Alex MacDonald, Stephen Knapp and Carine MLA Tony Krsticevic at the Hamersley Public Golf Course barbecue.  |
Camera IconAlex MacDonald, Stephen Knapp and Carine MLA Tony Krsticevic at the Hamersley Public Golf Course barbecue. | Credit: Supplied/Andrew Ritchie        www.communitypix.com.au d457508

Hamersley Public Golf Course facilities ‘below par’ say golfers

Kate LeaverStirling Times

Long-time golfer Stephen Knapp said he arrived at the scene just after the accident, which happened in May.

“The ambulance was here and it took them away,” he said.

“Both of them have been in and out of hospital with skin grafts.”

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Players at the course claimed some facilities were outdated, dangerous and not fit for use. Mr Knapp said the barbecue had been rusty and broken for five years.

The City confirmed the incident had been referred to its insurers.

Stirling acting recreation and leisure services manager Simone Pastor said about 30 complaints about facilities had been received from 2015 to now.

“The City will shortly expend about $90,000 on undertaking maintenance works,” she said.

Mr Knapp said the facilities had looked the same since 1985, when he first started playing.

“For the last 30 years we have paid our fees and nothing has been done; it’s the ratepayers’ money put into this place,” he said.

Golf tour operator Alex MacDonald said one of the showers in the women’s bathroom had not worked in 12 years.

“You can’t have a shower and leave anything because there are no lockers here so it might get pinched,” he said.

He said electric golf buggies needed to be charged inside the Pro Shop, which was too small to house them.

“It would just be nice to have something that is comfortable for us so we could come down here, have our game of golf, have a shower and then sit under a shelter without holes in it,” Mr MacDonald said.

Players submitted a petition to council on August 2 calling for upgraded facilities.

Ms Pastor said Hamersley Public Golf Course had 110,000 people through its gates each year on average, including repeat visitations.

The City made a profit of $459,768 in the past financial year.

The site was considered for a new pool facility, which would have included an upgrade.

However, in 2014, Council decided the pool would be built at Scarborough Beach, which is now the $26 million Scarborough Beach Pool project.

Ms Pastor said a draft master plan for the golf course had been developed and the redevelopment would begin “in the next few years.”

Carine MLA Tony Krsticevic said he doubted whether the facilities would have been approved by the City if it were privately owned.