A dark chapter in the history of this Yarra Valley club is over, with the official return of the Golden Bear’s blessing.
When The Heritage Golf & Country Club’s St John course lost its recognition as a Jack Nicklaus design in 2016, the outlook for the club on the fringe of Victoria’s Yarra Valley was grim.
Fast forward to late January 2023, and after months of negotiations with the Golden Bear’s design company, Nicklaus Design, The Heritage had its Nicklaus signature reinstated, bringing an end to what was the darkest period in the club’s short history.
“Now we’re allowed to use his name, his signature, his photo and the Golden Bear image,” says Terrence Cooley, The Heritage’s general manager. “Our members now have access to any Nicklaus course in the world. It’s a prestigious thing to have.”
When the St John course opened in 2000, it quickly became one of the top handful of golf courses in Victoria outside the Melbourne Sandbelt. The American-style layout was manicured to near perfection with daring water carries and thrilling elevation changes, which provided not only a point of difference from most other courses in Melbourne but a better experience. By the mid-2000s, The Heritage included a hotel, membership was booming and functions and events were frequent.
In 2004, Australian Golf Digest ranked the St John course the 32nd-best in Australia and in 2006, the club added a second 18-hole layout – the Henley course – designed by Tony Cashmore. Adding to the mystique of The Heritage was its clubhouse, which was of a scale rarely seen in Australia, and its practice facilities were world-class.
However, the club experienced a series of changes and its golf courses were severely neglected. The St John course’s ranking fell in eight consecutive Top 100 lists until 2020 when it was excluded from the Top 100 altogether. In 2019, membership had dropped below 200.
“One of the things members used to say to me in 2019 when I came back was, they are embarrassed to say they’re members of The Heritage,” Cooley said. “It got the reputation of being a bit of a laughing-stock in the golf community.”
The owner’s vision was to be the best golf club in Australia, so a plan was put in place to regain the endorsement of Nicklaus, but that could only happen by returning the courses – especially the St John – to their former glory. That took four years to happen because you can’t get grass to grow overnight, and there was a lot of damage that needed repairing.
Two young assistant course superintendents, Jorden Dunstone and Jason Newman, stepped up and embraced that plan to help make it happen. With a contract in place for Nicklaus Design to review The Heritage’s courses, communication between the two organisations increased and in
May last year the review took place. Nicklaus Design’s chief designer came out. He walked the course, spent the whole day with club managements and provided suggestions. Early this year, the club sent a letter to Nicklaus Design outlining The Heritage’s recent achievements, which included hosting an Australian Open qualifier in December and a PGA pro-am in early January and the growth of membership back close to 600.
And in this magazine’s latest Top 100 ranking, the St John course made its return at 97th but with the potential to climb much higher.
The owner’s done a lot of work on rebuilding the dam to a better way of getting the water out when it comes in.
“If I go back to the 2000s when the course flooded, it’d be five days before the water would reside,” Cooley says. “Now it’s within 24 hours, so if it’s flooded today, tomorrow the members are playing, which is great.”
In late January, The Heritage sent a press release breaking the news that the Nicklaus signature had been reinstated to its St John course.
“I know that all members will join us in this feeling of pride in regaining the endorsement of the cherished signature of the world’s greatest golfer, Jack Nicklaus,” the statement read.
Last year, The Heritage began an aggressive renovation of the Henley course’s bunkers, adding concrete beneath the surface in a bid to produce long-lasting white sand, and the upgrades will eventually extend to the St John course.
About a hundred were renovated in the Capillary style and there are about 80 to go. A lot of bunkers on the Henley course are beautifully white and they’ll stay that way for another 10 years because the porous concrete will hold the clay away. The other thing the club’s doing is making more improvements to the dam so that they can move water around the property a lot faster.
Like the courses at The Heritage, the pro shop had to overcome reputational damage. If you had come here four years ago, you would’ve seen the pro shop was virtually empty. Because of the reputation of the place, suppliers were reluctant to actually come in and talk to the staff.
Last year, the pro shop returned as one of the top 10 in Victoria for on-course sales under the guidance of director of golf, Michael Dean.
“Our fitting days are more frequent, so the members can really get better lessons, better clubs, better golf and a happier time,” Dean says.
With momentum on its side, The Heritage is working to add more variety to its food and beverage offering and has set a target to reach 800 members by the end of this year. There has already been a major influx of new members appreciating the quality of the two courses.
“They are happy to be playing golf on grass instead of muddy water. The members lounge on a Wednesday afternoon is full. That kind of camaraderie had been lost for over a decade, and it’s back now. It’s really pleasing to see.”
THE DETAILS
The Heritage Golf & Country Club
Where: Heritage Ave, Chirnside Park VIC 3116
Phone: (03) 9760 3200
