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Sydney’s Spectacular Ocean Front Golf Experience

The Coast Golf Club is situated approximately 12 km south of the CBD along Anzac Parade, and 8 km east of the airport. The course is a par 70 oceanfront links that surrounds Little Bay, Sydney’s southernmost City Beach. Uniquely there are ocean views from every hole.

Wind strength and direction are a major factor in the nature of the golf course. Stretching along the coastal cliffs, the course is greatly affected by the breeze prevailing on the day of play. Indeed the first four tee shots are in four different compass directions; due West, East, North then South.

Prince Henry Hospital

The area was once Prince Henry Hospital, which having been closed  for a number of years was redeveloped into a residential area in the early 2000’s . The Hospital had a golf course since about 1922 for staff recreation.

The Club was formed by former Hospital and University employees in the early 1960’s and the golf course was developed from the small layout to a full 18 holes, with a final parcel of land “granted for use” by the University of New South Wales. The former laundry building (circa 1899) was converted into the Licensed clubhouse with renovations in the 1960’s and again in the late 80’s and 90’s

Henry’s at The Coast

The club boasts a popular and well-regarded restaurant Henry’s at the Coast with spectacular views across the golf course, Little Bay and along the coastal sea-cliffs.

After a game or as part of your visit, relax in our recently refurbished, Heritage listed Club House. Lounge and dining areas afford stunning views of the ocean, sea cliffs and beautiful Little Bay cove and sandy beach. 

Modern Australian cuisine prepared from fresh seasonal products can be enjoyed from Henry’s at The Coast open Monday through to Sunday.

Lighter meals and snacks are available from the Bar which is well represented by golfers and social visitors alike.

Golf

The Coast Golf Club boasts a challenging 18 hole sea-side links-style golf course. Public play is permitted on the course 7 days per week outside of member’s competition times. Weekly Tuesday and Friday Open competitions are available for Affiliated handicap holders.

Membership remains in constant demand and new members are always welcome to apply.

Convenient to the airport and Sydney CBD the course provides the golfer with superb ocean views from just about every playing location on the course. In addition to social play being available each day of the week, members enjoy organised competitions from Tuesday to Sunday with Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday being an Open Medley event available to affiliated handicap holders.

Functions/Corporate Golf

Function catering is extremely popular with family functions as a speciality. Corporate clientele are accommodated from business lunch through to a full golf day. Corporate clientele are invited to book their events from Monday to Wednesday through the Club General Manager.

Pro Shop

Guests are welcomed at The Coasts Professional Shop which stocks a wide range of top brand golf equipment and apparel. Available for hire is a fleet of 45 electric Precedent Club Cars.

History

“This is a better piece of real estate than Pebble Beach” – said a Pebble Beach member  to Club President Trevor Jay earlier this year. Members old and new certainly share this sentiment with our classic links-like course hugging the majestic coastline of Little Bay.

What started out as land adjoining Sydney’s contagious diseases hospital has emerged as one of Sydney’s premier golf courses, a course which attracts admiration from overseas visitors and Australians alike who are awed at the spectacular scenery and ruggedness of The Coast.

The history of The Coast harks back to an outbreak of smallpox in Sydney in the 19^th century when it was decided to establish the Prince Henry Hospital on an isolated site which was distant from the city. In the early days of the hospital, it was decided to establish some golf holes on the scrub adjacent to the site for the use of the hospital staff.

The original holes featured a series of exotic names such as The Ditch, The Coast, St. Michael’s The Scrub, Hooker’s Hate, The Trap, The Bank, Herdsman’s Carry and Last Hope. The course par was set by Jim Ferrier, then NSW Champion and the decision was taken in 1963 when Sir Harold Dickinson was CEO of Prince Henry Hospital, to resurrect the golf course, a staff amenity which had been sorely neglected.

The Coast was officially opened in 1965 and staff members from the hospital and the University of NSW were invited to become Foundation members.

Long-time member Tish Curtis who joined in 1964 because she was a staff member at Prince Henry Hospital, recalls that membership of The Coast at that time was one pound or $2. Paul McFadyen, another veteran member said in 1979 when he joined the membership fee was $10 and Ian Fraser had to outlay $50 when he joined.

However, in those early days the club had difficulty attracting members because members of the hospital and university were already members of other established golf clubs and eventually membership was opened up to allow people from outside the hospital and university communities to join.

The former hospital laundry became the official clubhouse but many improvements over the years have seen the laundry transformed into the current structure and ambitious plans for the future of The Coast include many changes to the structure which while they will alter the layout will pay respect to the original heritage foundation.

Originally The Coast was a nine-hole layout totalling 3,041 yards which, being played twice, was 6,082 yards with a par of 74 but the course was finally an 18-hole layout by the early 1970’s. When the course was being created one of the inspirations was Ron Harriott who built the greens at the Rugby League Golf Club. Ian Fraser recalled that Harriott was a true genius at getting things done. Joining the club in 1972 he started to develop cogent plans for the club and when he arranged for turf to be cut from the Parklea golf course and brought to The Coast in two trucks things really started to take shape. Harriott was a forward thinking pioneer and The Coast owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude.

It is fascinating to trawl through the original meeting notes for The Coast to see the growth and continued prosperity emerge from what was, in the beginning, very humble origins The foundation meeting was held on July 30, 1963 when the fees were set at 20 pounds for an Ordinary Member, 15 pounds for an Associate and 5 pounds for a Junior. The official opening was held on April 24, 1965 but the club experienced difficulty attracting membership, so in 1966, official membership fees were set at $10 for Ordinary and Associate Members and $10 for Juniors. By 1969 these fees increased to $30 for Ordinary Members, $20 for Associates and $15 for Juniors.

By 1976 the full 18 holes were in play and by 1985, Membership fees had increased to $50 for Ordinary Members and $40 for Associates. In recognition terms the club was prospering because in 1994-95 60,000 rounds of golf were played, the club was asked to host the qualifying rounds for the Australian Open and the PGA Championships. Despite the growth in prestige the club suffered an operating loss of $33,992.

Going back to those early days both Paul McFadyen and John Beattie remember, as children trudging through the scrub and swamp to get to the beach and meeting prisoners who were clearing the coastal scrub and swapping cigarettes for golf balls with the inmates.

One of the urban myths surrounding The Coast is that Long Bay prisoners were used to build the golf course and this was scandalously mentioned by former ‘shock jock’ and newspaper columnist Eric Baume who sometimes scornfully labelled The Coast as a goat track. What would Baume think of the current layout with its underground irrigation, lush fairways, ocean hugging holes and links-like layout?

The course could never have taken shape without a series of working bees by members who ensured The Coast had what was termed a ‘respectable layout’ transforming vast swathes of the coastline from land which had formerly been used as a garbage dump by the hospital.

This tradition of working bees has continued to this day with the creation of The Locusts, a voluntary team which lends a weekly hand with course maintenance. Indeed, there are not many golf clubs in Sydney which can boast a voluntary work team featuring both the Club President and the Club Captain, such is the spirit of The Coast.

The spirit of The Coast is often remarked upon because the club has a proud tradition of being a welcoming club and this spirit of equality, fraternity and friendliness permeates the very walls of The Coast.

Former Club President Ian Fraser proudly recounts how The Coast was one of the first clubs in Sydney to welcome women onto the Board and The Coast has a long and proud history of providing women an equal say and vote on all club matters. As a consequence, The Coast has more than 100 female Members and our numbers are only growing. It is certainly encouraging, according to Tish that many of our female members are aged in their 30’s to 50’s and this certainly promises much for the future.

Recently the club substantially increased its membership and joining fees and some of the older members have expressed reservations that such an increase could alter that long and hallowed tradition of The Coast being a club for the working man. Indeed, it is this lack of pretentiousness that distinguishes The Coast from many of the golf clubs in Sydney. Anyone attending the Friday night draw and raffle could attest to the spirit of mateship and equality that permeates The Coast.

Kieran Semple, General Manager of The Coast for the past 15 years, previously worked at Royal Sydney, Liverpool, Bonnie Doon and Pennant Hills and he ascribed the unique atmosphere of The Coast to the fact that while the Club is a member-oriented, it still provides daily access for public play.

“Because we have so many members of the public using the course, we are a welcoming club. We encourage members of the public because firstly this is a good revenue earner and additionally because it engenders a welcoming atmosphere.”

On the revenue side, when Kieran came to The Coast the weekend playing fee for the public was $35. It is currently $105 with international visitors paying $150 and surprisingly, this is considered a relatively cheap fee for a course of this standard.

“We are keen to maintain good value for our members, and this is reflected in the standard of the course. Our course budget has doubled over the last six years in line with revenue growth and we are creating a golfing asset for the future. After all, we are the custodians of this site for our members and for the golfing public and we have an obligation to continually improve this outstanding site.” Kieran said.

Proudly The Coast features the ruggedness of the fabled Pebble Beach and the mateship of the typical Australian pub or Club and the membership and Board will ensure such a spirit will continue into the future.

Recently the club unveiled ambitious plans for the future, incorporating a re-design of the practice and putting facilities, a vastly expanded car parking area, transformation of the club house, expansion of the dining areas and additional plans to ensure The Coast remains a vital component of Sydney’s golfing and entertainment scene.

The Coast has had many guises. It has been a hospital site for the contagious, a leper colony, an art site when famed international artist, Christo wrapped Little Bay in cloth, a garbage dump, a rudimentary golf course and finally a spectacular golf course. Our senior members also unanimously agreed that The Coast “is only getting better” and with the projected future plans in train, the club’s future seems unlimited.

Former Club President, Warren Hogan who served for ten years following the 10-year Presidency of Ron Davidson, proudly says The Coast is unique, adding that because of the coastal location, the people, the varied membership and the spirit pervading The Coast “there isn’t another golf club like this in Sydney.”

Warren oversaw a marathon effort aimed at reclaiming land formerly claimed by the University of NSW adjoining the 10^th and 11^th holes. “There was a Deed of Agreement which was not in our favour drafted by Charter Hall and NSW University and we had to fight long and hard to maintain the course. We used every stratagem including appealing to members of the Labor Cabinet but this effort consumed about four or five years of blood, sweat and tears. People often ask me how I remembered all the details, but believe me, I slept with that Deed of Agreement under my pillow.”

Warren also oversaw one of the major improvements to the course with the installation of a fully automatic irrigation system for the entire 18 holes. The Board proposed a $5 contribution per round be paid by members and the playing public to cover the cost of the scheme, which has transformed The Coast. Warren and the Board insisted that the public should also pay the levy which considerably eased the burden on members. The cost of the underground water installation was paid back within three years, the levy was immediately cancelled and the state of the fairways is a lasting testament to the far-sighted vision of Warren and the Board.

Bob Pickering, a member for 40 years believes The Coast is only one hole away from being a championship course. Bob, a Veteran’s official for 20 years and a stalwart member of many Gibson Shield teams, said The Coast only needs one par 5 hole on the back nine to elevate the coursed into the championship category.
“We could take the tee of the 13^th hole back and extend the green further towards the cliff edge to create a magnificent par 5 and this could become one of the signature holes. The difference in the course from when I joined in 1985 is truly marvellous, mainly due to the upgraded irrigation and the inspiring work of the Course Superintendent and his dedicated greens staff. We really have a golf course to be proud of and comparisons to Pebble Beach are apt but I truly believe this block of land and our ocean vistas are superior to Pebble. Where Pebble is superior to our course is that many of their holes are longer but we could lengthen some of our holes to overcome this shortfall.

Bob, whose wife Susan was a long-time Board member and official of the womens’ division has seen many changes to the Club but one feature has remained constant.

“The feeling of mateship has always been a feature of The Coast and I honestly feel totally at home when I enter the clubhouse. There is no stuffiness in this club. It is a true working man’s club and that is something I treasure,”

Trevor Jay, Club President has been a member of The Coast for 45 years, having previously being a member of Bonnie Doon as a Junior. Trevor, whose father was the factory manager for PGF caddied at Bonnie Doon and is long steeped in the game of golf.

“This Club is not like other clubs because although we have outgrown the label of being a working man’s club, that feeling of mateship and friendliness remains. I don’t know the real reason for this feeling at the Club but it is definitely there. It is apparent on Friday nights at the draw and raffles, and it pervades throughout the whole organisation..”

“When I say we have outgrown the label we had a turnover of $3.5 million in 2017 and we have a current turnover of $7 million and that is hardly a working man’s club.”

“2017 was a significant year because of three factors, we installed the underground irrigation, Ibo took over the restaurant and we started the Locusts which was a suggestion from then President, Warren Hogan. There are very few clubs with the spirit of mateship and working together that we have at The Coast and much of that is due to the Locusts of which I and Tony de Kevit are proud members.”

Trevor has been a Board member for 16 years and shows no sign whatsoever of retiring from the scene

Tony de Kevit, Club Captain for the last 18 years is a fixture on the course, attending Pennants and club representative matches, calling out the tee times each and every Friday evening and being a dedicated member of The Locusts. Tony has been a member for 34 years and he has a unique perspective on the course, some would say he has a love affair with this particular tract of real estate. He always seems to be here, whether mowing fairways, helping junior members, serving on the Board, arranging fixtures or attending to an unending array of tasks. The same could be said for Tony’s better half, Deb, who is here every Friday night, tending to members’ needs and ensuring that all runs smoothly.

“I will be the Club Captain as long as I am alive because this is a truly unique Club. We have the comradeship, the outstanding aspect and an asset here which is to be treasured.”

The club, through the  members and the Board has entered an era of prosperity which it has never before experienced. With more than 1,000 members The Coast is on the crest of a golfing boom which will continue into the future.

Overseas visitors marvel at our scenery, our ruggedness, our conviviality, our economic pricing and the sheer majesty of our setting. The Coast is proudly one of Sydney’s premier golf courses and it will remain so well into the 21^st century.