The trouble at Rossdale Golf Club started in 2011. That was when its accountant, Sharon Breyiannis, encumbered with an addiction to gambling, made off with $330,000.

The club stopped spending money, members became disgruntled. Then they left, Rossdale’s president, Geoff Charnley says. Eight years after the theft – Breyiannis eventually pleaded guilty – the 75-year-old golf club in Melbourne’s affluent Bayside suburbs is trying to rezone itself for housing.