HAPPY golfers walked from the final hole at Hurstville Golf Course on competition Tuesday, having played 18 holes for the first time in eight months.
The verdict? They loved the newly refurbished course and were especially pleased that they did not have to play nine holes twice.
"For eight months we had to cobble together 18 holes but the pain was well worth it," club captain Peter Greig said.
"The numbers dropped off but now everyone is back and I believe our membership has increased."
Golf professional Stewart Hardiman said 120 club members had teed off, one of three open days to show off the redesigned course.
"That's more people than usual," he said.
The grand opening was last Friday, in time for the Hurstville Mayoral Golf Day.
The golf course has been in public works mode since August 2012 when Hurstville Council announced work on a stormwater harvesting and reuse scheme after receiving $1.07 million in grant funding from the federal government. Another $1.1 million was provided by other sources including the council.
Stage one was officially unveiled in July last year, with a bioretention system using stormwater to irrigate the course.
At the time Hurstville mayor Jack Jacovou said the scheme would use about 50 million litres of harvested water each year and help to save 21 million litres of tap water.
Stage two, just completed, involved redesigning and irrigating the bottom part of the course which used to be a rubbish tip.
That section, comprising nine holes, was closed while the work was in progress.
Course superintendent Barry Sullivan said the area had to be raised almost half a metre, requiring 50,000 cubic metres of fill and 30,000 square metres of turf.
Thanks to a combination of a new irrigation system and the recent rain, the course is green and lush — too lush for some golfers who found the longer grass difficult.
"I didn't have the best scores today," said Marjorie, a regular. "The grass is too thick and needs to settle down a bit."
Are you pleased about the refurbished course?
