Noosa's Par 3 Golf Course bought by local family for $4.7 million

The property has been run by his wife, Denise, over the past 12 months.

Listing agent Louisa Blennerhassett, of Ray White Commercial Noosa and Sunshine Coast North Property, said the course was one of the few of its size in the Noosa area and relatively rare in that it did not operate on a membership basis.

“This sale honours what he [Mr Hill] did and keeps it going for the community, as a strong community golf course,” Ms Blennerhassett said. 

“Keith wanted everyone to play golf and wanted to keep it informal,” she added.

The course will now be managed by Noel Burns, one of the family members behind the purchase.

The sales campaign had attracted bids from a variety of parties, including those seeking to transform the property into another use.

“It has four titles and it has a rural residential zoning – we did have a number of formal expressions of interest who were looking to change the site. They were looking to either downgrade the golf or get rid of it all together,” Ms Blennerhassett said 

But the fact that the course was running as a profitable business, and that there were clear avenues to improve revenue, meant keeping the course was a viable option for many prospective buyers.

“It was really mixed, I think one of the really big features of the property was that the business was still really profitable and easy to operate and that there was good opportunity to grow and strengthen the business and sit on the land and figure out a long-term view.” 

The property also came with a club house, caretaker’s residence and a manager’s residence.

It’s not the first golf course Ms Blennerhassett has sold.

She assisted with the sale of the nearby Kabi Golf Course, one of the few organic golf course and orchard operations in the world, in 2019 alongside a second property held by the same vendor for a combined price of more than $6 million.

The sale of the Par 3 Golf Course was finalised prior to the coronavirus outbreak, which is shaking tourism sectors across the world.

But Ms Blennerhassett said she believed transactions would continue to take place along the Sunshine Coast, a tourism hot spot, in the coming months.

“I think the property wheel has to keep on turning anyway … there are businesses that are looking to sell property to maintain business operations,” she said. 

“[There are also] people sitting on cash and they need somewhere to put it,” she added.

The course was closed on Tuesday, March 24, on advice from Golf Australia in light of the coronavirus outbreak, and would remain closed to the public until further notice, a message on the club’s Facebook page said.