From supersized communities to boutique over-55 estates, Australia’s residential-golf phenomenon is now evolving from Living On The Fairway to Living Above The Fairway.

For more than three decades Greg Norman has been at the forefront of residential-golf development across Australia. The Great White Shark has designed 18-hole courses at the epicentre of communities such as Brookwater, Sanctuary Lakes and Settlers Run that have become home to thousands of new residents.

Norman’s latest venture at Gledswood Hills in south-western Sydney is a sign of how rapidly the landscape has changed for developers. His par-3 golf course adjoins Norman Estates where Sekisui House Australia is building 190 homes in the final stage of its involvement at Gledswood Hills. About 30 percent of stock remains with terrace homes now selling from $1.3 million and freestanding homes between $1.5 and $2.2 million.

As property developers seek alternative ways to optimise land sales around golf courses, it stands to reason they will scale down the size of courses given the scarcity of large parcels of land in and around capital cities and the huge expense required to purchase that land. Norman acknowledged as much in an exclusive interview with Australian Golf Digest during a site visit at Norman Estates.

“I’ve done 120-plus golf courses around the world and a lot of them are residential communities. But when you start initially working with a developer, you ask them: What is your end product? What do you want?” Norman says. “And those options could be a par-3 golf course, it could be a 12-hole golf course, it could be a nine-hole golf course.

“My job as a designer of a golf course is to integrate with a land planner, a civil engineer and the developer for the outcome of what he wants. So my job is to explain: do you want an 18-hole championship golf course that’s going to cost you this? Or we can skinny it down and do this to give you an opportunity to get a higher ROI (return on investment) out of your development.”

Across at Lakeside at Gledswood Hills, the remaining land will be released later this year. Stockland partnered with Sekisui House to sell the final precincts around Lakeside Golf Club Camden where James Wilcher has revamped the original layout by Thomson/Wolveridge. Land has been selling for about $600,000 for 280-300sqm blocks while some golf-course frontage has eclipsed the $1 million mark.

Historically in Australia, property developers took responsibility for building residential-golf communities, which included commissioning a golf-course architect to integrate 18 holes into the housing development. But now an interesting trend has emerged. Golf clubs that may have a spare hectare of land – or are able to create a spare hectare by reconfiguring their golf course – are seeking out property developers to secure their future. The catch, however, is that clubs must own their land.

Partnering with a residential developer appeals to those clubs that are capitally challenged. That is, clubs that don’t generate the revenue necessary to replace existing assets through golf-club operations (green fees, membership subscriptions, cart fees, food and beverage, and gaming).

“They’re now being forced to consider benefitting from [what is] particularly their only asset. And that is the land they own,” says Jeff Blunden, managing director of Golf Business Advisory Services.

VERTICAL APPEAL

Seniors-living developments on golf courses are burgeoning. New South Wales has been the trailblazer with regard to these over-50s communities. Typically in NSW, the ‘zoning’ legislation allows for residential development on golf courses and construction is dependent upon receiving building approval. The process is more complicated in other states.

“The whole concept of seniors living generally is not just single dwellings or single-storey. It might be a three-level or four-level apartment complex,” Blunden says. “The economics are better because you’ve got vertical living as opposed to 600-square-metre houses. So it’s a more efficient use of space.”

Blunden has been a consultant for the partnership between Chatswood Golf Club and investment firm Pariter on Sydney’s north shore. They identified a parcel of land on which to build 106 apartments as part of an opulent seniors living community known as Watermark Residences. Residents and club members will share a contemporary clubhouse with dining and wellness areas. Crafter + Mogford has been engaged to convert Chatswood’s par-65 course into a more interesting 12-hole layout (with alternative tees that allow for 18 holes to be played). Watermark Residences adjoins native bushland alongside the Lane Cove River where some of the apartments are being sold off-plan for upwards of $2 million.

“It’s glamour. The views are stunning. You wouldn’t know you’re in Sydney,” says Blunden, who adds: “That club was one that was in economic pain. Dare say, moments from death. Along came a development partner to assist them to get out of it.”

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Elsewhere in Sydney’s north, Muirfield Golf Club at North Rocks is pursuing a residential development to fund new facilities and course improvements. The 71-year-old club owns its land and is seeking to replace ageing infrastructure.

Muirfield members have voted to investigate rezoning a parcel of its land. The club has identified a suitable site for the proposed residential on the corner of Perry St and Barclay Rd where the existing clubhouse, carpark and ninth hole are located. A decision is yet to be made on the type of residential development.

At Greystanes in Sydney’s west, Cumberland Country Golf Club has partnered with Pariter and lodged a development application for an aged-care facility with as many as 250 apartments. Cumberland has antiquated facilities dating back to the 1960s.

Property developers have taken advantage of Castle Hill Country Club’s desirable location to build high-density apartments surrounding a layout ranked No.86 on Australia’s Top 100 Golf Courses. The golf club lies within Norwest Business Park in The Hills Shire where 400-plus companies employ more than 25,000 people.

The scale of residential development around Norwest is staggering. Other than keeping an open mind to a potential joint venture in the future, Castle Hill Country Club hasn’t been directly involved with the neighbouring developments apart from Castle Pines Retirement Village alongside its 11th and 12th holes in the late 1980s to early 1990s.

“Twenty years ago, the area was semi-rural and the course was bordered by acreage,” says Castle Hill Country Club general manager Brenden Ellam. “Over the years landowners within the Balmoral Road Estate sold off their blocks to developers. Now we’ve got a combination of at least three high-rise buildings – with many more under construction – retirement living and some freestanding homes.”

Panoramic views over Castle Hill Country Club have been an attraction for homebuyers. On what was once a 20,000sqm semi-rural property, Cranbrook Residences is a luxurious retirement village with 53 fully maintained apartments behind Castle Hill’s sixth green. The Orchards Norwest by Sekisui House Australia is a master-planned community across four apartment towers in proximity to the Spurway Drive entrance to the golf club. The Orchards will eventually comprise 1,300 generously proportioned apartments in four precincts. Construction is continuing on Mulpha’s ambitious $1 billion Norwest Quarter project along Spurway Drive. Covering 3.8 hectares, Norwest Quarter will have 864 apartments and 2,000 residents in nine residential towers.

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Elsewhere in NSW, the first residents are moving into Majestic Tamworth, a luxurious over-50s community alongside a Greg Norman-designed course at Longyard Golf Club in the New England region of NSW that hosts the world’s second-largest country music festival. Marketed as a VIP lifestyle village with 98 premium villas, Majestic Tamworth is aimed towards younger, active seniors who are seeking to downsize. It’s attracting buyers from Sydney and south-east Queensland since Tamworth is equidistant to both urban centres.

Majestic Lifestyle Resorts has structured the estate as a land-lease community whereby residents own their home while leasing the land. Residents pay a weekly site fee to maintain the upkeep of the clubhouse facilities, landscaping and general maintenance. There is no stamp duty, council rates or expensive entry/exit fees. Plus, there is the potential for capital gain when the buyer chooses to sell.

Residents have access to a lavish clubhouse overlooking Longyard’s 18th hole and it features resort-style facilities such as a sports bar, outdoor pool, golf simulator, billiards room, gymnasium, cinema and wellness centre. With an emphasis upon independent living, the villas have large internal space (100sqm) and the convenience of lock-and-leave maintenance. Two-bedroom homes are now selling from $499,000. Stage one purchasers receive a complimentary E-Z-Go electric golf cart.

At Sussex Inlet Golf Village in the Shoalhaven on the NSW South Coast, about half the homesites currently available have course frontage. More than 700 dwellings will be built in three precincts (Jacob’s Range, Badgee’s Reach and Northwood) three hours from Sydney and 35 minutes from Jervis Bay National Park.

Sheargold partnered with Lucas Property Group to develop the Sussex Inlet site in 2016 and the first land was released in 2020. Currently, 11 blocks are for sale, ranging in size from 501sqm to 813sqm. Land is priced from $410,000 while house-and-land packages with Hotondo Homes, G.J. Gardner and New Living Homes start from about $750,000 (three-bedroom/two-bathroom).

Sussex Inlet Golf Village has received 6-leaf Certification from EnviroDevelopment – an initiative of the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) – that assesses projects on sustainability measures in six key areas: community, ecosystems, energy, materials, waste and water.

Three holes on Sussex Inlet’s existing nine-hole course will be redesigned to accommodate the residential. The layout may eventually be expanded to 12 holes (3,012 metres, par 43), although this is dependent on a planning proposal. Homebuyers receive a complimentary membership package entitling them to two 12-month memberships or a single two-year membership.

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In the ACT, a proposal for an over-55s development is seen as critical to saving Federal Golf Club in Canberra. The club estimates the proposed retirement village will reap $18.75 million. Federal has formally entered a joint venture with developer Mbark after receiving overwhelming support from 90 percent of its membership. Development applications have been lodged and they are anticipating approval for the retirement village later in 2024.

Federal is a picturesque layout in the suburb of Red Hill. Formed in 1933 and having relocated from what’s now Lake Burley Griffin in 1946, the retirement village is vital to Federal’s long-term future. The indebted club is without cash reserves and thus has no capacity to replace ageing assets. An injection of more than $10 million is needed now for clubhouse refurbishment, replacement of a leaky, out-dated 44-year-old irrigation system, building a new maintenance facility, debt payment and to increase water-storage capacity. (The club had a $400,000 water bill after the 2020 drought.)

The proposed retirement village for 125 residences is slated for six hectares at the southern end of the Federal course. It’s planned to be a mix of detached single-level houses plus some low-rise apartments as well as a health/wellbeing facility with cinema, swimming pool, gymnasium and yoga area. The DA for the golf-course reconfiguration has already been approved. Course architect Neil Crafter has been engaged to tweak the existing layout, replacing two holes as well as reshaping the fairway cambering elsewhere.

Federal has been talking about a residential-golf development for more than 30 years and began discussions with Mbark nine years ago. Mbark has a history of building and managing retirement villages, which was a factor in Federal’s decision to partner with the Sydney-based developer.

“Their professionalism and mannerisms between the environmental side of things and the community-consult period, everything with their designs, all being factored into what the end result will be,” said Federal general manager Lloyd Miller.

Across at Yowani Country Club at the intersection of Canberra’s three major thoroughfares, progress is steaming ahead on a major course redesign funded by a land sale. Yowani has entered a partnership with TP Dynamics, which is developing non-golf course land into a mixed-use residential precinct to be known as Yowani Grounds. The arrangement enables Yowani to redevelop its 18-hole layout and fund construction of a new clubhouse.

Yowani has engaged Canberra-based course architect Ben Davey (Contour Golf Design Group) who has worked alongside Tony Cashmore and Bob Shearer. The redesign will affect every hole and two lakes will be added. About six holes will be marginally affected. The clubhouse will be moved away from Northbourne Avenue and therefore the routing will have a new start and end point. Nine holes are currently in play and the course renovation is anticipated to be completed in 2026. Yowani has received little pushback from members about the short-term inconvenience as the partnership with TP Dynamics will secure the club’s long-term future.

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On Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, progress is continuing unabated at Palm Lake Resort Pelican Waters where the first homeowners have moved into an ultra-exclusive community adjacent to a Greg Norman-designed golf course. The estate is being developed on a 20-hectare parcel of land by Palm Lake Group, which has 47 years of experience in designing resort-style living for over-50s.

Palm Lake Resort Pelican Waters will eventually comprise 332 single and double-storey homes when development concludes in 2027. The entire project has been valued at more than $500 million. The Springs Country Club is the central hub of Palm Lake Resort and will be exclusively for homeowners’ enjoyment. At a cost of $45 million, the country club features five distinct themes: social and dining with rooftop bar; sports precinct with Milon Gymnasium, bowling green, indoor pool and spas; arts and leisure with gold-class cinema, craft rooms, library and terraces; health and wellness centre; outdoor swimming area with cabanas and firepit lounge.

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In South Australia, construction is halfway towards completion at the Living Choice Flagstaff Hill retirement village in Adelaide’s south. Flagstaff Hill Golf Club negotiated a land swap with Living Choice that involved a parcel of land around the former clubhouse. In exchange, the golf club will receive a contemporary new clubhouse along with funding for course improvements, an 18-hole mini-golf course and four pickleball courts.

Living Choice Flagstaff Hill has already delivered 59 spacious villas and apartments with a further 60 apartments scheduled for release in March 2025. Homebuyers can buy ‘off plan’ or through re-sale. Prices start from $559,000 for a one-bedroom villa, $895,000 for two bedrooms with three-bedroom villas priced from $1,079,000.

Living Choice has 10 retirement villages across Australia with four currently under development. Flagstaff Hill is its first residential-golf estate, however it has purchased land at Murray Bridge Golf Club south-east
of Adelaide with the intention of building another over-50s community on the course. Planning approval has been granted for about 200 villas at Murray Bridge.

Metro Homes SA has bought 4.5 hectares of wholesale land from Thaxted Park Golf Club in the southern Adelaide Hills to create a boutique estate known as The Green at Woodcroft. Metro Homes is sub-dividing the site with plans to release about 70 house-and-land packages.

A majority of Thaxted Park members endorsed the development at an extraordinary general meeting that has enabled the club to clear debt and set aside funds for future projects. Course architect and Adelaide resident Neil Crafter has already redesigned two holes to accommodate the residential development. The sixth hole was shortened to a par 4 while the seventh has been converted to a par 3, reducing the layout to a par 70 (formerly par 72).