As Singapore faces golf course shortage, the irony is more players are picking up the sport
With the number of active golfers now at 140,000 and counting, more public courses and overseas tie-ups are needed
[SINGAPORE] It is somewhat ironic that at a time when the number of golf courses in Singapore is experiencing a steady decline, there is an upward trend when it comes to the popularity of the sport here.
The Ministry of Law announced recently that leases for courses at Orchid Country Club, Warren Golf and Country Club, Tanah Merah Country Club’s (TMCC) Garden course and Mandai Executive’s nine-hole course will not be extended. The Mandai Executive course, a popular destination for many young and aspiring golfers that has groomed several champions, will close at the end of 2026.
In 2030, the leases for Orchid (Dec 31) and Warren (Oct 31) will expire. And on the final day of 2035, the lease for TMCC’s Garden course – the venue for several global tournaments in the past such as the Lexus Cup and the HSBC Women’s Champions – will be taken away.
With the loss of Jurong Country Club, Raffles Country Club, Keppel Club and the Marina Bay Golf Course in the past decade, only approximately 1.9 per cent of Singapore’s land will remain dedicated to golf courses.
Transpose this fact against the reality that the number of on-course golfers has seen a dramatic increase in recent years – 80,000 in 2018 to 120,000 in 2022 and 140,000 in 2024 – and a dilemma unfolds. While just over 40,000 of them are officially registered, the question remains as to where will the players who are not part of clubs after 2030 find the opportunity to play regularly?
The NTUC Club, established in 1986 and a part of the labour movement, has been doing its best to keep golf ticking. And under the leadership of its chief executive officer Lim Eng Lee and Melvyn Tan (director of golf ecosystem), has addressed part of the problem with the enhancement of its My Golf Kaki programmes.
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Since late 2024, golfing sessions have been arranged in Batam every weekend where, for just S$128, one can play 18 holes at the Palm Springs Golf & Beach Resort. This fee includes a return ferry ticket, buggy use, a caddie, lunch and express immigration clearance.
My Golf Kaki, the estateless community, has seen its membership rise from 6,000 six years ago to almost 12,500 now, and recently signed agreements with the Ria Bintan Golf Club and the Els Club Desaru Coast for exclusive green fees.
NTUC Club has also launched GreenBox – My Golf Kaki’s indoor golf simulator facility – which has 15 driving range bays and facilities for immersive realistic virtual play on over 200 iconic local and international courses.
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But are these enough to satiate the thousands of golf-hungry players after 2030?
The impending closure of more courses has put the Singapore Golf Association (SGA) in a quandary. The SGA has been working hard on two fronts: to produce top-class golfers through its high-performance programmes and to raise the golf population.
The first objective has been on course with the successes of Singaporeans Shannon Tan, Hiroshi Tai, Brayden Lee and Chen Xingtong. There are plans for a new Centre of Excellence at the National Service Resort and Country Club at Kranji.
But the second objective has hit a wall, with the reduction of golf courses in the near future. No doubt, the priorities in land-scarce Singapore are in housing, economic activities, security and essential infrastructure. But “green lungs” such as a golf course also enhance a country’s ecosystem.
Therefore, there is a need for another thorough study on the recent announcements to close more courses. There is a chance that golf will return to its elite status of the 1960s and 1970s when it was mostly the members of clubs who could afford to play and the “hoi polloi” were mere spectators.
It is a tough call to make. But maybe, for a start, a relook at the lease for Mandai’s Executive course can be considered. Current plans are for the Ministry of Education to develop an Outdoor Adventure Learning Centre to be built by 2032. That’s seven years from now, so could the highly utilised course’s lease be extended for a few years beyond 2026?
Also, it is a great idea to ensure that there will be an 18-hole public course at Singapore Island Country Club’s (SICC) Bukit location. With SICC’s Sime to continue as a hybrid facility (60 per cent public, 40 per cent member), the public can make the Bukit location their main playground.
And when My Golf Kaki’s 9,500 square foot state-of-the-art facility with public bays at Downtown East leads to more members craving for on-course golf, the crunch will be felt even more.
Golf courses have long been a source of major revenue from corporate events, and the money has often been generated for community projects and the needy. The last survey done by SGA in 2018 stated that S$60 million was generated from charity events for worthwhile causes.
Even as more courses are set to be shut, there is still time to take a second look at golf’s merits as a sport and the impact on the wider community.
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