Mollymook Golf Club is developing an entertainment area. Images: Mollymook Golf Club/Facebook.
A family-friendly attraction that brings locals and tourists to the Beachside Golf Course for games of pickleball and mini-golf.
That’s the pitch from Mollymook Golf Club (MGC) acting general manager Jason Clay around the club’s planned expansion.
He told Region the precinct had been on the horizon for several years, with a 2025 feasibility study suggesting it would bring “a robust return on investment” to the club.
“That was the initial trigger to start investigating how this idea might look like, for the club. … In consultation with a project management firm that we use, we’ve put together that concept over three to four months.”
According to the recently released designs, the entertainment precinct will expand the existing Beachside Golf Course with four pickleball courts, outdoor seating and a mini-golf facility.
“This is entertainment for families. It’s a golf-oriented product that aligns with our values.”
He said the pickleball courts were expected to cater to the growing number of players in the Shoalhaven and bring value to the MGC’s facilities, while the 18-hole mini-golf facility would ideally be used by people of all ages.
Mobile food vans and amenities would also be on hand for events such as kid’s birthday parties and corporate events.
“It’s an entertainment project for families – our town needs more options for families,” he said of the club’s proposal.
But it will come at a price – the loss of one of the course’s existing nine holes.
Mr Clay sought to reassure golfers worried they’d lose part of their course amid the expansion.
“It’s currently a nine-hole course, and it will remain a nine-hole course,” he said.
“We simply would be building another hole … We’re not going to sacrifice the play of nine holes.”
An additional hole will be built on the southern side of Riversdale Avenue.
Mr Clay believed the Shoalhaven community would support the proposal, pointing to feedback from an information session in early June.
He said that while they’d received some objections, a majority of attendees were supportive.
“That’s expected, you never get one view,” he said of the feedback the project had gathered so far.
“All of that will be compiled and reported back to the board for consideration, before any potential adjustments are made, if any.”
He also said the MGC board was confident there would be strong patronage of the entertainment precinct.
“We don’t see this as just being a tourism product. … We expect it to have really good patronage, and we expect that the local community and residents would also be part of that usage,” he said.
He said that while the club had completed the feasibility study, among their next steps were preparing a development application (DA) and a business case for the project.
MGC representatives will also meet with Shoalhaven City Council before the DA is lodged.
“The business case will be informed by the meeting with the council,” Mr Clay said.
“We can’t price what we need to do properly for the entire precinct until we know the nitty-gritty from that meeting. Once we’ve got all that information together, that’s when the board will make the decision [whether] they do approve it – or don’t approve it.”
