By Mikayla van Loon
Getting outside and spending time with family and friends has never been more important than after two years being separated physically.
And now lovers of mini golf from Mount Evelyn and Montrose will no longer have to travel as far to experience the joy of putting a ball around a course.
After a tumultuous two years in hospitality, some have looked to expand their range to draw new crowds and attract tourism.
Chirnside Park Country Club hopes to capitalise on the pandemic mentality of getting outside and being with family by building a mini golf course.
General manager Barbara Kelly said mini golf will add another element to the facilities already on offer, being tennis and lawn bowls, as well as the golf course not too far away.
“We already have facilities to cater for a wide range of community age participation but we lack the one ingredient that allows all ages of the community to participate together in an activity,” she said.
Ms Kelly said not only is it about offering a space for children, grandparents, teenagers and parents to connect but also about being a fully accessible space.
“It will be wheelchair friendly. We see that as a great asset to be able to offer that to people in wheelchairs or with disabilities. It’s the same with bowls and tennis. They’re all accessible in a wheelchair.”
Trying to reactivate the local area with a fun, outdoor activity that is CovidSafe, Ms Kelly said there is potential for the new course to attract tourism.
“The Yarra Valley is a great tourist destination and so I suppose if people were here and staying in the Yarra Valley and looking for things to do, this would pop up on their radar, I’m sure,” she said.
“In these difficult times we really need physical activities that bring the family together as this greatly supports the mental health and wellbeing of all ages.”
The 18-hole course has been specifically designed by Pacific Coast Design, with artificial grass on a concrete base, imitation bunkers and other obstacles.
With Covid-19 running rampant in the community and case numbers so high, Ms Kelly said attendance to the Country Club has been very spasmodic.
“This year because the numbers are so high and the government isn’t locking anything down, people are locking themselves down, so it’s really unpredictable.”
By including another outdoor activity, Ms Kelly said she hopes it encourages people to feel comfortable in getting back out into the community, even with the Covid-19 numbers as they are.
Once open in May and the weather is better later in the year, Ms Kelly said she would like to see schools coming in to use the facilities in a round-robin manner.
“So they might, for example, bring 30 kids from Grade 4 here for a three week program and one week 10 might do tennis, 10 might do mini golf and 10 might do bowls and the next week they’d flip,” she said.
“We really want to try and involve the kids into the three sports. That’s one of our goals is to try and get some young people playing the three sports.
“Chirnside Park Country Club is all about community, we are always striving to offer more facilities to attract and retain the community who live in our region.”
