Course
Ranked inside Australia’s top 40 golf courses, Glenelg Golf Club offers a true world class challenge and is recognised as one of Australia’s premier golfing facilities. Strategic design elements and impeccable turf quality provide a memorable challenge for all players.
- 49 hectares, 93 bunkers, 12 wetlands
- Strategic design elements on every hole
- Superior conditioning of the course resulting in firm, fast-rolling fairways
- Architects have utilised the topography of the site to place a premium on a golfers shot-making ability
- Sustainable design and management, using recycled water, replenishing the underground aquifer and wetlands
- Restoration of original landforms and characteristics of the site to recreate part of the former coast line
- Our 1.4 hectare wetlands system is home to native plants and provides habitat for native frogs, turtles and birds
- An ongoing revegetation program identifying areas for extensive native and selected pine tree plantings with a focus on creating a biodiverse course and restoring pre-existing vegetation profiles
- Revetted-edge bunkering, unique to South Australia, has a stunning visual impact on the golf course
Course Facts
| Location | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Course Rankings | 37th – Golf Australia Magazine Top 100 (2024) 32nd – Australian Golf Digest Top 100 (2024/25) 80/100 – The Rolex World’s Top 1000 Golf Courses (2012) |
| Course Architect | 1998 – Crafter + Mogford Golf Strategies (Neil Crafter, in association with Bob Tuohy) 1948 – Vern Morcom 1927 – Herbert ‘Cargie’ Rymill |
| Property Size | 49 hectares |
| Bunkers | Total: 93 Style: Revetted Edge |
| Turf Varieties | Tees & Fairways: Santa Ana Couch Greens: Bent Rough: Mixture of native couch & fescue varieties |
| Men’s Course Ratings | Black: 74 / Par 71 / Slope 139 Blue: 73 / Par 71 / Slope 138 White: 72 / Par 71 / Slope 134 Red: 71 / Par 71 / Slope 130 |
| Women’s Course Ratings | White: 78 / Par 73 / Slope 144 Red: 76 / Par 74 / Slope 139 Yellow: 76 / Par 72 / Slope 139 |
| Measurements | Men’s Championship: 6234m / 6817y Men’s Members: 6026m / 6590y Women’s Championship: 5550m / 6070y Women’s Members: 5510m / 6026y |
| Course Records | Men: 64 – Brett Drewitt (2012) / Simon Viitakangas (2014) Women: 65 – Minjee Lee (2013) |
Course Maintenance Team
Our team, led by Course Superintendent, Tim Warren, includes qualified greenkeepers, a Turf Equipment Technician, apprentices, plus vegetation and biodiversity staff.
Tim Warren
Tim brings a wide range of knowledge and experience as a superintendent for 27 years in various golf courses in regional South Australia, Victoria and Adelaide. Awarded the 2014 South Australian Golf Industry Excellence in Golf Course Management, Tim leads a passionate and dedicated team that strive to provide the best quality playing experience for Members and guests. In 2022, Tim was the Clubs SA Manager of year and was a co-winner of the Claude Crockford Sustainability and Environment Award, one of the most highly-coveted awards in the turf industry. Tim has been invited to speak at various local and national conferences.
Monina Gilbey
Biodiversity Manager, Monina Gilbey, is a qualified garden designer. In 2022, Monina was the Clubs SA Employee of the year and was a co-winner of the Claude Crockford Sustainability and Environment Award, one of the most highly-coveted awards in the turf industry. Monina has been invited to speak at various local and national conferences and gave a presentation on golf courses and urban biodiversity at the World Parks Congress. Monina was a finalist in the environmental stewardship category of the Parks and Leisure SA/NT Awards of Excellence.
Adam Fry
Assistant Course Superintendent
Lauren Searle
Assistant
Peter Bell
Senior Assistant, Peter Bell, originally from Victoria, brings to our team his range of experience from Coomealla Golf Club and two of Melbourne’s most prestigious golf courses: Victoria Golf Club and Metropolitan Golf Club. In 2022, Peter was part of the Future Turf Managers’ Initiative (FTMI) which provides professional development opportunities to educate the next generation of sports turf leaders. Selection for the FTMI is highly competitive and Peter’s selection was a credit to his hard work and passion for the turf industry.
Vegetation & Biodiversity
The land on which Glenelg Golf Club is situated is unique as it includes one of the lowest points and highest points on the Adelaide Plains. This means that our course would have included three types of vegetation associations: woodland, samphire and coastal (dunes).
Our course has remnant vegetation: pine trees, a number of samphire areas and plants rated as rare on the Adelaide Plains by the South Australian Seed Conservation Centre.
A wide range of birds, including smaller bird species such as yellow-rumped thornbills, willie wagtails and grey fantails are seen regularly on our course. We are creating pockets of indigenous vegetation to create habitat corridors through the course to provide more habitat and encourage more birds to visit our course.
Aquifer Storage Recharge
Water is harvested from a pumping station adjacent to Brownhill Creek on the southern boundary of Adelaide Airport. The water is filtered through our wetlands and injected into the aquifer system beneath the course. The water is used for irrigation when required. The wetlands act as filters for urban and polluted stormwater that would otherwise run into the Gulf St Vincent.
The quality of the water is critical in a climate such as Adelaide’s and has a significant impact on the management of playing surfaces. The improved water quality creates a better growing environment, placing turf under less stress and reducing reliance on chemicals and fertilisers.
Biodiversity On Course
Over the past six years, Course Superintendent, Tim Warren, and Biodiversity Manager, Monina Gilbey have been working with the Course Maintenance Team to create a more sustainable and biodiverse course.
They have undertaken a wide range of projects which aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals.
34th National Banksia Sustainability Awards
Glenelg Golf Club was a finalists in the 2023 round of the National Banksia Sustainability Awards. Read below for a section of our award submission.
Golf courses are a water-guzzling waste of space and a drain on the environment. They are vast areas of grass and they are a lifeless and empty space with little to no biodiversity. Glenelg Golf Club Course Superintendent, Tim Warren, and Biodiversity Manager, Monina Gilbey, are changing these misconceptions. As green spaces disappear rapidly and significantly in urban areas, golf courses have become a major and fundamental contributor to urban biodiversity by providing a protected haven for wildlife. Over ninety species of birds can be found at Glenelg Golf Club – some of which are not regularly seen on the Adelaide Plains, such as Superb Fairy Wrens. Occassionally, migratory birds such as Red-necked stints, who migrate from Siberia to the Coorong (a round trip of 30,000km) can be found at one of their many water courses.
View Australia’s 2023 Sustainability Success Stories
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