Merged Kiwi club to sell off one golf course for a roads project.

14 Dec 2017

by Darius Oliver

In what has become an increasingly familiar tale, members of the merged Riverside Golf Club in Waikato are set to vote next year on whether to sell one of their golf courses for the Southern Links road project.

According to the Waikato Times, the Tamahere club have planned a series of member presentations with a final vote to be undertaken in February. Members will be voting to essentially abandon their Narrows course, and to redevelop and enhance the 18-hole Lochiel course and clubhouse. The Narrows course has a highway designation running through it.

Should the vote be in favour of the sale, the club would spend 18 months upgrading the Lochiel course and continue to use the Narrows in the meantime. The two courses are less than 3km apart, and were amalgamated into one club in 2013.

According to Club president Craig Meinsmith, the board’s vision for the future is for “all members to be based at a redeveloped and upgraded Lochiel course. This will include a remodelled clubhouse, new access road and improved car parking and an upgraded course and practice facilities”.

The Lochiel course redesign will be overseen by Brett Thomson and Phil Tataurangi, the same team responsible for the recent Windross Farms relocation.

Said Meinsmith of the redevelopment process, “the club would work closely with a number of partners, including NZ Golf, NZ Golf Tourism, Waikato Tourism, Hamilton City Council, Waikato District Council and Waipa District Council to maximise all opportunities to bring additional visitors to the Waikato.”

Interestingly, the Waikato Times article referenced Sport Waikato chief Matthew Cooper, as having facilitated the amalgamation of Lochiel and Narrows back in 2013, and being involved and supportive of this subsequent redevelopment.

Cooper is quoted as saying “The plans to rejuvenate the Lochiel course and clubhouse facilities to a standard not previously available in the Waikato region whilst also ensuring their financial security long into the future is something we’re very excited about and one we’d advocate for as sound future proofing.”

Read the full article here

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