Royal Sydney Golf Club to create masterplan for golf facilities

The host venue for the 2016 Australian Open is set to undergo an overhaul with Royal Sydney Golf Club to create a masterplan for its golf facilities as part of a wider club effort to enhance its amenities up to 2030.

Olympic golf course designer Gil Hanse, one of modern golf’s most respected golf course designers, has been appointed as the lead architect for the project.

Hanse has a global reputation for designing, revitalising and renovating some of the world’s finest golf courses incuding Castle Stuart (which hosted this year’s Scottish Open), The Vineyard Club in Edgartown at Martha’s Vineyard, USA; Tokyo Golf Club in Japan, and most recently the Olympic Course at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Located at Rose Bay in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, the Royal Sydney Golf Club (RSGC) has introduced a range of facilities in recent years - including a fitness centre, two swimming pools, a new childminding area and a more family-friendly café area - to help increase membership activity.

The Club’s masterplan for its golf facilities is part of a longterm strategic plan launched to RSGC members earlier this year.

Commenting on this, Club General Manager Paul Hinton told Golf Course Architecture “we wanted to respect and consider the history and evolution of the club and the course throughout its history, and this was a definite factor when developing our strategic plan running up to 2030

“We’ve seen a steady increase in terms of member usage in the past five to 10 years, and that’s not showing any signs of slowing down. We want to provide members with facilities they want to utilise.”

In a statement, RSGC advised Hanse had been chosen based on his extensive resume.

His appointment follows Sydney’s Concord Golf Club having announced that fellow American course architect Tom Doak is to oversee their redesign project slated to begin in late 2017.

Images: The Royal Sydney Golf Club (top) and the Club's aquatic and fitness centre (below).

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