New hope for Kabi

JUST as the only certified organic golf course in the world was blooming, the health of its creator was going to hell in a hand basket.

Rena Merchant.

IT is one of the great ironies that just as the only certified organic golf course in the world was blooming, the health of its creator was going to hell in a hand basket.

On Friday reclusive entrepreneur Rena Merchant spoke to the Noosa News about the shock closure in May of the bold 10-year-old Lake Cootharaba business venture known as Kabi, in which golfers had happily swung away through a naturally maintained fruit orchard with 1200 trees.

The co-founder of Billabong surfwear described her decision to close the course, clubhouse and function areas as "but a speed bump on the highway of life" and declared her commitment to seeing these greenest of greens and fairways open again.

"But first I have to get well, so I can start thinking straight again," Ms Merchant said before heading down to the Gold Coast for ongoing therapy treatment for a catastrophic collapse of her auto-immune system.

This dedicated healthy-living advocate, whose personal philosophy is behind Kabi's renowned non-toxic management methods, confirmed that she was forced to close the course to play

due to her deteriorating state, which saw her battling psoriasis and crippling arthritis.

"They wanted to put me in a box, but I wasn't ready to go in there," Ms Merchant said.

"For some reason my immune system went left, right and crooked on me - it affected my kidneys and liver badly.

"I had hands that looked like something out of Star Wars, they were that crippled by arthritis."

Ms Merchant said that after months of treatment, her health was on the mend and she could soon be strong enough to find a buyer who wanted to take over and fulfil her grand plan for taking this organic example to the world.

"I'm no longer hunched over, so something is working," Ms Merchant said.

"Whoever takes over (Kabi) can't just be anyone - they have to believe in the dream.

"We've laid the foundations here for something very special, but there is a still one thing I haven't got around to doing."

Her next plan, she said, had been to provide accommodation on site - nothing large-scale, possibly enough for a bus tour - so visitors could live the full Kabi experience.

Already China has shown interest in Kabi's organic ways of no synthetic chemicals and composting toilets.

Kabi is still maintained by a skeleton staff of four led by course superintendent Troy Maclaren and Ms Merchant said fruit being produced had been well received by locals charities and community organisations like Meals on Wheels, to which it was donated.

Recently Mr Maclaren told a golfing publication, Golf Grinder, that he was hopeful a new owner would be found in the near future and in the meantime, the 27 holes were being kept in top condition.

"Next door, on another property owned by Rena, we run organic beef cattle. It is certainly a unique operation and would be a crying shame if we had to close down permanently," he said.

Originally published as New hope for Kabi