tee stripped and clay base formed.  Green sanded and shaped and seeded.  Surrounds have been topsoiled and sprigged.  Irrigation installed and green drainage installed.  Turf laid on surrounds.

• 6th – Tee stripped and clay base formed.  Green sanded and shaped and seeded.  Surrounds topsoiled and sprigged.  Irrigation installed and green drainage installed.  Bunker complete with sanding to occur towards end of project.  Turf laid on surrounds.

• 7th – Tee pegged out, green sanded and shaped and seeded.  Surrounds topsoiled and sprigged.  Irrigation and green drainage installed.  Bunker complete with sanding to occur towards end of project.  Turf laid on surrounds.

• 8th – Old tee remains in use.  Surrounds topsoiled 30% with Irrigation and green drainage installed.  Bunker shaped with drainage to occur next week.

• 9th – Nothing started as yet. PGGreen marked out and logistics getting organised for clay base to commence next week. 

Week 7

• Another productive week with a couple of key milestones reached with the first two greens being seeded.

• Topsoiling surrounds and turfing continued on a number of holes.

• A couple of tees were also bulked out ahead of schedule.

• Irrigation is progressing well and have caught up to the construction crew.

• Practice Putting Green has been staked out and preparation works have commenced on its building which will require significant clay being imported to build up its base.

Week 6

• A wet beginning following a very wet weekend.

• The 4th green was a massive undertaking. The Mollymook ‘marble cake’ was uncovered which required some major surgery to have it fit for purpose moving forward.

• The 3rd green base was partially rebuilt to remove the constant wet areas coming via the old drainage coming from higher up the fairway.

• 5th green amendments and topsoiling to 6th and 7th green surrounds was undertaken.

• Turf was laid to the 6th and 7th green surrounds.

• 8th green was rolled and sanded.

• Irrigation nearing completion of main lines and most laterals and QCV’s to greens 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8.

• Old agricultural lines have now been cut off and diverted (as far as we know!).

• With a couple of weeks to go before our self-imposed Sept 30 deadline for the seeding of greens, we won't be far off –weather permitting.  By the end of week 7 we should have greens 5, 6 & 7 seeded and greens 3, 4 & 8 sanded ready for amendments and seeding.  This leaves greens 1, 2 and 9 ready for stripping and reshaping in the last week of September.  The practice putting green will only commence once the seeding preparation is completed on the all 9 greens.

• Then it’s onto tee building, grassing and completion of irrigation system.

Week 5

• Fortunately, a much better week weather-wise, however, this could be short-lived given what’s predicted in the days ahead.

• 8thgreen base continued with clay being moved in to build up the base and bunker roughed in.  

• 3rdgreen base after rolling prior to sanding became evident that it had to be redone in areas.  Numerous old agg lines have been uncovered and a lot of this water was getting in under the green base resulting in large soft areas.  A large cut-off drain has now been installed in front of the green to cut this sub-surface water flow off and direct it away from the green base.

• Sanding of greens #5 & #6 completed.

• Irrigation has progressed to the point where greens #5 & #6 are now completed and mainline now up to the 9thtee, ready to cross over (under ) the road.

• Topsoiling around greens #3, #5 & #6 completed.

Week 4

• Unfortunately, not a great deal of progress this week due to 110mm of rain falling from 23/8 to the 29th.

• Stripping of the 8th green of topsoil in preparation of the green base. Although sandy loam looked ok on Wednesday, by the end of the week it became clear that this material had to be removed completely and clay bought in to avoid any wet spots in the future.

• The 8th fairway was cleared of root material following the tree removal some weeks prior.

• Irrigation has progressed to the point where greens #3, #6 and #7 have laterals installed.

• All QCV’s have been installed in readiness for grassing towards the end of September.

• A number of old drainage lines have been unearthed during construction works which have required additional cutting off and re-diverting away from greens.

Week 3

• Irrigation mainline now 70% complete and pressurised to #3, 5, 6 & 7.

• Major bulk earthworks works included bulk shaping of greens # 6 and surrounds.

• Drainage lines and pit 50% complete on #6.

• Clay base and drainage to bunkers on holes #3, 5 & 6.

• Stripping of #7 and surrounds.

• Laterals 50% complete on #5.

• 4th Tee has been built out of site topsoil and will be left to settle to determine suitability moving forward. Site sand supplies have been nonexistent with a surplus of topsoil presenting an opportunity to look at alternate options.

• Some additional unbudgeted road base was bought in to stabilise the green bases on #3,5,& 6.

Week 2

• Major works included bulk shaping of greens # 3 and #5.

• Cutting in swales LHS & RHS of holes #3 & #5.

• Installing mainline and laterals to holes #3, #5 and #6 out from pump shed.

• Stripping of Hole #6 green.

Week 1

• Major works include USGA sand delivery and site establishment.

• Erection of site security fencing to compound.

• Perimeter bunting and signage of the site.

• Site survey establishment to peg centre and heights of greens.

• Delivery of major plant and equipment.

• 5th green box out and stripping of key areas.

• Tree works have commenced with felling, stump removal and mulching.

Beachside Membership Options

To assist our members during the Beachside course closure period we have two options available that will allow Beachside members to either continue playing golf without interruption or to pause golfing playing benefits until the new course opens.  

The Beachside course will be closed from the 2nd August 2021 for a period of four (4) months and will reopen on the 1st December to members only.  The course will officially reopen to visitors on the 26th of December 2021. All other membership categories will continue to access normal Hilltop membership privileges, while Beachside membership category will have conditional 9 Hole playing privileges at Hilltop.

1.   Membership Options

Prior to 2 August 2021 Beachside Members will need to select one of the two membership options available during the closure period.

• Option 1 – Transfer to Hilltop Conditional 9 Hole Membership: Participate at Hilltop during the closure period, maintaining Beachside membership conditions playing 9 Holes Monday to Friday only (Subject to availability).

• Option 2 – Suspend (pause) your Beachside Golf Membership: Pause your Beachside Golf membership for the closure period.  A four (4) month extension will then be added to your membership renewal date.

These membership options are only available to current financial Beachside Golf members and only during the course closure period. Members will advise the Club of their selection before 1st August 2021 and changing selections from the 2nd August 2021 will not be accepted. Notifying the Club of the option selection will be completed through the online form, or by returning a copy of the completed form to Beachside Reception. Reimbursement of annual subscriptions will not be offered.  

 2.   Hilltop Conditional 9 Hole Membership

This option will suit Beachside members who wish to continue playing with their friends in the Beachside Women’s or Vets competitions at Hilltop.  9 Hole Social play will also be available at designated times.  

This membership category will be known as the “Hilltop Conditional 9 Hole Membership” and you will have access to book online at Hilltop through MiClub.  You are also welcome to use all the Hilltop practice facilities anytime.

Members must retain their financial playing status during the renovation period and pay the ‘Beachside Rate’ renewal when it is due. Once the Beachside course has reopened, members will return to the Beachside Weekday membership category and Hilltop playing privileges will cease on the 1st of December 2021.

This option is only available to existing Beachside members and no new Beachside membership applications will be accepted during the renovation closure period.

18 Hole bookings at Hilltop will be treated the same as what they are now at Member Guest green fee rates ($30 midweek or $40 weekends) plus any relevant competition fee.

3.   Beachside Golf Membership with suspended playing privileges

This option will suit members who are unable to play golf in the specified times. Members will continue to enjoy clubhouse privileges, such as membership discounts, eligibility for entry into gaming machine promotions and continue to receive birthday rewards.

Members that make this selection will have no playing privileges during the period, no online tee sheet booking access and cannot participate in honour board or Championship events.

Members must retain their financial playing status during the period and pay the ‘Beachside Rate’ renewal when it is due. Once the Beachside course has reopened, members will return to the Beachside Weekday membership category and the renewal date will be extended by four (4) months.

Members that make this selection will continue to be considered a ‘golfing member’ as defined by the Constitution.

4.   Beachside Competition Golf

All the Beachside Women’s and Vets scheduled competitions will be transferred from Beachside to Hilltop from August through November inclusive. The competition fees remain the same at $9 for a 9 Hole competition and cart hire is also the same ($22 for a cart for 9 Holes or $11 per person).

The competition schedule for Beachside Members at Hilltop will be…

• ž   Women’s 9 Hole Competition from the PURPLE Tees on Tuesdays from 8.44am – 9.24am off the 1st Tee

• ž   Veterans 9 Hole Competition from the YELLOW Tees on Mondays from 7.32am – 9.24 am off the 1st Tee

5.   Beachside Social Golf

During the closure period, Beachside members will be offered the following tee times (subject to availability) for 9-Hole social play at Hilltop:

Mondays          Any time after 1.00pm                       1st tee only

Tuesdays         6.30am - 8.00am (48 max)                10th tee only

and after 1.00pm                                1st tee only

Wednesdays    After 1.00pm                                       1st tee only

Thursdays       6.30am – 8.00am (48 max)               10th tee only

and after 1.00pm                                1st tee only

Fridays            6.30am – 8.00am (48 max)               10th tee only

and after 1.00pm                                1st tee only

BACKGROUND 

Course History

The first golf course at Beachside, known as ‘Molymoke Links’ was established in the 1930’s.  The course was on private property and stretched around Collers beach.  The course now fondly known as ‘Beachside’ was purchased and established as Mollymook Golf Club (MGC) in the 1950’s. The greens were sand until 1959 and the first clubhouse was an old 2-bedroom residence located at the top of the hill near the current maintenance shed. A small clubhouse was built at the northern end of the course in the 1950’s and the current building was opened in 1969.

In the 1970’s all attention transferred to the establishment of the 18-hole course at Hilltop which over time has developed into a premium golfing facility. Unfortunately for Beachside, there has since been no meaningful investment in the course and associated infrastructure. The 9-hole layout, bunkers, drainage, and irrigation system are much the same now as they were 40 years ago.

Time moves on...

The residential population of the region has and continues to grow, as has the number of visitors holidaying in the area. Mollymook Beach is a highly popular destination and the number of pedestrians and vehicles utilising paths and roads near the Beachside golf course increase every year. Proportionately, the risk of a wayward golf ball causing serious injury to a member of the public increases.

In recent years, the problem is further exacerbated by a steady increase in the number of golfers utilising the Beachside course. Proportionately, the number of errant golf balls entering neighbouring properties and public thoroughfares increases.

The safety concern has been an ongoing issue for many years and in 2006, Ross Watson Golf Course Architects was commissioned to assess both the Hilltop and Beachside golf courses in terms of modernisation and safety.

The following is an extract from the opening paragraph of the assessment:

At the Hilltop course there are several issues of concern regarding safety, aesthetics and maintenance and the general thought process is to ‘modernise’ the course by addressing shade problems, bunker consistency, and tee design.

The Beachside course possesses dire safety problems with the routing of the layout requiring attention. The layout of holes presents numerous safety problems both internally to golfers and externally to adjacent public roadways. To solve these safety issues, the entire site needs to be revamped.

RW Golf Course Architecture, MGC Concept Control Plan Design Report, Dec 2006.

A “Control Plan” for each course was subsequently developed. Changes proposed for Hilltop were relatively minor and most have been implemented however the plan for Beachside was based on a new course layout which required substantial redevelopment works.  In 2007 the proposed new layout was designed, and the construction tender released. Turnpoint Maintenance was appointed to carry out the works however the project was abandoned before construction commenced.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The Golf Management Committee (GMC) is responsible for overseeing the development of the Beachside Course Masterplan and upgrade project. Regular progress updates and recommendations requiring approval are presented to the Board of Directors (facilitated by the GM).

GMC members currently comprise:

Specialist golf expertise is being provided by the following contributors:

Barry West - Golf Manager

Mollymook Golf Club

Barry West is the Golf Manager at Mollymook Golf Club on the south coast of New South Wales and has been representing Troon Golf, the world’s largest golf management company, for 13 years.  Barry has been a member of the Australian PGA for 30 years and has spent the last 25 years in golf management at clubs and resorts in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, China and South Korea.

 Barry is a Certified Professional and has “Advanced” status in Small Business, Game Development and Golf Management with the PGA’s Accreditation and Continuing Education (ACE) Program. Barry is a member of Golf Management Australia (GMA) and has completed Golf Management, Leadership Principles and the General Manager/Chief Executive Officer modules with the Business Management Institute (BMI) for the Club Managers Association of America (CMAA).

After a successful career in teaching, Barry moved into golf management in 1996 and has been the General Manager at some of Troon’s largest and most prestigious facilities around the world including Alpensia Golf & Country Club in South Korea which was the venue for the 2018 Winter Olympics and Lion Lake Country Club in Guangdong, China which won the “Best Golf Course Design Award” and was also voted the “Best New Golf Club” in China when he was the General Manager.

Barry has been involved in the pre-opening and construction phases of 5 golf courses in 3 different countries and worked very closely with some of the world’s leading golf architects including Robert Trent Jones Jnr, Rick Jacobson and Rick Robbins.

In recent years, Barry has been on the Golf Advisory Committee to Golf NSW and has both hosted regional GMA events and been a guest speaker for GMA NSW and GMA QLD.

Mark Pullinger - Head Superintendent

Mollymook Golf Club

Mark is responsible for the course maintenance and turf management at both the 18 hole Hilltop course and the 9 hole Beachside course. Mark has a lot more experience at this club than most superintendents do at their own courses as Mark has been associated with Mollymook Golf Club for over 30 years.  Mark started playing golf at the Beachside course as a young boy and has since become a very accomplished golfer in his own right featuring on the club’s Honour Boards multiple times.  Mark has played off a handicap of 1 but is now hovers comfortably around 2 to 3 handicap.

Mark’s passion for the game became his life’s work after starting his greenkeepers apprenticeship at Mollymook in 1997.  Six years later, Mark was promoted to Assistant Superintendent and became the club’s Course Superintendent in 2018.  Nobody has more knowledge about both the Hilltop and Beachside courses than Mark.

 Mark has an impressive array of qualifications including…

• Diploma in Horticulture/Turf

• Certificate IV in Horticulture/Turf

• Certificate in Greenkeeping Trade

• Chemical Certificate Accreditation

• TORO Site Pro Accreditation

It is very rare to have a superintendent that has spent his whole life on the course that he manages but Mollymook is very fortunate to have someone so dedicated to the presentation of “his” golf courses.

Working directly with the GMC and providing specialist skills in the fields of Golf course design, agronomy and golf management are:

Justin Trott - General Manager

Programmed Turnpoint - Golf Division.

Justin is a passionate golfer and has twenty-five years’ experience as a professional Golf Course architect, having worked as a course designer with Thompson Perrett Golf Course Architecture for 16 years prior to joining Turnpoint in 2011. Justin, a current member of the Society of Golf Course Architects Design was responsible for designing the 2014 Hilltop Golf Course Masterplan and was the Project Manager of the 2015 Hilltop bunker renovation project. Justin has been commissioned to design the Beachside Course Masterplan.

David Lunardelli - Director of Agronomy and Golf Operations Australasia

TROON Golf

David Lunardelli has over 35 years’ experience in the construction and maintenance of golf courses throughout Australia and Asia. The past 20 of these years have been in his current role with Troon Golf which has seen him involved in construction and/or management of over 45 properties in 10 countries working in all climates and agronomic situations including soil, water and grass types.

Some Troon properties were David also served as the onsite superintendent include the Greg Norman designed Pelican Water’s and Brookwater Golf and Country Clubs, and the Links Hope Island.

Additional to the above experience, David has worked closely with multiple Asian and European tour events and has also furthered his studies majoring in Crop Science at Sydney University making his practical and technical knowledge in all aspects of turf maintenance, management, construction and operations sought after worldwide.

Note: Mollymook Golf Club and Programmed Turnpoint (contractor) will execute a fixed cost construction agreement prior to commencement of works. The contractor will be responsible for the project management of construction.

KEY ISSUES

Safety

In recent years, the number of incidents involving golf ball strikes to persons on neighbouring properties has increased, particularly along Golf Avenue. In addition, damage to houses, vehicles and other property has increased. It is important to note there are also safety concerns for players and employees on the course. The course is ‘tight’ and several locations are over exposed to the flight path of wayward golf balls.

Upon seeking legal opinion in 2019, Tony Johnston (Eastern Commercial Lawyers) advised the Club has a duty of care to minimise the risk of harm to the public due to errant golf balls entering neighbouring property. As result of this advice, the 1st and 9th tees were relocated to prevent golf balls travelling into and across Riversdale Drive (public road).

The image below identifies the primary danger zones of the current course layout. Of key significance are the areas to the right of the 3rd and the 8th fairways where wayward golf balls travel onto public roads and private residences. Note also the housing adjoining the 6th fairway.

Golf Appeal

In addition to the primary issue of safety, there is the question of golf appeal. With little meaningful investment in the Beachside golf in many years, the course has become regarded as a low cost, low quality alternative to Hilltop. Low revenues from membership and green fees reflect minimal investment in course maintenance and infrastructure. Conversely, practice facilities and golf shop services are limited.

The scope of works required to resolve the safety issue creates an opportunity to enhance the standard of the course at minimal expense. A challenging and visually appealing layout may provide a golf experience that better reflects the needs of the membership and visiting golfers. With a move away from the low-cost offering, there is potential to diversify facilities and services to a broader audience. Potential offerings include:

• Practice Green

• Practice bunker

• Practice nets

• Golf simulator facilities

• Mini golf facility

• Full-service golf shop

There is also potential to ‘overflow’ from the Hilltop course, easing the burden of course capacity issues.

COURSE DESIGN

The Beachside Course Upgrade project is underpinned by the Clubs obligation to reduce risk to the public, club patrons and employees as highlighted in the findings of the 2006 Ross Watson Design Report and 2019 legal opinion provided by Eastern Commercial Lawyers.

The 2006 Ross Watson Control Plan recommended:

• The distance of the course be shortened to reduce the length of ball flight,

• Realign fairways towards the centre of the course (inwards) to minimise the risk of ‘sliced’ golf balls entering neighbouring properties.

As such the key element of the design is a course layout providing the safest option possible in the space available.

 Source: Justin Trott, Course Architect

Order of Works

1. Strip existing greens and tees not being kept and work areas. Stockpile stripped grass material.

2. Excavate and stockpile sand from old tees and old greens not being kept. Strip new green and tee sites and stockpile.

3. Bulk shape new tees, green, bunkers and cart paths as required. Roll bases of new tees, greens bunkers, cart paths.

4. Install drainage in new greens, tees, and bunkers.

5. Install bunker matt to bunkers as required on faces.

6. Install irrigation as required around course and commission. Import sand into green and tees.

7. Fine shape green and tees and surrounds.

8. Amendments to greens.

9. Final trim prior to grassing/seeding.

10. Grassing of greens.

11. Grassing of green, tee and bunker surrounds.

12. Installation of cart paths as required.

13. Final tie‐in of cart paths to fairway edges

14. Grassing (stolonising fairways or solid turf) as required. Grow In.

Inclusions:

• New nine-hole 1234-meter par 28 layout with 8 par 3’s and 1 par 4.

• All flight lines are aligned towards the centre of the course (inwards) minimising the risk of ‘sliced’ golf balls entering neighbouring properties.

• The on-course danger zone on the western side of the water storage dam is eliminated

• Larger tees and greens

• Large practice green

• Practice nets

• New irrigation system covering all tees and greens

• Access paths to all areas with a single crossing point on Riversdale Drive

• Zoysia turf on the approaches and green surrounds

• Rebuilt and new bunkers

• Full course watering system