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Victoria Golf Club Membership Fees - Golf Australia chief executive officer Stephen Pitt said private clubs were looking at how they could make membership more attractive and ''less painful'' financially.

''Clubs are looking at working out payment plans for people to join so they're not slugged upfront,'' Mr Pitt said. ''They're also looking at trying to attract players aged from 18 to 30.''

The Victoria Golf Club, home to this year's Australian Open, has halved its $10,000 joining fee for players aged up to 30. The concession rate previously applied to golfers aged 25 or under. The club's general manager, Peter Stackpole, said most other private clubs were doing the same.

Commonwealth Golf Club general manager Peter Parks said many members had transferred to restricted memberships to save money and spend more time with their families.

''They said if you're like me and you're 40 and you've got three kids under the age of five, it's hard to get your regular game in so something's got to give. You've got to put golf on hold.''

Falling membership at the Long Island Country Club in Frankston saw its board drop the $2000 entrance fee.

General manager David Smith said the club's amnesty on the entrance fee from September to the end of next month had resulted in 150 new members.

One golfer to take advantage of the offer, Mike Ward, 71, from Mornington, said he signed up after seeing an advertisement in his local paper.

''I was very happy. It's a real good deal to get the chance to play on what is a championship course and not have to pay any entrance fee,'' Mr Ward, a retired boilermaker and welder, said.

Kingston Heath Golf Club general manager Gregg Chapple said he had heard that some clubs were having challenging times but his club had a waiting list of three to four years.

''We certainly haven't felt what others have felt but I suppose when you've got the momentum of having the world's greatest golfer coming to play at your place, you become somewhat shielded,'' Mr Chapple said. Tiger Woods won the Australian Masters at Kingston Heath in November.

Metropolitan Golf Club general manager Allan Shorland said the financial crisis had affected the number of new members signing up but he claimed his club still enjoyed ''healthy demand'' for memberships.

Royal Melbourne Golf Club's Christian Tanner said the club, which has a $10,000 joining fee and an annual $3500 membership fee, had managed to maintain its numbers because of its prestige.

Women's Golf Victoria chief executive Bronwen Young said she thought the drop in female members of private clubs was as much to do with generational trends as finance.

''The younger generations are not clubby-type people and don't see the value in belonging to one club and playing only one course regularly,'' she said.

According to the Ausgolf website, private clubs are institutions that are ''valued and jealously guarded by their members in much the same way as one protects the family home''.

The Huntingdale Golf Club, for example, claims to have a 12 to 15-month waiting list, with a requirement that applicants know at least four members to gain entry.

The club has, however, recently introduced a sponsorship program to try to boost numbers whereby an applicant who does not know a member can be interviewed by the club president and captain to determine their suitability.

Paying to play
 

What it costs to play at Melbourne's most exclusive courses:

■ Commonwealth: Entrance fee - not disclosed. Waiting list: 1-2 years.

■ Huntingdale: Entrance fee - $10,000. Waiting list: 12-15 months.

■ Kingston Heath: Entrance fee - not disclosed. Waiting list: 3-4 years.

■ Metropolitan: Entrance fee - $5000. Waiting list: open.

■ Royal Melbourne: Entrance fee - $10,000. Waiting list: 10 years plus.

■ Victoria: Entrance fee - $10,000. Waiting list: undisclosed.

Source : watoday.com.au

The Victoria Golf Club
Course Opened – 1927
Designer – William Meader, Oscar Damman, Dr Alister MacKenzie

Melbourne businessman William Meader is considered the forefather of Victorian golf, having helped establish the state’s Golf Association in 1902 and founding the Victoria Golf Club at Fishermen’s Bend the following year. Meader was later the driving force behind the move to Cheltenham and in 1923, with club captain Oscar Damman, laid out the current course. Construction was hampered however by bad weather and problems with site access but the delay proved a blessing as it allowed travelling architect Dr Alister MacKenzie to advise on the bunkering of the unfinished course.

Clearly impressed MacKenzie told the club that ‘little more is required to make this a magnificent golf course’ and then proceeded to add finishing touches to the existing routing by mapping bunkers and suggesting a few green changes.

Perfectly situated in the heart of the Melbourne Sandbelt and across the road from Royal Melbourne, the layout these three men created is outstanding with a collection of fine holes falling beautifully across the naturally undulating terrain. Fairways are forgiving yet place a premium on preferred driving lines while the green sites are brilliantly contoured and original. The style of design together with the shape of MacKenzie’s bold bunkering, the slope of the land and use of native vegetation is somewhat reminiscent of Royal Melbourne albeit on a slightly smaller scale.

The central and southern sections of the site are the highlight particularly holes 9 through 13, which take the golfer on an absorbing journey through the most interesting undulation on the course. The long 9th is a classic Sandbelt par five running across the tumbling hills while the wonderful short 10th, described by MacKenzie in 1926 as ‘a fine drive and pitch adventure’, features a dipping, sweeping fairway and sublime green site.

Falling away toward the southwestern corner of the property, the charming 12th finishes little more than a wedge from Royal Melbourne and is followed by the best par four on the course, which heads blind over a rise and then into an elevated green from a down-sloping fairway.

Many believe Victoria’s greatest weakness is the configuration of holes as each nine closes with back to back par five’s. Despite being an unusual arrangement the 9th and 17th are both world class while the famous short 18th provides a stirring finish with many matches decided on its enormous front to back sloping green. Like most holes at Victoria gaping MacKenzie sand traps strategically line the approach to the green and dominate the vista from the top of the fairway.

Although some down play MacKenzie’s influence at Victoria, it is impossible to deny that his superb bunkers define the character of the course. Identifying a weakness in the Australian game MacKenzie actually boasted during his visit that his scheme of bunkering would help raise the standard of golf by ‘stimulating the scratch man to improve his game’. This prophecy was most famously realised at Victoria, which began producing champion golfers almost the moment he departed.

During the 1980’s one such member, five-time British Open champion Peter Thomson, was responsible for one of the only significant course changes when he raised the green on the driveable 1st hole. More recently the club sought to regenerate the layout after years of slow deterioration by employing local architect Michael Clayton to oversee the renovation of the original bunkering. Referring back to an old black and white aerial shot of the course taken shortly after the 1927 opening, Clayton expertly and faithfully restored the famous MacKenzie hazards to their former glory.

Careful to preserve the subtlety and integrity of the original design some minor tweaking also took place in preparation for the 2002 Australian Open. A number of holes 5, 9, 17 and 18 were lengthened and alterations made to strengthen the par five finishing holes. The bunkering and mounding around the 17th green was reworked significantly while the 18th tee was extended, the landing area tightened and greenside bunkers enhanced. These modern changes were relatively minor and have been generally well received.

Long regarded as one of our elite courses Victoria today exists as a tribute to the hard-working pioneers who laid the clubs foundations, and the divine contribution of Dr MacKenzie who helped shape a very good golf club into a truly great one.

Source: ausgolf.com.au