Fight for Moore Park Golf Course continues
Image: The next generation of golfers being coached at Moore Park Golf Course. Image: Supplied.
by GRACE JOHNSON
The fight to keep Moore Park Golf Course continues after the government announced the championship course would be cut in half to make a new central park in October.
Since the announcement, almost 11,000 people have signed a petition to save the 18-hole course from being turned into a 9-hole one, which would mean the demise of the course’s capacity to host championships and train teams.
Several politicians have expressed their support for the decision.
Independent Member for Sydney Alex Greenwich expressed his gratitude towards the government for addressing the “expanding inner city” and “returning this precious parkland back to public use.”
City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said “it is imperative for growing, densely-populated communities to have access to open space with parkland and this will really help.”
The government’s plan is to carve 20 hectares off the existing 45 to create more parkland. By halving the 18-hole golf course, the demise of the club is almost certain.
“It’s basically an attack on sport”
John Janik, President of the Moore Park Golf Club, told City Hub, “It’s basically an attack on sport.”
“Based on historical similarities, as soon as you go from 18 holes to 9 holes, it’s not 50 per cent of your revenue that’s affected, it’s more like two thirds,” he continued.
“We’ve got several representative teams including junior’s and women’s teams. But all those teams will disappear almost straight away.”
Though the government claims that the parkland will create more “green space,” including for grassroots sport and recreation, carving the golf course in two will mean many golf-lovers will not be able to access a championship course at affordable prices.
Moore Park charges only $2000 to join, as opposed to the $30,000 that other golf courses in the area charge.
Jeff Angel from the Total Environment Centre has reportedly said that golf courses should be fair game when it comes to building more open, public space.
“Unfortunately for the Moore Park golf club, 600 members have exclusive control over an important piece of crown land and they can’t be allowed to stand in the way of the greater public good,” he said.
But this is not quite true – over 93,000 people play rounds of golf at the club each year – but the statement does speak to the continuing perception of golf as a sport for an elite few.
Is golf still an elitist sport?
Mr Janik insists that the elitist image that once dominated the sport no longer exists.
According to Mr Janik, the sport and its surrounding perceptions have changed, particularly after COVID-19, when the club saw a boost of interest in the sport.
“Golf was always open in New South Wales during COVID. And I think people finally had a go at it and all their misconceptions were thrown away,” said Mr Janik.
“People saw that, at least for Moore Park, it wasn’t the privileged people or the chauvinistic behaviour of the past. This is all the young generation.”
“It’s young kids wanting to play the game, and they finally get a good opportunity on a fantastic golf course, then someone wants to take it away from them. It just doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Mr Janik emphasised the community that has formed around golf at the club.
“It’s a community and at our course especially, it’s any gender, at any age, at any time. There are no restrictions whatsoever.”
The petition to save the Moore Park Golf Course is aiming to have 15,000 signatures to help its fight to retain the club as one of Australia’s most publicly accessible golf clubs.
This is a disgrace of the highest order! I did not vote for the Minns government to rip down a public institution like MPGC!. The previous government of urban vandals have all but desecrated what is left of Cammeray Golf Course shredding hundreds of trees thus losing half the birdlife in the area as well as the lungs of North Sydney!
Selling off large amounts of what was industrial land to greedy high rise developers who had no plans to add green space in the hideous and over priced developments now want the NSW Government stick a band aid on the MPGC by halving its playability to ‘parkland’?
Rubbish!! This is a freeway to future land grabbing high rise development and Chris Minns and co should be bloody well ashamed of themselves to think we the public are blind to this then they better think twice before the next election comes!!
If one looks either side of MPGC (North/South) there is massive parkland already in existence that could be improved as well as area around SCGT and Centennial Parklands.
The proposed eradication of 9 holes of MPGC has some very suspicious undertones going on that is quite frankly, sickening!
I do not play golf. But what a furphy. The council approves development without stipulating enough public open space, then steals a popular golf course used by City of Sydney locals from all its surrounding areas. Talk about two-faced!