Course construction complete in St Leonards

GOLFERS across St Leonards and Indented Head now have access to a new and improved course after more than a decade of work.

St Leonards Golf Club, located on 282-320 Ibbotson Street, has officially opened its new west course, providing the area with a fully functional quality nine-hole links layout with 27 separate tees in total.

Club president Stephen Sproal said the development of the new course, which features three course variations (Dolphins, Seahorse and Pelicans), has been a continued mandate of the club for almost 13 years.

“It’s absolutely fantastic,” he said.

“We’re now accepting green fee players at the moment and with summer coming on we’re expecting one of our busiest summers in a very long time.

“We currently have about 160 club members and the club continues to grow. We think the opening of our new course will allow us to reach new heights in that regard.

“None of this would be possible either without the assistance of the owner of the land, David Blanche.”

Club vice-captain Daryl Gabriel said club volunteers, led by course superintendent Ben Davis, were responsible for most of the course’s construction, aside from contracted golf course landscapers installing the base of the course.

“The contractors shaped the course, but the club was responsible for filling in the greens, bunkers, maintaining grass, and building the mounds which came from the two dams.

“It was really great to see our members commit to the course’s construction, we’d have groups of three or four to start with, and that quickly grew into more than a dozen.

“It only adds to the significance of this project, and it makes it all that more special knowing we, ourselves, played a big part in getting this new course completed.”

The St Leonards Golf Club held its annual general meeting on Sunday morning, where Mr Sproal and club captain Neil Fleming touched on the club’s next steps in 2024.

“We’ll take on several, smaller projects such as the shaded sail area, finish the decking area, the barbecue area, a new greens fee office will be implemented, and number of cosmetic tasks on the course itself,” Mr Fleming said.

“Things like that include sponsor signs, installing a couple more bunkers and maintaining the course in general through the purchasing of new equipment for the benefit of our golfers.

“Regardless of that, we’ll also begin working with Golf Australia to get more members through the doors.”

To enquire about joining St Leonards Golf Club, head to stleonards.golf