LIV Golf chief executive Greg Norman has weighed into the NSW Government’s decision to reduce Moore Park Golf course from 18 to nine holes, labelling the decision as “disappointing”.
New South Wales premier Chris Minns announced last month that his Labor Government wanted to repurpose 20 hectares of the golf course by mid-2026 in order to provide green space for neighbouring suburbs comprised predominantly of new high-rise residential apartments.
Moore Park Golf is just the latest public course across Australia threatened with a land grab by local councils and state governments.
Speaking exclusively to Australian Golf Digest about the decision to cut Moore Park in half, Norman said: “Without knowing the deep, intricate decision-making, [it’s] disappointing… I guess their decision was founded on data. I just hope they don’t rue the fact one day.
“I’ve spent a lot of time going to Moore Park when I used to live in Sydney back in the mid-1970s. There’s certain things you need to protect… and Moore Park was one of those. From my standpoint, you’ve got to give as many opportunities for the golfing public to get out there and enjoy it.”
Norman had been in Sydney to launch a residential golf community bearing his name at Gledswood Hills 45 kilometres from the CBD. Norman Estates is a premium estate being developed by Sekisui House Australia where 190 homes will adjoin a public-access, par-3 course that is set to open once Wests Group Macarthur can establish a clubhouse facility (normanestates.com.au).
“Public golf is very important. It’s integral,” Norman added. “Not everybody can afford to be a member of a high-end private golf-course facility. And even when you build these high-end golf-course facilities like we’ve done all around the world, you’ve got to give access to the youth to come and use it.
“I’ll digress a little bit. Golf is the ageing demographic in sport. The [average] viewer is 67-and-a-half years old. In 22 tournaments with LIV, 60 percent of our viewers are 43 and younger. And we’re going to keep going down.
“My job is to capture that broad spectrum of Gen Zers to the Baby Boomers. That’s how you grow the game of golf. You integrate the system. And that goes to public facilities. We look at the opportunity of taking our business model – our platform which is LIV – to public facilities. Because I think that’s my responsibility for the game of golf.”
