On 5 August members of Bermagui Country Club will vote on an amalgamation to keep its doors open. Photo: Martin Oswin.
Members of Bermagui Country Club (BCC) will soon vote on a proposed amalgamation with Queanbeyan Sports and Community Club (QSCC) and Canberra-based Vikings Group.
BCC is close to insolvency, so members have little choice. If the amalgamation is not approved at a meeting on 5 August, BCC will likely cease operating by the end of August.
The broader Bermagui community is concerned that Vikings will develop the land, including the 18-hole championship golf course, which is close to town and surrounded by houses.
At an information session on 30 July, BCC president Anthony Corbitt told members about Vikings’ successful turnaround of the QSCC and said it intended to do the same for BCC. He said Vikings was not after the land.
Mr Corbitt, who joined BCC’s board two years ago, said BCC had been in financial trouble on and off for 10 to 15 years and had to sell some land.
Mr Corbitt said 40 per cent of NSW clubs were registered as financially distressed.
In BCC’s case it has lost relevance in the community. “Back in 2010 this place was packed,” Mr Corbitt said. “The cost of running a venue is high and without that relevance piece, we don’t have people coming through the doors.”
In March 2024 BCC considered its options of selling more land or amalgamating. It spoke to a few clubs and raised the prospect of an amalgamation at BCC’s AGM in August 2024.
Mr Corbitt said Vikings had owned a house in Bermagui for 30 years and donated some gaming machines to BCC a year ago.
BCC reached out to Vikings for a loan in October 2024 after discovering some additional liabilities totalling around $400,000. The loan meant an amalgamation could continue.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was published in June for consideration by BCC and QSCC members. As a NSW club, BCC cannot amalgamate with an ACT club so QSCC would hold the licence.
Vikings has grown into a collective of four clubs and has more than 47,000 members.
In 2014 when QSCC went into voluntary administration, Vikings came to the rescue. It cleared the club’s legacy debts, undertook a full renovation and transformed QSCC.
When QSCC reopened in 2019 after an 18-month renovation it had 1200 members. Today it has almost 12,000 members. Over that 11 years Vikings has invested $8 million in QSCC.
Andrew Hunter, CEO of QSCC since 2019/20, also spoke at the information session. “Everything Vikings said they were going to do, they have done,” he said.
Mr Corbitt said Vikings was the “bank” and QSCC would provide the governance.
On amalgamation, BCC would be wound up. Its assets, debts and liabilities would be transferred to QSCC while its land and its water access licence would be transferred to Vikings. Mr Corbitt said those land and licence assets would enable Vikings to borrow money to invest in upgrading BCC’s clubhouse and sporting facilities. He said the land was valued at $4.7 to $4.9 million.
The MOU says BCC’s golf course will continue for 20 years, its tennis courts for at least eight years and its bowling green for at least four years.
During quiet periods, it is envisaged that sections of the clubhouse could be closed off to save costs. Photo: Marion Williams.
Two clauses are worrying some BCC members and the broader Bermagui community.
Firstly, after the amalgamation, if the average number of full members of the bowling club, the golf club and the tennis club were not maintained at the levels of 2022-2025 for three consecutive years, the relevant sporting activity could cease.
Secondly, after the second anniversary of the amalgamation, if BCC did not make EBITDARD (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, rent and donations) of $25,000 in any subsequent 12-month period, the clubhouse might immediately cease to trade.
Mr Corbitt said the $25,000 EBITDARD represented a 2 per cent EBITDA. “In club land we need to be hitting 15 per cent to survive. They are not coming in to shut us down. They are coming in to help us,” he said.
In a subsequent interview, Region asked Mr Corbitt about the golf course’s likely future.
“The view of the board and the conversations with Vikings is that the course will continue,” he said. “The clause is only there if there is something catastrophic.”
For BCC, the amalgamation would bring Vikings’ financial strength, buying power, centralised HR, finance, procurement and marketing functions, and access to its database of members. Mr Corbitt said Vikings was very community minded.
When asked by Region, three BCC club members said they supported the amalgamation and one who was also a member of Vikings for 40 years spoke during the meeting to express her support of Vikings.
BCC board member Deb Evans said they envisaged the amalgamation would bring busloads of Vikings and QSCC members to Bermagui, benefitting the club and the town.
