IG204 October 22

Royal Park Golf Course W E could tell you a lot about Royal Park golf course and its rich history. That the nine-hole layout, just over two kilometres northMelbourne’s CBD, is unique in that it has active tram and train lines running through it. That it is spread across three paddocks alongside the Melbourne Zoo and that it is not uncommon to hear the roar of a lion or the trumpet of an elephant as you meander around this charming setting. Not forgetting, either, the five-time Open champion, the late Peter Thomson (AO, CBE), learnt to play golf here as a teenager. He only wandered onto Royal Park public golf course near his home by chance. His uncle had taken him there accompanied by his trusty greyhound. Thomson used to say, “I looked around and saw a few golfers on the course and thought I would come back soon and give golf a go.” Give it a go he did, winning the club championship in 1945 as a 16-year-old. Three years later Thomson was the Victorian Amateur champion. Eventually, of course, he carved out a marvellous career with victories in five Open Championships and numerous other wins in Australia and overseas. ‘Thommo’ was not the only champion golfer to cut his teeth as a beginner at Royal Park. Gus Jackson andMick Ryan immediately come to mind as well. Jackson won the Victor ian Amateur Championship in 1926 and 1933 along withmany other titles. Ryan won the Vic amateur crown in The club celebrated its 100th year in 2003 with a Centenary Weekend of Golf Tournament, with Thomson again returning to the club to present prizes to winners. Thomson also wrote the foreword to the book on the club’s history, written by clubmember Denise Hinton. A plaque sits on the first tee honouring Thomson’s legacy to Royal Park. All this is a roundabout way of letting you know that Royal Park has undergone a renaissance and to tell you that its rich history and recent rebirth demand a round of golf or at least a visit. Driving the change is GreenSpaceManagement, a golf management company established to ‘better’ public access golf facilities in Australia. Many within the golf industry know the man behind GreenSpace, Peter Vlahandreas, who, at 38, is already a 20-year veteran at the elite end of golf club management. He has undergone an ‘epiphany’ of sorts and turned his attention to public access golf courses. Royal Park is the second golf coursemanagement project Vlahandreas’ company has undertaken. 1930 and 1932 and the Australian Amateur in 1929. He also won the Australian Open in 1932 and many more events. Founded in 1903, the clubhouse, Royal Park is Crown Land, which was permanently reserved as a Public Park in 1876. It is currently 170 hectares in size, making it the largest park in the City of Melbourne. It has been managed by the City of Melbourne since the reservation, first as trustees and since 1931 as Committee of Management. The golf course was built in 1903 when the club were given a lease. Maintained and managed by the club members until 1960 when the clubhouse was partially destroyed by fire. The club remained using what was left of the clubhouse until 1970, where after talks with the Keilor golf club merged to create the Tullamarine country club at Keilor. The council took over the running of the course fromMarch 1971 and the clubhouse was rebuilt. In the mid-1980s Thomson’s firm of golf course architects was hired to improve the course layout. The City of Melbourne and the YMCA Victoria are partners in the project. Royal Park now falls under theActiveMelbourne umbrella with eight other sport and recreation facilities across the City of Melbourne operated by the YMCA Victoria. “We are truly humbled to be working with the YMCAVictoria and the City of Melbourne at one of the country’s most important public access golf courses,” says Vlahandreas. The change has been about setting up really important foundations for golf, but more importantly sowing the seeds for broader community access to the facility. That is golfers and non-golfers. “Now, in the sport of golf, we are really starting to delve into the fun stuff, like bringing your dog to golf. ‘BYO dog’ we’re calling it,” Vlahandreas says. “We’re also bringing back Random Golf Club at Royal Park; now that’s going to be very cool indeed.” As well, Royal Park has opened up to non-golfers with fitness and exercise classes and become a welcoming space where community members can come together. You don’t have to be a golfer to be welcome. “The traditional sense of the game of golf has its place. And we are strong believers in that as custodians of the game,” Vlahandreas says. “But in public access golf, I don’t believe the traditions need to hold us back. We should always be polite towards the traditions of the game. “But the younger generation - the 20, 30 or 40 something – should always be made to feel welcome. People have become fed up with all the rules around the game and its facilities,” he adds. “The biggest single entry point as to how people get into the game is through public access facilities. They have to start somewhere. CLUB OF THE MONTH > October 2022 www.insidegolf.com.au Club of the month 48 Michael Davis michael.davis@insidegolf.com.au