Golf’s ‘fun quotient’ has never been ramped up as high as it is at these innovative facilities.
For decades upon decades, a typical golf facility in Australia consisted of a golf course, clubhouse, carpark and not much else. But the tide has turned. A wave of ‘off-course’ facilities at golf venues across Australia is having a two-pronged effect: getting more people hooked on golf and making those golf clubs and courses financially stronger.
Mini-golf, golf simulators, state-of-the-art undercover driving ranges, foot golf and short courses are being rolled out at golf facilities nationwide, attracting people who have barely picked up a club let alone know how to swing one and bringing in added revenue streams.
Golf is booming and the smarter, progressive venues are turning that boom it into a long-term trend rather than a short-term spike. A 2021 Australian Golf Industry Council report found that nine million Australians are interested in golf but almost two thirds of them had not played in the previous 12 months. The report also revealed 1.6 million Australians engaged in alternative forms of the sport, including driving ranges and mini-golf.
The untapped potential is vast and that’s why Australian golf’s governing body, Golf Australia, has been pushing the line that ‘all golf is golf’.
Mini-golf
What better way to introduce someone to golf than with a form of the game where literally almost anyone can have a hole-in-one? Mini-golf is where this writer was first introduced to the sport and several golf venues are setting the national standard.
Maroochy River on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast has a Top 100-ranked, 18-hole golf course with brilliant views of nearby Mount Coolum, but it realised it needed more. In November 2019, the club opened its brand-new mini-golf course.
“The cash coming in from members’ subscriptions simply wasn’t enough to maintain the facility to a standard we wanted,” says Charlie McGill, Maroochy River’s general manager. “Rather than increase the members’ subscriptions, we started looking at other golf-related income and after a lot of investigation, mini-golf seemed the obvious choice.”
Maroochy River spent $1.2 million to build the mini-golf facility and is already turning a profit on the investment despite three months of closure during COVID.
“It has been crazy busy ever since we opened, not only with kids but with adults as well,” McGill said. “A large part of our clientele are couples in the 20-to-35 age range, many of whom have never played before. They love it.”
Mini-golf has given Maroochy River a new income stream from children’s birthday parties and has boosted green-fee revenue for its 18-hole golf course.
“Most of the mini-golfers had no idea what the facility had to offer before they came to play mini-golf,” McGill said. “In my opinion, any club with some spare land should seriously consider building a mini-golf facility. If it is done correctly, it will work. It needs to be fun. On our course, anyone from 3 years old to 100 years old can get a hole-in-one on any of our holes. That’s what it’s all about.”
Oxley Golf Club is another Queensland course reaping the benefits of a new mini-golf course. Known as TopStroke, Oxley’s mini-golf provides a carnival atmosphere and gives Brisbane golfers and newcomers to the sport an added excuse to visit the club. On Friday evenings, food trucks roll into Oxley for dog-friendly night markets complete with live music and pop-up bars.
In New South Wales, Cobram-Barooga Golf Club has an impressive mini-golf set-up, while Perth mini-golf enthusiasts should look no further than Wembley Golf Course. One of Australia’s premier public golf facilities, Wembley not only offers mini-golf but has two 18-hole courses, an 80-bay fully automated driving range, a restaurant and a bar.
In Victoria, Sandy Golf Links has undergone vast improvement after a major redevelopment. Its 18-hole course – redesigned by OCM – reopened in late 2020 and this year Sandy unveiled its brand-new driving range and is even preparing to open an outdoor bar. There isn’t a mini-golf course as such, but Sandy’s 18-hole Himalayas-style putting green – known as Sandy Hills – is a vast expanse and far more enjoyable to putt on than any traditional putting green.
“It’s inexpensive entertainment for all concerned,” says Philip Drew, Sandy Golf Links’ general manager. “And it only takes 30 minutes to play all 18 holes. From our perspective, we make it very cheap to get people involved in playing golf and hitting a golf ball for the first time.”
Entire families – children, parents and grandparents – can putt on Sandy Hills for $20.
“They come in for coffee or a sandwich or a sausage roll or an ice cream during the summertime after they finish, so the upside for us is our food and beverage.”
State-of-the-art driving ranges
Every bay on Sandy Golf Links’ 30-bay driving range has been fitted with Toptracer Technology, so golfers can track the flight and distance of every shot they hit. According to Drew, any driving range operating in Australia that doesn’t offer similar technology is shooting itself in the foot.
“It provides so much entertainment for golfers of all levels,” he says. “The serious golfer that’s coming down and doing some practice, they can get some feedback on what their performances with all those clubs are. And the young kids just come down and they play competitions where they might play longest drive and closest-to-the-pin and virtual golf.”
For Sandy’s driving range, Toptracer has meant more golfers are spending more time there. On average, a visitor to the driving range stays there for 61 minutes.
“You can hit 100 golf balls in half an hour quite easily, so the engagement value with the technologies is very well documented,” Drew said.
Across Melbourne, Yarra Bend Golf was the city’s first driving range to install Toptracer. Yarra Bend’s range has proven so popular that it offers a membership package with unlimited access to the range and 18-hole golf course that meanders along the Yarra River.
Corporate golf events were once limited to 18-hole golf courses but at Wembley in Perth, they’re tapping into a new market for corporate driving range events. Golf Australia refers to golfers who visit only driving ranges as ‘ball hitters’ and Wembley caters to them with a range of driving-range memberships starting from the 750-ball ‘Bronze’ option up to the ‘Corporate’ category, which affords more than 40,000 range balls.
Simulators
Golf simulators are seemingly popping up everywhere. X-Golf has indoor golf simulator venues in five states, while wealthy golfers are installing them in their homes and country golf clubs are getting in on the act, too. In regional Victoria, Leongatha Golf Club has built an indoor golf simulator inside its clubhouse that can accommodate up to four golfers at once. It’s an impressive and forward-thinking investment for a club that doesn’t have the same financial clout as many of its private counterparts in Melbourne.
Short courses
Speaking of private courses, Kingston Heath is about to open a world-class nine-hole short course. Brilliantly designed by OCM, one of the holes on the short course is a near replica of Kingston Heath’s par-3 10th and the new layout promises to offer the perfect breeding ground for friends and relatives of club members to get introduced to the game.
Across Melbourne, Latrobe Golf Club has separated itself from other nearby ‘Yarra courses’ by adding a magical five-hole short course – known as ‘The Island’ – which was also designed by OCM.
For private golf clubs, short courses are an obvious fit to boost membership, give existing members more holes to play and providing a faster and fun setting for corporate golf events. In the case of Latrobe, the short course has also re-engaged elderly members who may be struggling with the 18-hole ‘big course’ and provided a space for junior and beginner women’s clinics to get more people hooked on golf.
Further south, providing ample space for putting and short shots is a beginner and fun-friendly approach at Geelong Golf Club. The nine-hole venue complements its layout with a 700-square-metre putting green with exaggerated slopes and a 1,400-square-metre practice tee where you can hit all manner of iron and pitch shots before retiring to Geelong’s outdoor beer garden.
At Sydney’s Bondi Golf & Diggers Club, the focus is on short holes with eight par 3s mixed with a lone par 4. It makes rounds faster and gets you to the clubhouse quicker on weekends to enjoy the live music and happy hour. The views aren’t half-bad either!
Golf and wine
There are few better ways to unwind post-round than with a glass of wine, and the NSW Hunter Valley offers an unforgettable setting. On your next Hunter Valley golf and wine trip, there are two must-play courses: The Vintage and Cypress Lakes, which are both flanked by vineyards. Early risers can get the best view of both courses by riding in a hot-air balloon, while The Vintage’s annual Cork and Fork day is one of the more memorable corporate events in the country and has been tagged “the best seven-hour round of golf you’ll ever have”. Each tee features catering by a local winery and restaurant, making the 18-hole pursuit a gastronomic adventure unlike any other.
Play and stay
For golf venues outside the capital cities, offering accommodation is one of the fastest ways to become a destination. At Kooralbyn Valley in south-east Queensland’s Scenic Rim, the course is famous for its elevation changes, though its 100 accommodation rooms combined with a restaurant, café and pub, wellness centre and swimming pools have elevated it to become one of the Sunshine State’s premier golf resorts.
Bonville Golf Resort near Coffs Harbour also built its reputation on the golf course boasting arguably Australia’s most picturesque inland layout, but it has added many strings to its bow that scream ‘fun’. Thirty accommodation rooms combined with an award-winning restaurant overlooking the 18th hole, swimming pool and neighbouring rainforest make Bonville the ultimate setting for a tranquil golf escape.
Moonah Links on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula is best known to golfers as a two-time host of the men’s Australian Open, but it become a premium golf destination with the addition of the Peppers brand. Now known as Peppers Moonah Links Resort, guests can play the Legends course, tackle the more challenging Open course and dine at Pebbles Restaurant where they’ll savour some of the region’s best wines and local produce.
