Greg Norman tees up new $1bn golf course development

Surprisingly it is just over three decades since Greg Norman first won the British Open. Now he may be best-known for playing rounds with US President Donald Trump.

But he has also become a master golf course designer.

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The Great White Shark has designed more than 100 courses in 34 countries including Australia.

He most recently won headlines for the Cathedral Lodge Golf Club in Thornton, about 130km northeast of Melbourne, for former Essendon Football Club chairman David Evans.

Some members, including David Fox, son of billionaire Lindsay Fox, are also building cottages in the surrounding hills.

While that private course will be among the country’s best, Norman has also been toiling on another site, the new Silkari development at Avondale, in bushland near Wollongong, south of Sydney.

The Norman-designed and built course, as well as a proposed Australia-first Greg Norman Golf Academy, will anchor Visionary Investment Group’s ambitious $1.02 billion redevelopment across the sprawling 556ha site.

The company is already known in Sydney for its premium residential, hotel and resort projects.

Final lots fronting The Pines at Sanctuary Cove have hit the market.

The golf estate will include an 18-hole championship course, a club house with top restaurants, a 290-key resort hotel and two smaller spa lodges.

The 395 homes in Avondale will overlook the fairways and some over-size “semirural” lots are planned to accommodate larger mansions.

Norman describes the Avondale location as “the perfect site for a golf course”.

“I fell in love with the site immediately,” he says.

“The diversification of topography and the environment, with its variety of vegetation from hardwoods to ferns and palms, is magnificent and the golf course will be unique.”

Norman takes a “least disturbance” approach to course design.

“That means that when we finish, it will look like the golf course has been there for 20 years.”

Greg Norman hits a few balls at Cathedral Lodge golf course. Picture: David Crosling

VIG chief Michael Guo says having a designer of the Australian sports legend’s stature was integral and he tips that local and international visitors chasing a “special golf experience” will flock to the course.

“Greg Norman has designed many magnificent golf courses here and overseas, but we believe this unique site will be his best yet,” Guo says.

“It has a beautiful natural bushland setting, with views of the Illawarra escarpment and east across Lake Illawarra to the ocean.”

The developer is also catering to a love of space and has cut lot numbers to make the homes larger. “We think that will give the development a more spacious, estate feel that will appeal more to Illawarra buyers and other people seeking to move there for a fantastic lifestyle,” he says.

The Chinese group is not alone in catching the golf bug. Malaysian-backed developer Mulpha is now offering the final stages of the famed Sanctuary Cove resort, which is well-established as a prestige address on the Gold Coast.

Greg Norman and David Evans at Cathedral Lodge. Picture: David Geraghty.

The lots front The Pines Golf Course and are being keenly-sought as the first homes in the exclusive zone of the Arnold Palmer-designed course are already finished.

Mulpha has sold about 40 per cent of the 32 lots on offer.

John Hughes, general manager, international sales and marketing at Mulpha Sanctuary Cove, says the lots start at $845,000 and range up to $1.25 million. The cost of building a new mansion can range from about $750,000 to about $2m-$3m.

Hughes calls The Pines an avid golfer’s dream investment, with generous blocks between 760 and 1209sq m, allowing for one or two-storey custom-designed homes.

“Already, we have fielded a particularly strong line of inquiries from prospective buyers in Australia and overseas,” he says.

“When you consider what recent sales of existing homes fronting the golf course have reached, in some cases exceeded $4m, this is an outstanding opportunity for golf enthusiasts to not only tee up to resort-style living in one of the world’s most prestigious communities but also to secure a solid investment with proven favourable returns from the global buyer’s market,” Hughes says.

The Pines is nestled in 101ha of pine forest with 14 holes contoured around six stunning lakes in the masterplanned estate.

Avid residents can spot rare birds and kangaroos. Many golf enthusiasts will also be on the look out for a new home.

This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.