Warringah golf course to keep 18 holes for the next five years as council explores

A 20-year lease has been granted for the nine holes to the south of Kentwell Rd and a five-year lease for the northern nine holes.

Administrator of the Northern Beaches Council Dick Persson will keep Warringah golf course, for now. Picture: Adam Yip.

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WARRINGAH   golf course will remain an 18-hole facility for the next five years, but its long-term future is still unclear.

A 15-year strategy for the northern beaches sporting fields was handed down by council administrator Dick Persson last night.

He gave the golf club a 20-year lease for the nine holes to the south of Kentwell Rd and a five-year lease for the northern nine holes. There will also be three five-year lease extension options available to a future council for the northern nine.

“A logical decision would be turn over the (Warringah golf course) land for sport fields,” Mr Persson said. “There is clearly a much greater need in terms of numbers of people wanting alternatives to golf.”

Warringah Golf Course. Picture: Annika Enderborg.

However, he said Warringah golf course’s flat topography — which originally caused it to become a target for a change of use due to the ease at which it could be converted — may have saved at least half of it.

“(Absorbing the entire site) would be too harsh a decision — the club has been existing for a long time and its topography is flatter than all the others, making it is suitable for older people,” Mr Persson said.

Instead, strategy to shore up an estimated shortfall of 41 playing fields by 2032 would spend the next five years taking measures to improve supply without reallocating golf courses.

Mr Persson said he would start by improving the configuration and usage of fields, adding extra lighting to allow longer training hours and increasing synthetic fields. The council has also identified three parcels of crown land which it hopes to obtain, allowing for about three more fields.

Amy Smit has campaigned for more sporting fields so that girls can get more games. Picture: Adam Ward.

It will also negotiate with the Education Department to see if there is a possibility of using some school sporting fields on weekends and after hours.

Mr Persson said if the elected council could not see a way to significantly close the gap between supply and demand in five years they would have to look at reallocating use of at east one golf course.

“From what is in front of me at the moment it is likely that a rational decision would dictate that,” he said.
“But there are some variables particularly in terms of school ovals, there are also variables in terms of Warriewood and Ingleside development and how long that is going to take and what will come out of there.

“It is totally appropriate to hold back from a decision to take any part of a golf course now and see how things unfold.”

Hockey players have also appealed for synthetic turf as opposed to Frank Gray Fields in Curl Curl. Picture: Supplied.

However a plan formulated by the administrator would redevelop the northern nine holes of Warringah into a Centennial Parklands-style reserve including five sporting fields.

“Some of the large complexes we have got at the moment like Millers Reserve (in Manly Vale) they aren’t very attractive,” he said. “There is scope here to do something that is a bit of a win-win not only for the sporting users but also for people looking for open space and recreation like bike tracks, barbecue and picnic facilities around some ponds, it could be quite charming.”

He said one concern aired by people against the removal of a golf course was the loss of trees, but Mr Persson assured the proposed style would be “aesthetically quite pleasing”.

Warringah golf president Scott Campbell on the 9th hole at Warringah Golf Course. Picture: Adam Yip.

Under the masterplan for Warringah golf course, tenderers would be called for to manage a sports community club adjacent to the southern nine holes. It would be similar to what was planned under the District Park Plan of Management. That plan was stopped by Mr Persson pending the review.

The council will also look at the feasibility of converting Balgowlah golf course into sporting fields over the next five years.