The Keysborough Golf Club (KGC) wants to relocate to a new site in Bangholme that will bring with it construction of a privately-funded $60m modern-age course that will safe-guard its future for decades to come. Features of the new KGC would include:
The KGC cannot relocate unless the Victorian Government amends the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) to allow for residential development to occur on its existing site at 55 Hutton Road.
If this is permitted, then the Club’s official relocation won’t take place until the new course in Bangholme is deemed fit-for-play under strict playability criteria.
The new course site is located at 306-356 Pillars Road, Bangholme. The current course, where housing is proposed to be developed, is at 55 Hutton Road Keysborough, approx 2.5km away.
Currently the Club has sufficient funds to upgrade its watering system, but the costs of rebuilding the clubhouse, refurbishing the parking areas and ongoing renovations to maintain the competitiveness of the course would be unsustainable if the number of players were to decrease in the future. This move would allow everything to be delivered up front, with an associated financial package that will set the Club up for a sustainable future.
The KGC membership voted in 2015 to move forward with a relocation to Bangholme. The Club has partnered with Intrapac Property to bring this project to life.
The Keysborough Golf Club (KGC) is one of the oldest, most historically significant golf courses in Victoria.
It is a significant piece of sporting infrastructure for the City of Greater Dandenong (CGD) and broader South East Melbourne region.
However, the course and its associated facilities have hardly changed since the Club made the move from Albert Park to Hutton Road in 1950.
The current facilities are tired and do not offer appropriate access for juniors and women, whose changeroom is an old airport hangar sitting outside the main clubhouse.
The game of golf, and community infrastructure expectations, have moved on.
And to enable the Club’s membership base to strengthen and grow it’s time that the KGC moved on as well.
That’s why the Club has agreed to a future-proofing move to nearby Bangholme which will catapult it forward into a bright new sustainable era.
The proposed relocation is essential for maximising the Club’s growth and ensuring it realises future success.
The shift to a new $60m facility would allow KGC to move with the times, building a modern, reimagined course funded entirely by Intrapac.
As things stand, the KGC does not have the means to complete this relocation – or any redevelopment of its existing site – with its own cash reserves.
In 2014 the KGC was on the brink of collapse. At that time members voted to sell its land to developer Intrapac in a game-changing move that enabled a relocation that will deliver a modern 18-hole, 6600m course designed by renowned golf architect Graham Marsh.
Other developments will include a six-hole Par 3 short course, a driving range, golf simulator, club rooms with equitable and inclusive facilities for women and juniors and improved function spaces.
Added financial incentives for the Club will safeguard it for decades to come.
And in a key benefit for existing members, action on the current course will not cease until the new site has been deemed fit for play under a set of stringent playability tests.
Ethos Urban projects that construction of the new course will have a $51 million impact on the local economy, supporting 310 jobs during the build-phase.
All that stands in the relocation’s way is the rezoning of the current KGC site to permit residential development to take place.
