Bendigo Golf Club investigates sale of 13th hole

Bendigo Golf Club is considering the sale of its par-five 13th hole under a bold new plan to save the 110-year-old club.

Club members recently voted for the board to investigate the sale of the 475-metre 13th hole, as the club investigates ways to rectify a dire financial situation.

Club Manager Bryan Wearne said the plan also included the sale of life memberships and the development of packages to attract new members.

Wearne said any sale of land would have to go through the proper channels.

Those channels include City of Greater Bendigo and Victorian Government approval and a thorough consultation with nearby residents.

Wearne explained "the 13th is our largest hole, but the piece of land will also be the easiest to sub-divide if that's the way we go.

"We've got a fair amount of land here, so even if we did sell that land, there is still scope for expansion of this course in the future.

"The other side of the golf course has an airport overlay and we would not be allowed to build houses on it."

Wearne said selling the 13th hole was one of the club's last options and he hoped two new membership categories would help settle the club's debt.

He added "we have come up with a new membership called the new generation membership, which is priced to fit in with the rest of the memberships in the Bendigo district.

"At the moment the memberships are fairly high for a full membership here, so we've created a new category which will fit in at the $495.

"It's basically a full membership, but does have a couple of things excluded, like no voting rights and exclusions from some events throughout the year, but basically it's still a full seven-day-a-week, 12-months-a-year membership.

"Another category which we hope will generate a good amount of funds is what we call the gold lifetime membership, so for $13,000 anyone over the age of 21 can take out that membership and not pay fees ever again.

"We're taking expressions of interest and we do already have some. The new generation membership is actually going very well and we've signed up 10 players already and it's only been out for less than a week.

"The gold lifetime memberships have had probably a dozen people who have showed interest ï¾ those funds would go aside and relieve some of the debt the club is in."