Moore Park Golf Collective presents new plan to Premier to save 18-hole course

A powerful consortium has a proposal in front of the state government to retain Moore Park Golf Club as an 18-hole course but still deliver community benefits. See full details of the plan.

Golfers have begun a drive to save Moore Park Golf Course from a plan to hack away half of its holes.

The Saturday Telegraph can reveal a powerful golfing consortium has a proposal in front of the state government to retain it as an 18-hole course but still deliver extensive community benefits.

The course has been under threat since October last year when Premier Chris Minns outlined a move to seize almost half the site for other recreational use.

It was an announcement welcomed by Lord Mayor Clover Moore, who has long lobbied to shrink the course.

Following a call for public views on the government proposal to “transform 20 hectares of Moore Park Golf Course into a new public park for Sydney”, the Moore Park Golf Collective chipped in with a submission.

The consortium’s alternative plan features 3km of running, walking and cycling paths, playgrounds, a footy field, skate park, BMX track, fitness trail and dog park. Picture: Supplied

At the heart of its compromise plan is a redesign reducing the course footprint, paring it back from par-70 to par-68, and shortening the hi-tech driving range.

The new-look course, with one existing hole removed and about seven others shortened, allows for at least 15ha of “active and passive recreation”.

Public spaces to be added include an adventure playground, nature play space, a dog park, barbecue and picnic facilities, a fitness trail, a football oval, a skate park, a futsal court, a BMX track, an athletics precinct, and 3km of walking, running and cycling paths.

A new proposal for the Moore Park Golf Course that was presented to the state government. Picture: Supplied

The proposal also includes a multi-level 500-space carpark, and new spaces for eastern suburbs banksia scrub regeneration.

Mr Minns - who announced the Moore Park transformation in October 2023 - said he would not slash other golf courses across Sydney to help build more houses.

The plan to cut the course in half is contentious, and attracted a rebuke from Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg, who has thrown his support behind the “Save Moore Park Golf Course” campaign.

“I know I’m not a citizen of Australia but I am pleading to you and everybody in NSW to save Moore Park Golf Club,” he said.

“It’s been here for over 100 years and it’s been giving people hundreds and hundreds of years of pleasure and joy.”

But City of Sydney Mayor Clover Moore lobbied the government to alter the course for more parkland.

“In the face of increasing need for public open space, we asked the government: Is an 18-hole golf course still the best use of inner city public land?” she told NewsWire on Friday.

“That question is fundamentally one of equity and putting our public land to its best use in the community interest.

“The government accepted our proposal and has now committed funding to convert the course from 18 holes to nine, retaining the larger area of land for golf, the clubhouse, depots, parking and popular driving range and returning up to 20 hectares of land to Moore Park for public recreation.

“It has been the policy of successive state governments to increase housing in the Green Square urban renewal area and by 2040, up to 80,000 more people will be living in the Green Square and Waterloo area within 2km of here.”

Ms Moore said some $2.6m had already been included in the state budget for conversion work.

“It is imperative for growing, densely-populated communities to have access to open space with parkland and this will really help,” she said.

Ms Moore said the area had undergone significant urban renewal since the golf course was established on largely industrial land in 1919.

“It is really about the use of public land … into the future,” Moore said.

“People that do the high density (living) really do need access to public parkland.”

Premier Chris Minns plans to seize almost half the golf course for other recreational uses. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

The Moore Park Collective is a consortium comprising Golf Australia, PGA of Australia, Golf NSW and Moore Park Golf Club. It is now seeking to meet with the government “as a matter of priority”.

It has also collected 27,000 signatories on a petition to keep the course as 18 holes.

Golf Australia’s general manager of clubs Damien de Bohun said the plan achieved the right balance of golf and recreation.

“We believe this proposal will achieve the government’s objectives around new parkland and recreational facilities while ensuring the golf course is not lost as a critical facility for our sport,” he said.

“Moore Park is the busiest 18-hole public course in Australia. Eighty per cent of the rounds played there involve the full 18 holes.

“It is also a critical place for people to learn the game of golf. If it was cut to nine holes it would significantly reduce those opportunities.”

Collective member and Moore Park Golf Club director Jared Kendler said the course was founded in 1913 to provide access to those who could not afford expensive private clubs.

“It was to be the workers’ course,” he said. “An affordable opportunity to play the sport at a government-owned public facility.

“If Moore Park has to reduce the numbers using the course, the most impacted will be people without means and kids who can’t afford to play at expensive private golf clubs.”

Jamie Armitage and Harry Chipkin are worried plans to carve up Moore Park Golf Club will mean they will miss opportunities to play. Picture: Rohan Kelly

He said the consortium’s plan would improve travel between eastern and western sides of the course, with people able to walk and cycle safely through areas currently the domain of golfers.

“What we’ve designed will connect the network all the way across to Centennial Parklands – a benefit not only to nearby residents but the people of surrounding council areas like Randwick, Waverley and Woollahra.

“This can be a win for the community, a win for golfers and a win for the government to deliver on their vision.”

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Originally published as Moore Park Golf Collective presents new plan to Premier to save 18-hole course