Appears Kennedy Bay has closed up shop and gone into receivership.
Course is closed and speaking to a WA pro, not likely to re open anytime soon.

For me, was too expensive for a tough course to attract enough customers, especially being past the end of the freeway.

This seems to be common opinion among players I talk to, especially on the GCoast. Courses that believe they have to be LOOOOOONG, then because there is much involved with maintenance they have to charge big dollars for fees.

Players like you and me (after all not many players are any where near the length of the tour) play the course and decide for the price they’d rather play a course that is fun, not a pain in the backside because it’s so looooooong. And this is just one example of our Elitist attitude and why the game is struggling.

And the really stupid thing is if they just started with tees that were reasonable, and fees to match…. things might have been different. The Black tees can always come later.

Make a course to hard, expensive, crap club house with great course’s near by and you will always struggle.
I haven’t played there for 3 years and never enjoyed any of the rounds I had there (all club comps).
You can get better deals from the other courses
nearby ,which are/were much more friendly to both individuals and social clubs.
We still have some great course’s here near Perth , just don’t tell everyone.

hi evreyone

New to this site,still sad though we have to lose a course of that calibre.
Just moved to perth from the uk, played most of my golf on links courses their, played pk 1/2 doz times a good test of golf, real shame, played 2 rounds in one day about 2 monthes ago with a mate only ones on the course all day apart from a few roo’s shot 14 over for whole day golfing heaven

hi evreyone

New to this site,still sad though we have to lose a course of that calibre.
Just moved to perth from the uk, played most of my golf on links courses their, played pk 1/2 doz times a good test of golf, real shame, played 2 rounds in one day about 2 monthes ago with a mate only ones on the course all day apart from a few roo’s shot 14 over for whole day golfing heaven

golfing heaven Andy but not financial heaven for the owners and that’s one of the reasons the doors are shut

Welcome to Perth Andy:)

Not to mention the rude green staff !

I remember that:) Did spoil an otherwise fun day out.

Yep and i shot a 86 on that damn course that day, so proud of myself.

Pitty its closed very strange that no other organisations are prepared to take it over, make it better with a decent club house ect.

The membership was a bit steep which wouldn’t have helped.

J

suffered very much from being too far from Perth or too close.

Too far to really want to pop down for a quick round, and too close to be in the hoilday belt from say Bunbury southwards. So really in the middle of nowhere as far as thier target market is concerned.

People are queuing up to join the top Perth clubs, despite being lesser courses so that they can be 10 minutes from home, and if they built a decent course at Margaret River it would be chockers.

Mind you the vines is in the same boat and is a shitty course – but at least they had the sense to build a hotel as quickly as possible so that punters have a reason to go out.

Being on this side of the fence and seeing how clueless some of these courses are about marketing themselves – we are not surprised at all about why some clubs close.

Kennedy Bay is not included in that group but many others are. Sad to see the course close. I guess someone will pick it up at a bargain price.

most likely the local footy club, they seem to know how to market a facility, at least they do in Canberra, a lot of courses are going under the hammer there to footy clubs….

Being on this side of the fence and seeing how clueless some of these courses are about marketing themselves – we are not surprised at all about why some clubs close.

Kennedy Bay is not included in that group but many others are. Sad to see the course close. I guess someone will pick it up at a bargain price.

Use your “Edit My Profile” link in the right hand sidebar to add in your signature

why would someone want to pick it up when its had 3(?) owners already?

Its not the marketing, its the product that they have to sell.

groundstaff aren`t as rude as golfer who don`t abide by course ediquette…...ie stay on cart path`s,rake bunkers,give way to groundstaff,don`t hit up….need I go on…...

golfer`s are ruder

I’m interested in the comment from Cliff about extra costs if the course is longer.

I wonder how much more it would cost a club in maintenance for an extra 1000 metres of fairways? Would it really be that significant? Enough to add how much to the green fee on average?

I don’t know what it costs to run a golf club in the real world, but I’m constantly amazed by what clubs charge for greenfees and memberships – it just doesn’t add up to my impression of what it would cost to keep a golf course ticking. I can’t believe so many of them seem to be going out of business.

Larry….a top course cost some where betwen 500k-1000000 a year on maintenance…..take into account staff up to 20 , rising cost of fuel,fertiliser,insurance and machinery costs and that the golfer expects anear perfect surface all year round…. this why fees are higher compared to your average course you can play for $25 .

Larry, if you just look at course maintenance as an hourly cost, an extra kilometre of grass results in many more man/woman hours it takes to cut, core, sand, fertilize, water, debug, etc, then you have to take into account machines, etc. Most courses are 6000m, if you extend that a 1000 that’s quite a large percentage increase…and on top of that, a lot of courses lease the land, even if they are paying it off as a mortgage, well that is more again….just the extra water bill would be horrendous….particularly in these drought ridden days of paranoia about the so called “global warming” rubbish, but that’s another discussion all together I suppose….

groundstaff aren`t as rude as golfer who don`t abide by course ediquette……ie stay on cart path`s,rake bunkers,give way to groundstaff,don`t hit up….need I go on……

respect the course

Unfortunately these guys looked/acted like they were on day release from prison.

Swearing and yelling taunts at us whilst we were hitting. Calling us through then when we get to the green told to fcuk’n hurry up.

We dont need that shit when we payed 70+ for the round.

Anyway its the only place i have ever experienced this behavior, i must report that most green staff around Perth are much more pleasant and professional.

J

i am disappointed about this – I thought it was a great golf course but agree with the ground staff. I also have only ever experienced it at Kennedy Bay.

I have to say that I also agree with other comments about the golf course. I played well on the day so I wasn’t too worried but it a pretty tough test. I sometimes think that golf course designers just miss who the market is.

The course I have at top of mind is Magenta Shores. I have played a few times and haven’t even looked like getting 30 points – and i have played well. i just don’t see how they expect to get repeat business if they make these course horrendously difficult at a high price?

rebjon and mitchbeater this behaviour should be report to the pro shop at the end of your game so it can be nip in the bud straight away…it is at my club

Kennedy Bay was closed not by it`s own hand but was brought down by it`s connection to St Andrews beach and Bass Coast.

Sad to see…

Also the govenment didn`t help out at KB with the time it takes to approve thing in WA

It was mentioned to the pro on the day – he agreed with us and said we weren’t the first. Not much else he could do. Labour shortages and such.

It was mentioned to the pro on the day – he agreed with us and said we weren’t the first. Not much else he could do. Labour shortages and such.

“The most glorious moments in your life are not the so-called days of success, but rather those days when out of dejection and despair you feel rise in you a challenge to life, and the promise of future accomplishments.” – Gustave Flaubert

Thanks Vic for remembering that i totally forgot we told the pro.

Greenie we actually phoned the club house from the 12 tee and told them then we reported it after the match in person. Was told basically there were not going to do anything.

Anyway doesnt matter now.

Shame though eevne though it was long it had 4 of the best Par 3’s going that played with any club in the bag depending on what the Freeo Doctor was up to. May it RIP till the next owners come along. I assume the locals are now out playing it for free until it is overgrown?

Hi Guys,

As a Kennedy member (former at this point), I was very surprised to hear about the green’s staff as they were always fantastic with me. I guess that is also because I was one of the members that would actually take the time to have a chat with them when I encountered them. I think I know who the one you are referring to that looks like he was on day release from prison. I agree with that claim!

How long ago was this? The pro we have had for the past year wouldn’t have tolerated that, I would think. The former pro had his own issues with one of the greenskeepers and would have been afraid to do anything.

It is rumoured that it will be opening again soon, which I hope is the case. I was out jogging on it a couple days ago and things are getting a little shaggy. I’ll probably head down myself at some point this weekend for a little bash around.

Kooringal, you are right about the par 3’s, they are fantastic and all totally different holes that could have a 5-6 club difference depending on the wind.