A former tip site in the Brisbane suburb of Cannon Hill will be the site of the first new public golf course in Brisbane in more than 70 years.
Set to open by 2018, Brisbane City Council acquired the site in a recent a land swap deal with developers BMD Group.
The Cannon Hill Community Links project will also include new housing and conservation areas on 125 hectares in south Brisbane between Creek Road, Fursden Road and Bulimba Creek.
Golf Queensland Chairman Peter Castrisos said the 18-hole course would would enable more golfers of all skill levels the chance to spend time on the greens.
Castrisos told 612 ABC Brisbane "there are only two other public golf courses in Brisbane – Victoria Park and St Lucia.
"It's great to see another one on the scene as we haven't seen one in 70 years … that's been a long time.
"The more golf courses we have the better chance we have to get people playing this great game."
Castrisos said the need for the new course was huge, with thousands of golfers already registered in Queensland.
He commented "there's 70,000 registered golfers in Queensland that play at members golf clubs, but there's 140,000 people who play the game of golf and need access to courses too.
"We have in Brisbane many members golf courses … they pay a lot of money to be members and therefore they demand the right to play when they want to play.
Castrisos believes that public golf courses are vital in introducing people to have access to the game, adding "the more people we can get onto golf courses the more likely they are to join a golf club and support the industry.
"These facilities have to be built by councils and they are reluctant to spend the money as they are not big money-earning ventures," he said.
"It's like every public facility, they have to wait in a queue and it's taken many years to get it through council."
When opened, Castrisos believes that the Cannon Hill course will be highly utilised, concluding "there's a huge market of people looking for access to a golf course who don't want to be members of a club but want to take part in the great game."
Courtesy of Australian Leisure Management: http://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/new-cannon-hill-links-to-be-brisbanes-first-new-public-golf-course-in-70-ye/?platform=hootsuite