British Open champion, PGA chair slams moves to carve up Moore Park golf course

One of Australia’s greatest golfers and head of the PGA of Australia has labelled moves to slash nine holes from the “working class” Moore Park course as elitist.

Ian Baker-Finch (centre) says plans to carve up Moore Park golf club are elitist and

Former British Open champion Ian Baker-Finch says moves to carve up Moore Park golf course are “an absolute disgrace” and target a sport wrongly perceived as elite and only for the rich.

Baker-Finch won the famed Claret Jug in 1991 and more than 30 years later is “giving back” as Chairman for the Professional Golfers Association of Australia.

“Why would you shut down nine holes of a golf course just because they’ve gone and built 45,000 units within a 2km radius?” Baker-Finch asked.

“I think it’s an absolute disgrace. This is a public facility. Something needs to be done and we’re on side with everyone that is trying to make sure it stays open and remains as an 18 hole facility.”

From his American base in Florida, he told The Daily Telegraph his own humble beginnings in golf made him determined to fight for an affordable public course that was established in 1913 to cater for Sydney’s working class.

Baker-Finch started playing the game on the Sunshine Coast on a course at the foot of the Glasshouse Mountains that he watched his father help build and open in 1970.

In his just-released book To Hell and Back, Baker-Finch writes: “I often travelled … with Dad on his tractor to help the other farmers who were building our new golf club. One of the farmers had a big scoop and a crane to drain the land and build a small dam. It was a true community effort.”

Speaking to this masthead, the 64-year-old added: “Beerwah golf club is now an 18-hole course. But it started out as a little nine holes course. Back then it was 10c a round for juniors, 20c for ladies and 30c for men. It was $10 to be a junior member, $20 for ladies and $30 for men.

Moore Park Golf Course and driving range. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“So that’s where I came from. The majority of us who have achieved in golf … it’s how we all started. We didn’t have the chance to go to a Royal Sydney or a NSW Golf Club or The Australian or The Lakes. I love them all now but I wasn’t one of those kids who had that opportunity.

“People have this misperception about golf, that it’s elite and for rich people. But it’s not, and the Moore Park charter says the opposite of that as well. So I’ll do anything I can … everyone is doing their best to sway the people trying to close it down.”

Baker-Finch has agreed to serve a further three-year term as PGA of Australia Chairman and is well-versed in the Moore Park debate. His CEO Gavin Kirkman is involved in the fight to retain the course in its championship format alongside Golf Australia, Golf NSW and the Moore Park Golf Club.

PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kirkman. Picture: Dan Peled.

A tournament winner 17 times on four continents, Baker-Finch also revealed he frequently played at the inner-city track during his early days as a professional.

“When I had a girlfriend in Sydney many years ago, back in the late 1970s, I spent a lot of time there and Moore Park was where I practised,” Baker-Finch added. “I’d rock up there and the pro would say ‘yeah, come on out’.

“Alex Mercer, an icon of Australian golf, used to give lessons there and across the road from Moore Park there was a big ground where he would also encourage students like myself to go over and hit balls. So Moore Park is in my history.”

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Originally published as British Open champion, PGA chair slams moves to carve up Moore Park golf course