Geelong mayor Trent Sullivan says the city has started the process of “urgently securing a short-term operator” for the course.
Greg Jones holds a season ticket for Queens Park Golf Club, and told the Geelong Advertiser the closure was an “utter disgrace”.
“There’s no due process, there’s no goodwill. It’s just an appalling state of affairs,” he said.
Season ticket-holders pay $614 a year to access the course, but do not have a relationship with Queens Park Golf Club itself.
Under the closure, Mr Jones and others like him would be unable to access the course – which has remained open to members only.
The Geelong Advertiser understands the course may have upwards of 700 season ticket-holders.
Mr Jones said he was disappointed with the communication from the city of Geelong and that season ticket-holders had “a contractual right to play”.
Greg Jones is a paid-up season ticket-holder at Queens Park Golf Club but says he cannot play there under the current closure. Picture: Mark Wilson
“There’s no acknowledgment of the season ticket; if we rock up on Monday morning for our normal tee-time, how do we know we can play?” he said.
“We’ve been told nothing about the course closure … we’ve had no correspondence, no communication.”
Mr Jones said the council’s announcement that it planned to have the course reopened to the public in a week was “a little hard to believe”.
“I don’t know how the council’s going to get another arrangement in place by next week when it failed to do so in the months leading up to this situation,” Mr Jones said.
Mr Jones said the course meant a lot to many people and was well-utilised.
“I’ve been playing (at Queens Park) since I was at university in the 1970s; it’s culturally embedded within us,” he said.
“I had bilateral knee surgery about 18 months ago; I had hernia surgery at Christmas … the thing that got me through that process and go through rehabilitation was wanting to play golf, and play golf at Queens Park.”
The Geelong Advertiser understands councillors were briefed on the closure on Tuesday, May 23, three days before it was publicly announced.
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Councillor Eddy Kontelj, chair of the city’s active spaces portfolio, said he didn’t believe season ticket-holders had been mentioned in briefings to councillors.
Mr Kontelj said he understood the community’s concern.
“I was concerned like everyone else … the question that we’re asking, and I’ve asked, is what other contingency plans do we have and how do we ensure that we’ve got these continuity plans in place for the future, so we don’t have these kind of things occurring,” he said.
A review into the management models of three Geelong golf courses – Balyang Par Three, Lara Golf Course and Queens Park Golf course – is under way as part of the implementation of the city’s Golf Facilities Strategy, which was endorsed by the city council in November.
As part of the strategy, the city will put alternative management models in place for the three courses.
Mr Kontelj said he wasn’t aware of any plans to sell off golf courses at the present time.
“The review is going to put out recommendations, I don’t know what they are,” he said. “The review is about sustainability; how do we ensure that we’ve got sustainable open spaces, including golf courses, into the future.
“(It will ask) who they are best run by, and how they are managed.”
Mr Kontelj said the city wanted to avoid a situation similar to the privately-owned Geelong Golf Course, in North Geelong which was bisected and sold to developers.
Geelong Golf Club sold the site in 2002 and it was eventually redeveloped into the Geelong Golf Course Residential Estate.
Geelong mayor Trent Sullivan and acting-chief executive Kaarina Phyland. Picture: Mark Wilson
Council aims to reopen Queens Park Golf Club to the public, long-term search for operator under way
EARLIER: Queens Park Golf course may reopen to the public less than a fortnight after it was controversial closed until further notice.
Geelong mayor Trent Sullivan said the city had started the process of “urgently securing a short-term operator” for the course.
“The City of Greater Geelong has stepped in to assist the Queens Park Golf Club in operating the Queens Park Golf Course, after their sublessee vacated,” he said.
“We anticipate the course to be open to the public sometime next week.
“The course is currently available to members; their access to the course has not been impacted.”
The indefinite closure of the club on Monday, May 29 blindsided users, with irate residents taking to social media to express their frustration at the move.
“What are CoGG doing? They are more interested in pursing the latest social whim, rather than providing key community services which have been community assets. Get your act together,” reader Rob wrote.
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The city closed the course after its resident pro, Aaron Rayson, announced his departure.
Mr Sullivan said that the once appointed, the short-term operator would provide green fee sales, golf cart hire, staffing of the pro-shop, basic merchandise sales and customer service.
“The cafe/restaurant, Double Espresso cafe Bar, is continuing its operations and the maintenance of the grounds and facility also continues as normal,” he said.
“The short-term operator will run the Queens Park Golf Course operations until the full outsourcing model is completed.”
In the long-term, the process is under way to appoint a new long-term operator in line with the city’s Golf Facilities Strategy.
Mr Sullivan said an appointment was expected to be made in late 2023 or early 2024.
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