Campaigners fighting to save Geelong’s only 18-hole par 3 golf course have been buoyed by unexpected changes from City Hall.
Earlier this month the City of Greater Geelong extended closing time at Balyang Par 3 Golf Course for an extra two hours on Fridays and Saturdays, open until 7.30pm rather than 5.30pm.
The change comes amid the uncertainty about the course’s future, with Geelong council announcing in August its proposal to seek a new tenant club with a view to potentially redeveloping the site as a driving range or mini-golf course.
Club member Troy Freeman has been at the forefront a concerned group of members trying to ensure the site remains a par 3 course through the Save Balyang Par 3 Golf Course campaign.
“The last thing we want to see is another council facility bulldozed and redeveloped, with a whole heap of ratepayers money spent on a facility that gives no improvement and effectively jacks up the cost of attendance,” Mr Freeman said.
“In the early days I made contact with (now-mayor) Stretch Kontlej, Daniel Garcia and (former councillor) Peter Murrihy, who were all council candidates before the elections were complete.
“I invited them down, and one of the things that came up was that the place closing at 5.30 was one of the reasons they can’t get much uptake of membership.”
Mr Freeman said while the change was welcome, the council was not doing enough to publicise the new hours.
“It just came out of the blue, there were no real announcements,” he said.
“I wasn’t even told, I just saw it through a Facebook post. And that’s the way the council has operated, they don’t promote things.”
Despite the lack of publicity, Mr Freeman said the opening hours extension “painted a positive rather than a negative” for the course’s future.
Mr Freeman plans to present a petition, which has garnered nearly 800 signatures, to the council and hopes to speak to the councillors and City officers in the new year.
Last month CoGG chief executive Ali Wastie said the CIty was “exploring future options for the Balyang Golf Course”.
