The front nine tree-lined fairways at Mona Vale Golf Club are set away from the coast, with the more open back nine routed closer to the shoreline, where fresh ocean breezes can exert an influence on these links-like holes.
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The front nine tree-lined fairways at Mona Vale Golf Club are set away from the coast, with the more open back nine routed closer to the shoreline, where fresh ocean breezes can exert an influence on these links-like holes.
Mona Vale
Mona Vale Golf Club got going in 1927 with a 9-hole course developed by volunteer labour and a tent for a clubhouse. An old ambulance station was then moved from a nearby location to become makeshift accommodation for members to meet before and after their round of golf.
The local council decided to drain the swamp in the middle of the current layout and the club agreed to assist financially if it could obtain a lease for the land. The Salvation Army also agreed to sell some land south of the swamp but the deal fell through due to a covenant restricting play at the weekend.
The club was closed during World War II and a military camp established on the course, with a tank trap installed across a number of fairways and barbed wire entanglements placed next to the beach. The clubhouse was later commandeered for use as administration offices and an officers’ mess for the army.
The 9-hole course reopened in 1947 then additional land was obtained in the late 1950s to extend the layout to eighteen holes. Finally, in August 1960, a new 18-hole course was brought into play. A clubhouse fire the following year destroyed most of the club’s records but members rallied round and things were back to normal by the end of 1963.