By Michael Burt
BELLINGEN, NSW – The Bellingen Golf Club has abruptly closed its doors and entered voluntary administration, the Board of Directors announced last Tuesday, citing relentless rain and hefty poker machine payouts as the final blows to the club’s long-standing financial woes.
Persistent wet weather and some large poker machine payouts in 2025 and have tipped the Bellingen Golf Club into Voluntary Administration.
The club’s Board of Directors made the announcement last Tuesday and the clubhouse have been closed since. Key meetings with the Voluntary Administrator, creditors and members will take place this Friday with the hope of golfing action returning soon.
In a statement to Members, the Board of Directors said they made the tough decision after being under “significant financial pressure for many years.”
“Financially, 2024 was a particularly tough year- we finished on the edge,” the statement said.
“2025 has started with some very significant poker machine payouts as well as months of continuous rain which severely restricted our capacity to generate income.”
“The situation has gone from precarious to dire very quickly and we were put in the position where the income is not sufficient to pay our bills.”
“Historically we have been able to secure grants that have effectively kept the club financially afloat – the COVID years were particularly good to us – and we also had help from the funds we inherited from the bowling club. However, the past few years the grants have not been available.”
The Board were presented three options after meeting with a registered insolvency practitioner- Close the clubhouse and attempt to restructure, appoint a ‘Liquidator’ or enter ‘Voluntary Administration’.
The Board took the view that appointing an Administrator was the only way forward to maximise the chance that we would be able to play golf in the future.
“We are able to put a proposal to the Administrator with the aim of securing a golfing experience in the future.”
Club Caption and Board Director Nick Jenkins said he hopes the process will lead to a new beginning rather than the end for the club.
“It’s the ongoing wet weather that has really killed us. The weather has been rubbish for the last eight weeks and there has been no golf,” Nick said.
“My job is to organise the golf events, and it’s just been hopeless as the course has been closed indefinitely for the last few weeks.”
“The club has been struggling for a long time, and this has been the final nail in the coffin.”
The news of the Golf course woes, though dispiriting, are not a surprise given the Shire’s relentless rainfall for several months of the year. On the positive side, it seems the Shire has been presented with a serendipitous opportunity to reimagine the facility’s future for a multipurpose facility that caters to all demographics and is usable during the long rainy season . The community could be engaged for suggestions, but could include a gym with sauna and showers, mini golf, a driving range, pickle ball court, table tennis, a casual cafe with a nice outlook. Having a multipurpose facility would also enable additional revenue and cater to other members of the community who do not play golf.