Want to run the Growling Frog Golf Course?

The Growling Frog Golf Course at Yan Yean in Melbourne’s outer north.
The Growling Frog Golf Course at Yan Yean in Melbourne’s outer north.

If running your own golf course has always been your dream, this is the property for you.

The Growling Frog Golf Course in Melbourne’s outer north is seeking someone to take over the leasehold of the popular 18-hole layout for up to 30 years.

The Graham Marsh-designed course sits on 129ha of picturesque property at Yan Yean, and also has a driving range, pro shop, restaurant, cafe, putting green, chipping green and practice bunkers.

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But it’s the scope to improve the club’s offering that Fitzroy’s agents Rick Berry and Tom Fisher say could make it a target for savvy operators.

Growling Frog Golf Course

Council is hoping to expand the course’s hospitality offering.

“Opportunities to develop new facilities and expand the functions and events area can reshape Growling Frog as a local hospitality icon, complemented by the picturesque surrounds, as well as enhance the scope to host social and cultural events, as well as corporate,” Berry says.

“There is also the capacity to build accommodation on the site that could further enhance its appeal and reputation as a lifestyle and corporate destination for Victorians, interstate and international visitor alike.”

Whittlesea Council, which is offering the leasehold, is seeking ideas for the development of a 2ha parcel of land on the property, as part of any leasing arrangement.

Development options under the site’s guidelines allow for a restaurant of up to 150 patrons, as well a hotel with as many as 80 bedrooms.

The Growling Frog Golf Course restaurant.

“The growing popularity of contemporary golf entertainment and hospitality experiences provide an excellent framework for any future development on the site,” Berry says.

The Growling Frog opened in 2004, and is understood to be the first course in Australia to be built with 3D and GPS tracking technologies.

The leasehold is being offered through expressions of interest.