Golf club owner says its closure is simply down to a lack of golfers

THE owner of North Lakes Golf Resort Club says its impending sale and closure is caused by a lack of support from the golfing community.

The owner of North Lakes Golf Resort Club says its impending sale and closure is caused by a lack of support from the golfing community.

THE owner of North Lakes Golf Resort Club says its impending sale and closure is caused by a lack of support from the golfing community.

Adam Simpson bought the club in 2006 and operated the club profitably for several years, before a decline in non-member golf and corporate golf activities in recent years.

Data from the Australian Sports Commission states there has been a 17 per cent decline in golf participation nationally.

“It comes down to a simple fact. Golf courses need golfers and we don’t have enough golfers,” Mr Simpson said.

“I’ve persevered and made every effort to make this a success as a golf course.’

“We continue to offer discounts and you can play here during the week for as little as $49.50.

We’ve had constant deals through online golf discount sites like iSeekgolf.com.

“I’ve been trying to sell the club to other potential golf course operators for more than two

years but I’ve had no takers.”

Mr Simpson announced on July 25 that the golf course could be sold to Village Retirement Group and developed into a retirement village and aged care home.

He said it was due to close late 2019.

Mr Simpson said he initially bought the business because he actually wanted to operate a golf club.

“I’ve owned the course for 11 years – that’s not a property play,” he said.

“We wanted to turn this around from a loss-making venture to a successful business. For a few years we did that but a steady decline in non-member and corporate players has really hit our bottom line.

“An increase in coffee sales is not going to fix this — no-one from the community is rallying to support the club by playing golf or taking out a membership.”

Mr Simpson said he has tried a range of promotions for golf and the restaurant, but nothing worked.

“For the restaurant, we’ve tried shopper-dockets promotions and entertainment books but it builds no loyalty and it essentially means we run at a loss,” he said.

“We don’t do evenings because we did it for two years and we lost money.

“Most other golf clubs only offer lunch – like us, they have found that evening dining is not well supported.”

He also said the club was due to make major capital expenditure in order to maintain its current facilities and equipment.