Proposed 19th Hole Project

Over the last 12-18 months, the Committee of Management has been investigating options around the construction of a 19th hole for our golf course.

The importance of spare holes has become much more evident in recent years with increasing player numbers making regular course maintenance works more difficult to schedule.  A spare hole provides members with the opportunity to play a full 18-hole golf course at all times, even with one hole out of play for maintenance works.  The experience for members is markedly better, and savings through more efficient course maintenance work practices helps the Club logistically and financially.

The flexibility of being able to use a high quality 19th hole that fits easily into the flow of a golf course will provide our course maintenance team with the opportunity to undertake future irrigation upgrades, bunker refurbishment works and regular course maintenance without any undue interruption to members.

In the past, the Club utilised the “Short Hole” whenever there had been a need for a temporary hole, playing from the 10th tee to the chipping green.  As much as this was a great little hole, with increased traffic on the short game facility and the introduction of a second practice putting green, this is no longer an option.

In consultation with our Course Architect, Neil Crafter of Crafter + Mogford Golf Strategies, a concept was put to the Committee of Management earlier this year and approved for construction in the latter part of 2016 or early 2017.

We had hoped to commence work next week when an opportunity arose to gain access to our shaper earlier than planned, but a tight timeline and turnover of equipment became problematic.  As such, tree removal work has commenced, but major earthworks and shaping will not start until early September.  We still anticipate the hole to be ready for use in early 2017.

As shown in the plans, the location of the 19th hole will be in the parcel of land bordered by the 4th, 5th and 6th holes.  The hole will be played from the 4th tee in a north-westerly direction to a green sited amongst the pine trees and adjacent the water hazard, playing approximately 110-120 metres long.  This parcel of land is currently unused and is perfectly suited as a stunning green location for the 19th hole.

Plans & Drawings

• Download a copy of the proposed 19th Hole plan
• Download a perspective view of the proposed 19th Hole

Estimated Project Time Line

The above schedule is a rough indication of works.  Given the 10-12 week growing in period required for newly seeded greens, the hole will not be ready for use until early 2017.  As a result, various works associated with the 19th hole will be spread over the remainder of this year amongst other scheduled course maintenance works, with much of the work undertaken by in-house staff to minimise costs.

19th Hole Budget

Construction of the 19th hole is expected to cost approx. $41,500 with the cost being absorbed in course maintenance and capital expenditure budgets for the remainder of 2016.  Other minor course works scheduled for this year, such as casuarina tree removal, pine tree skirting and construction of new paths will be deferred to accommodate this project.

The Committee of Management believes this is an important infrastructure project for the Club, in a similar vein to the 2015 upgrade of the western car park and the construction of our second practice putting green in 2014. 

Not only will this project provide our Club with a valuable long term asset that will generate greater flexibility and efficiency for our course maintenance team, it will allow us to improve the appearance of what has generally been regarded as an unsightly, unused area of the golf course.  But more importantly, the benefits for members in the long term will be substantial.