Redeveloped Newgreens Chatswood course opens near Sydney

Newgreens Chatswood, near Sydney, Australia, has opened a 12-hole golf course by Neil Crafter.

Originally known as Chatswood Golf Club, the facility had 13 holes on its own land and five holes on land it leased from the local council. “The course was constrained and challenging from a safety perspective as four holes crossed over and the club was struggling financially,” said Crafter. “A local developer approached the club with a view to developing retirement apartments on the land then occupied by the car park and supported the club until a development approval could be obtained. Early on, the decision was made to develop 12 quality holes and resolve the safety issues from crossing holes rather than shoehorn 18 holes into the land again.”

Crafter & Mogford first became involved in 2020 and, after its initial assessment of the property, created redevelopment options for the club and the developer to consider. The Development Application (DA) for the retirement community and new clubhouse was lodged and approved first, with the golf course DA subsequently approved in July 2023. Contractor McMahons began construction in early 2024.

The scorecard for the 12-hole Newgreens Chatswood (Image: Newgreens Chatswood)

“The idea of reducing the course to 12 holes was predicated upon two main reasons,” said Crafter. “The club’s own land could comfortably host nine holes and should, for some reason, the leased land not be available to the club in the future, the club could settle with a nine-hole course. With three holes on the leased land, the club would have a 12-hole course that would appeal to a range of golfers. Should golfers want to play an 18-hole round they can play a six-hole loop (first to fifth and then ninth), although the operator, Clublinks, which manages the precinct, is intending to concentrate on 12-hole rounds as its primary offering.”

The par-four ninth (Photo: Newgreens Chatswood)

Crafter wanted to retain as many existing hole corridors as feasible to enable the redeveloped course to feel like the old layout to its members. “It will be a significantly upgraded Chatswood, with better turf quality, well-drained bunkers and larger greens,” he said. “Holes with essentially the same corridors are one to nine and the eleventh. We retained as much of the existing vegetation as possible, noting that some removal was necessary but kept to a minimum. Thousands of new trees, wetland plants and ground plane species were planted to supplement the retained vegetation.”

Tees feature Sir Grange Zoysia, with fairways and rough being Kikuyu and greens seeded with 007XL creeping bentgrass. Bunkers have been lined Capillary Concrete.

“McMahons did an excellent job in very trying conditions as heavy rain was an ever-present challenge during construction,” said Crafter. “They will continue their involvement by taking up the contract for ongoing course maintenance. Given the heavy rain the site has experienced, the bunker system has performed extremely well to date with minimal washouts.”

The council also mandated that, as part of Chatswood’s redevelopment, the course’s stormwater management system would be upgraded, with higher capacity pipes and flood control measures incorporated to reduce the risk of the flooding that previously occurred.

The ninth green (Photo: Newgreens Chatswood)

“The development approval for the apartments required all of the excavated rock material from their construction – some 65,000 cubic metres – to be retained on site as the council did not want the adjacent residential road leading to the club to be swamped by truck movements hauling spoil off site,” said Crafter. “Accordingly, all this material was required to be used to recontour the golf course, and, as a result, the levels in a number of locations are many metres higher than the original course.”

Below, Neil Crafter highlights three holes that encapsulate the work he has overseen at Newgreens Chatswood:

Hole two | par five | 507 yards (464 metres)

“The second hole is the only par five on the redeveloped Chatswood course and plays from high tees down into a valley with a pond on the outside of the dogleg. The tee shot must be well-placed to avoid a fairway bunker at the left side and the pond beyond at the right. The second shot is played uphill to a landing area bunkered left and right, and from here the approach to the elevated and undulating green must be well-judged. The green is set against a sandstone escarpment at its left side, and a par here will be well-earned.

“The green is visible in the distance from the tee, with the fairway snaking up towards the putting surface, so the golfer immediately knows the task ahead. The challenge at the second is keeping your ball safely out of the carefully placed hazards along the length of the hole.”

Hole three | par three | 200 yards (183 metres)

“The first of the par threes at Chatswood is a spectacular downhill hole based upon the challenge of the old third. Multiple tees are provided that give a range of lengths and angles, and the main hazard is the large lake at the base of the valley. There is a good section of fairway before the green, which is one of the largest putting surfaces on the course, with a single bunker guarding the right side. A step in the green separates the front section from the rear, and golfers will be well-advised to note the pin position before playing their tee-shot. A par three here will be a more than satisfactory result.

“A sensible shot will leave the golfer at the front of the green, with a simple putt or a chip to the pin. Carrying the water is the first – and most important – challenge on this hole and once over, the next challenge is in judging the approach shot to get on the same level as the pin.

“The third tee has the most iconic view on the course across the lake to the green, with the clubhouse and apartments looking down from behind.”

Hole eleven | par four | 260 yards (238 metres)

“The eleventh hole is a redeveloped version of the old seventeenth hole, which plays from elevated tees across Swaines Creek to an undulating fairway with a sandstone escarpment along the right side. The green has been moved back from the old hole and is now at a risk-and-reward length for better golfers who must ask themselves whether the risk of going for the green in one from the tee is worth it, given the many hazards around the green ready to grab a stray tee shot. Shorter hitters should position their tee shot up the right side, just short of the fairway bunker, for a straightforward pitch into the green that avoids the front-left greenside bunker. The safe play from the tee is out to the lower left portion of the fairway, but this requires a tricky uphill approach directly over the greenside bunker. While a short hole, the eleventh really packs a punch.”

The twelfth green (Photo: Newgreens Chatswood)