Gulf Harbour Nation Membership, which hosted the New Zealand Open in 2005 and 2006, and the World Cup of Golf in 1998, closed this summer season after the homeowners stated that it had been ‘unable to make the membership financially viable’ after two consecutive years of loss-making.
The membership, which is situated 25 miles north of Auckland, closed on July 20, with proprietor Greg Olliver owing hundreds of kilos in unpaid wages to employees, whereas members who had paid their charges upfront had been unnoticed of pocket and with nowhere to play.
A letter despatched to members by membership director Wayne Bailey on the time of the closure stated: “After two years of unsuccessfully on the lookout for methods to make the operating of the membership financially viable the Gulf Harbour Nation Membership will shut with quick impact. Whereas it’s appreciated lots of the members have absorbed the upper charges in current occasions, prices proceed to outrun income”.
The letter highlighted that the 25-year-old clubhouse would probably want an entire rebuild, the price of which might be ‘prohibitive’.
The membership sits on a major quantity of land and administrators had checked out methods to utilise promoting among the surplus with the intention to reinvest within the course.
The letter continued: “The character of the course structure meant that this was solely doable with the acquisition of different neighbouring land as properly. Negotiations so far have meant that this isn’t solely unviable however in the end a worse final result than the established order. Thus, we now have no possibility however to stop operations.”
Gulf Harbour opened in 1997 and boasted the one Robert Trent Jones Jr design in New Zealand. Rated the fifteenth finest course within the nation by Top100golfcourses.com, it hosted the World Cup of Golf only a 12 months later, which was gained by the English pairing of Nick Faldo and David Carter, adopted by back-to-back New Zealand Opens in 2005 and 2006. As not too long ago as March of this 12 months it staged the New Zealand PGA Championship.
Regardless of the course being formally closed, members continued to play on the 18-hole structure over the New Zealand winter, placing makeshift flags into the greens earlier than they turned too overgrown to putt on.
