Metung Country Club - Par Excellence

AN EXCITING NEW LEISURE AND RELAXATION HUB WHICH IN THE FUTURE WILL BECOME HOME TO AUSTRALIA’S FIRST HOT SPRINGS GOLF COURSE IS ABOUT TO TEE OFF.

WORDS: CHRIS WEST

IMAGES KINDLY SUPPLIED BY METUNG COUNTRY CLUB

In conjunction with the eagerly anticipated upcoming opening of Metung Hot Springs, the adjacent Kings Cove Golf Club is being rebranded as Metung Country Club as part of a series of key developments unfolding across both facilities.

When Metung Hot Springs part owners Adrian and Rachel Bromage first began creating their vision together with Charles Davidson and his partners who form the Peninsula Hot Springs Group, it seemed a logical progression to also utilise the great potential presented by the golf course within their master plan.

“The hot springs and golf course are only five hundred metres apart, so we saw it as making perfect sense for the two facilities to be connected as the one resort,” Rachel observes.

“We believe there’s great symmetry between them and think it’s a match made in heaven,” she adds.

As part of the relaunch, a new logo has been created for the Metung Country Club which incorporates aspects of the Metung Hot Springs logo into its design. The two facilities will also share a unified website with two different links.

In now creating a resort-style country club with enhanced food and beverage offering, the timing perfectly complements the upcoming opening of the Metung Hot Springs facility which is scheduled to be ready to launch over the Melbourne Cup long weekend. “We’ve been invited to host East Gippsland’s Food and Wine Festival, which is a great opportunity that we’ve decided to incorporate into our official launch activities for Metung Hot Springs,” Rachel reveals.

“Our plan is to hold a ribbon cutting event on the main site on Saturday, 29th October, followed by the Food and Wine Festival the following day.”

Adrian and Rachel officially took over management of the golf club on 1st July this year, in addition to their ongoing respective roles at Metung Hot Springs of Managing Director and Director of Operations. Over the past couple of months, the enterprising and hard-working couple has been busily overseeing the transformation of the golf club into a more appealing, modernised country club.

The final touches are now being made to an extensive renovation of the clubhouse, which has included the installation of new flooring, high quality luxe furnishings and fresh painting. All works have been carried out without any disruption to golf operations.

But the main initial draw card of the upgrade to the facility will be the return of restaurant dining in the new-look country club.

“The golf club hasn’t operated a restaurant for many years. The clubhouse was architecturally designed almost 20 years ago and was ahead of its time in that respect. It’s a beautiful building, but has been underutilised for too long,” Rachel notes.

“From around October onwards we are aiming to be ready to open seven days a week with food and beverage and golf. It is really exciting to be creating this new hub, which is exactly what Metung needs. We also intend to direct most of the food and beverage offerings for the hot springs through the country club, including servicing our glamping guests. There will be lots of people going back and forth between the two sites all day, so it really makes sense that we incorporate them both from the beginning.”

Lesley Eccles has been recruited as the country club’s new chef and is due to commence in mid-September. Lesley brings over two decades of hospitality industry experience in a career which has taken her to Brisbane and as far afield as the Davis Research Station at the Antarctic, where she was employed as Head Chef for eight years between 2011 and 2019.

Contemporary day and evening dining options with a strong focus on regionally sourced, seasonal produce will feature on the Metung Country Club’s restaurant menu under Lesley’s supervision.

As Adrian Bromage explains, many exciting developments are also on the horizon of specific note from a golf perspective in addition to the clubhouse improvements. Other initiatives helping to create a whole new dimension at the golf club include the upcoming installation of a geothermal foot pool for golfers, which is expected to be operational in the New Year. “Players will be able to remove their shoes at the completion of their round of golf and dip their feet in the soothing geothermal water while relaxing and enjoying a drink,” he reveals.

“The pool is of sufficient size to fit up to 10 to 12 people at any time and will be serviced by a mobile bar.”

Further down the track, Adrian and Rachel are planning to create a small hot springs facility at the golf club in addition to the main hot springs site. It is hoped that this separate, dedicated hot springs facility at the golf course will be available within two years following planning, design and construction.

In the interim, water is being pumped from the adjacent hot springs to be cleverly re-utilised in a number of ways at the golf club, including for irrigation of the fairways after passing through a process of UV treatment and sand filtration.

But an even more noticeable use from a visual perspective will soon be evident through the creation of a water course within the course layout.

“When golf architect Ted Parslow originally designed the course, it was to have a stream running through it but that didn’t end up eventuating,” Adrian states.

“We’re in the process of now building a water course and making excellent progress with those works. The addition of water as a feature on the layout will not only make the course more challenging, it is also going to make it pretty spectacular visually. We believe we are on the verge of successfully realising our aim of establishing Metung Country Club as Victoria’s best nine-hole course, and ultimately, Australia’s first hot springs golf course,” he adds.

Helping to achieve those ambitions is the appointment of Clint White as the new Course Superintendent. Clint joins Metung Country Club from one of the world’s premier golf venues – Royal Melbourne Golf Club – where he gained 10 years of experience as a greenskeeper.

“The knowledge that Clint has acquired working at Royal Melbourne will be a huge asset for us,” Adrian comments.

“His wife is originally from Lakes Entrance and has returned home through her work which has brought Clint to our area. We are thrilled to have secured his services and look forward to the improvements he will undoubtedly bring to our course.”

For anyone unfamiliar with the layout, Metung Country Club is home to a challenging 9-hole course that can also be played as 18-holes through the use of alternate tees on the second nine. Measuring more than 6000 metres in length, the course plays as a par 72 for 18 holes. Bunker protected large greens, generous fairways and two signature par 3 holes always ensure an enjoyable day’s golf.

With golf currently enjoying something of a COVID-inspired boom, Adrian and Rachel look forward to welcoming Foundation Memberships, along with new public members keen to experience the course possibly for the first time.

New members are welcome to join at an enticing introduction member fee offer. This 12-month membership includes golfing seven days a week, discounts in pro-shop and restaurant, member events, golf handicap administration and reciprocal access to affiliate courses across the country for $500 per annum.

Gift certificates are currently available via the Metung Hot Springs website consisting of replenishing spa and bathing experiences, a grazing box and nine holes of golf.

Whilst many other golf clubs host member competitions on weekends which restricts available tee times for visitors, Metung Country Club prefers to allocate its competitions on midweek days.

“This presents a great opportunity for us, as it frees up the leisure market and allows us to take casual bookings from green fee players on weekends. We also want to work with other local accommodation venues as well in tailoring packages with them,” Adrian comments.

“With all the facilities and new offerings opening in the coming months, there are some great career opportunities, and we are looking for energetic passionate people to join our team. If you are interested in a career in the Wellness Tourism industry, please keep an eye on our website.”

GOLF AT METUNG COUNTRY CLUB

GREEN FEES

9 HOLES - $20 AND 18 HOLES - $30

HAND BUGGY HIRE

9 HOLES - $3 AND 18 HOLES - $5

ELECTRIC CART HIRE

9 HOLES - $25 AND 18 HOLES - $30

CLUB HIRE

9 HOLES - $10 AND 18 HOLES - $15

CONTACT

info@metungcountryclub.com (03) 5156 2927

LOCATION

94 KINGS COVE BOULEVARD, METUNG VIC 3904