River-flooded golf course makes 18-hole return

BARWON Valley Golf Club will recommence 18-hole play for the first time since October following severe flooding in Geelong late last year.

The Belmont-based Barwon Valley golf course reopened its full front nine on Saturday (March 11), after flooding caused mass amounts of damage to the course’s greens and resulted in the club’s loss of its pro shop.

Barwon Valley Golf Club general manager Nathan Sharrock said repair workers tirelessly worked behind the scenes to make sure the course was safe to play and in pristine condition.

“It has been some time, but from Saturday we were back open with 18 holes of golf,” Mr Sharrock said.

“Last October our course was inundated with water.

“The Barwon River flooded to over 3.8 metres, which forced us to close the course and we lost our pro shop. The clean-up effort was enormous.”

The public-accessible golf course, located just minutes from Geelong’s CBD, features a full 18-hole course, a driving range, and a club house.

“The club has undertaken a massive greens renovation and the course is looking immaculate, some of the fairways are in even better condition than last year,” Mr Sharrock added.

“To be able to have 18 holes back will be amazing. We could not have done this without the help of the incredible volunteers and our greenskeepers who spent countless hours scraping mud off the course.

“We are so excited to welcome everyone to come and play the full course at Barwon Valley Golf Club and we cannot wait to see everyone play the great game.”

Head of Clubs and Facilities at Golf Australia Matt Chesterman remarked it would be really exciting to see everyone enjoy all 18 holes of Barwon Valley Golf Club from Saturday.

“It is so encouraging to see the volunteers and greenskeepers working together and donating countless hours to help clean up the course at Barwon Valley Golf Club,” Mr Chesterman said.

“Golf clubs would not be able to run without the generosity and support from volunteers and Barwon Valley Golf club is a great example of this.

“It’s important to recognise all the work that has been done by volunteers and staff all across the country over the last 12 months. The impact of flooding across the country has been immense, and this is just one story amongst hundreds.”

To book in a full 18-hole round at Barwon Valley Golf Course, head to www.barwonvalleygc.miclub.com.au/cms/public-bookings/