A Tasmanian golf club is to allow self-contained travellers to stay overnight in its car park in the hope that more grey nomads will come to play a round … and perhaps spend a few dollars in the bar.
After discussion over several years, Ulverstone Golf Club has decided the move would be great way to boost revenue.
Board member, Dave Abbott, told the Advocate newspaper that the club had applied to the Central Coast Council for a permit to use a block of land for visitor accommodation.
“We have a flat car park near the clubhouse … a few of our members are guys who go away to the mainland for the winter in RVs and they say that place would be good for RVs that are fully self-contained,” he said. “They wouldn’t have access to clubhouse facilities but hopefully it bring a few people to stay at the club for a few days and play a few rounds of golf.”
The venture would see spaces for up to 30 vehicles in 12 by 8 metre parks.
Mr Abbott told the Advocate that many other sport clubs were doing a similar thing and there seemed to be a good demand for it.
“We know at Stanley they have an RV park, one at Riana, which gets quite heavily used, then ones along the foreshore at Sulphur Creek, which are free and very heavily used,” he said. “We’re hoping to tap into that market and it’s a niche in the same way that a number of our blokes take their golf clubs and do a mainland tour.”
Mr Abbott said he hoped by offering the camping spaces more people would get to know the course.
“We’re proud of our golf course and would like as many people to use it as possible,” he said. “If people were looking for lunch or sometimes evening meals, if she extends to that they’re welcome and they’re welcome to drink at our bar as well.”
The permit application said the land had been largely cleared for years, with one part being used for overflow parking and sometimes for horse floats.
The Advocate reports that the club would charge a nominal fee of $10 a day, with the expectation of more green fees and additional bar revenues.
Great idea Golf Board. Charge a nominal Fee and grey nomads will come for drinks and a meal. Stanley GC charge $10/night and we had a 1 minute walk to the bar, met up with some locals and mainlanders and we spent $10 on the fri night meat tray raffle and $10on the lucky number raffle plus 2 rounds of drinks and a meal. That was just my husband and I and there were 2 other couples with us. A great injection of cash into the club if you have a flat paddock waiting for some vans to join. Also my hubby played 18 this morn $20. So all in all we were happy to stay at Stanley Golf Club Rec area and happy to support the club too, as many others would. Cheers. Planning to bring 3 vans and couples for a night to Ulverstone GC on 10th Dec too. See you then