Gulf Harbour Country Club in its picturesque surroundings. Photo / Supplied
A championship 18-hole golf course on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula has suddenly shut, according to a letter from a boss there, and neighbours are fearful for the site’s future.
Members of Gulf Harbour Country Club received a letter this week from a director, Wayne Bailey, saying that the facility would no longer operate.
“After two years of unsuccessfully looking for ways to make the running of the club financially viable the Gulf Harbour Country Club will close with immediate effect,” he wrote in the letter posted on social media by one member this week.
“Unfortunately the club continues to lose money. It is appreciated that many of you have absorbed higher fees in recent times, however notwithstanding this, costs continue to outrun revenue,” Bailey said.
In addition to that, the club requires significant capital investment.
“As many of you will be aware the club has had very little investment in it since it was built 25 years ago. The lack of investment is directly linked to the lack of return,” he wrote.
In the case of the clubhouse, which is failing, this would most likely result in a complete rebuild and while a new building would be somewhat smaller, the cost is prohibitive, he said.
Many ways to make the club even modestly viable had been examined.
“The course is generous in land area and the most likely route to success was to sell off surplus land in order to be able to reinvest in the course. The nature of the course layout meant that this was only possible with the acquisition of other neighbouring land as well. Negotiations to date have meant that this is not only unviable but ultimately a worse outcome than the status quo. Thus we have no option but to cease operations,” the letter said.
Attempts to reach people at the club in the last two days have been unsuccessful. Phones go to message systems and messages are not being returned.
Emails to the club and those who were working there have also gone unanswered.
Locals have raised concerns about what could happen and are worried either housing or a retirement village is planned for the large site.
John Watson, a local councillor, said he understands why people are concerned and worried about the land’s future.
“This club was built 25 years ago and has been through different ownerships. It is a high-class golf course in terms of its layout, clubhouse and facilities. If this ownership hasn’t been able to make it work to a favourable end in terms of their investment, the community would hope a new buyer would come in and make it work,” Watson said.
“It has worked well in the past. As far as the fears of the community on what fate awaits the land, the course has a covenant over it that says it must remain a golf course. It is located in the eastern end of the peninsula which means in terms of future development prospects, those will be quite limited due to infrastructure.
“Despite Penlink being under construction, there is still 10km from the access to Penlink to the end of the peninsula where the course is,” he said.
Getting more traffic to the land would cause problems for the existing congested roading network, Watson said.
In 2021, the Herald reported the sale of the property to an entity associated with Auckland developer Greg Olliver.
A spokesperson for the club said the property had just changed hands but declined to give further details.
Companies Office records show Olliver was appointed a director and his company - The Phoenix Trust Limited - became the sole shareholder in the company registered as the owner of the popular seaside club in the fast-growing area.
The course is a premier club with a championship record and is just over an hour north of Auckland, offering information in Mandarin, Korean and Japanese.
Property records show that in late 2012 Long River Investments Corporation bought 180 Gulf Harbour Dr which is where the Gulf Harbour Country Club is situated. The purchase price back then was $12.8 million.
Long River was owned by Yi Li of Mt Eden but Olliver took control on July 23, 2021, through The Phoenix Trust.
Projects he has worked on included Stonefields at Mt Wellington, Long Bay on Auckland’s North Shore and a Marlborough vineyard.
The club land and buildings are today valued at more than $20m.
Locals yesterday expressed concern about the club shutting and wondered what would happen next. They worry that the golf course might be developed and raised concerns about more people coming into the area.
A precedent does exist to develop housing on golf courses.
The Herald has, for example, reported on Fletcher Residential building on what was the Manukau Golf Course.
That club was moved to Ardmore but course neighbours were loud in their objections to the land’s development.
Max Byrnes, a Manukau Golf Club neighbour, said in 2013 that he feared for the Conifer Grove area due to Fletcher’s move.
As the owner of a Keywella Drive house overlooking the course, which the club sold for more than $40m, he worried last decade about the effects of a growing population on the roads, schooling, the extensive native shorebird population and residents’ quality of life.
The site is now home to the Waiata Shores development.
Locals raised concern about Gulf Harbour’s future two years ago, fearing it would become housing.
Neighbours, a real estate specialist and school staff contacted the Herald, asking about development plans for the site and seeking new information about development potential.
Chris Darby, one of two North Shore councillors, said then it was possible for a landowner to seek consent to develop the golf course land under a plan change process.
That means the owner goes to the council to seek a new use for the property, gaining consent for purposes which the real estate is not used for currently.
“When I read of the buyer move on Gulf Harbour Country Club I immediately thought they might have eyes on the development potential of the course land. The Auckland Unitary Plan though identifies the land as open space – sport and active recreation zone, not housing,” Darby said in 2021.
The Pupuke Golf Club, Takapuna Golf Club, Chamberlain Park and Remuera Golf Club land all had the same zoning as Gulf Harbour Country Club, Darby said.
The current zoning of the Gulf Harbour Country Club land, in full or part, would likely require the progressing of a private plan change to enable housing development, Darby said.
One real estate specialist in the area said a retirement village might be being planned.
“There is a credible report that there is a retirement village planned on the course but if allowed to proceed, it would be a travesty,” the specialist said.
Hundreds of properties had been purchased at a premium on the expectation that robust zoning would protect the amenity that the enduring green open space provides, that property expert said.
People in the area were angry about the potential development of the golf course, he said.
“The end of a peninsula is not the place for intensive development. The ferry is not the answer. It is weather-dependent and basically only commutes to Britomart,” he said.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 23 years, has won many awards, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
'Some people can’t remember anyone in their family owning a home.'