Singapore loses last 18-hole public golf course to redevelopment

By: Bernadette Toh and Low De Wei

(Bloomberg) – Singapore will close its last public 18-hole golf course this weekend, with the Marina Bay site overlooking the financial hub’s skyline succumbing to the government’s push to redevelop the land.

Opened less than 18 years ago, the track hosted its final rounds for the public on Saturday, like other tracks in Singapore that have closed or shrunk in recent years. There is only one public course left, a nine-hole venue in the north of the city-state.

The closure is the latest in a major push to redevelop land, particularly for housing, after rising demand made house prices and rents unaffordable for many residents. Golf courses in Singapore lease government land, making them vulnerable to changes in planning targets. Authorities have yet to announce details of the redevelopment of the Marina Bay site, which will include a memorial to the country’s former leaders.

Other sports fields making way for housing include the island’s Singapore Turf Club track, which will host its final race in October, ending more than 180 years of horse racing in the city-state. The club’s former site in an affluent central area was also reclaimed by authorities last year to build a new housing development. Singapore’s only Olympic-size ice rink was closed last year to make way for apartments, leaving hockey players and figure skaters stranded.

Authorities must balance competing demands for space in the land-scarce financial center, which has long sought to attract expats and has a growing, aspirational middle class. In Hong Kong, similar moves sparked resistance among some members of the business elite after the government announced it would reclaim part of an exclusive golf course to build social housing.

“Golfing was never a factor of being in Singapore,” said Mohit Sagar, an expat from India who works for a content platform. Despite this, the golfer who has played in the city-state for 16 years expressed regret over the closure of the Marina Bay site. “You can play golf in Singapore, but you will never get this background again.”

Marina Bay has been the premier public course since its opening in 2006, the only 18-hole course open to everyone. The Phil Jacobs-designed course won numerous awards, with a signature par-three island hole and a rare par-six hole that challenged experts and fools alike. It offered night golf, cooling players down from the year-round tropical heat. The government announced in 2014 that it would not renew the club’s lease when it expired in 2024.

Golfers flocked to the course during the pandemic, when much of the city-state was shut down. They could enjoy a round, followed by spicy char kway teow noodles and espresso martinis, as they admired the skyline from the elevated open-air restaurant. Golfers were playing up to 10,000 rounds a month at its peak, compared with 7,800 pre-Covid. Demand was so high that players had to log on to the website at midnight to secure a tee time when new slots became available.

“It’s disappointing of course, but not surprising because I knew it was going to close since I arrived,” said Tom Hawker, an expat who has lived in Singapore for more than a decade. The 44-year-old business consultant played a final round of golf on Saturday at the course he’s visited once a week during the pandemic.

With Marina Bay closed and the public nine-hole Champions Golf Course closed in December, Singapore’s last fully public course is in Mandai, a largely par-three nine-hole course in the north that is set to close at the end of 2024. was given a two-year reprieve after the government deemed it “important for the public to continue to have access to the sport.”

Another club that was relocated in 2022 to make way for housing, Keppel Club, now operates an 18-hole hybrid course at Sime, with 60 percent of playing times reserved for the public.

The alternative for golfers is to join an expensive private club, or go to neighboring Malaysia or Indonesia to play a game. Topping the price list is the 36-hole Sentosa Golf Club, where locals have to pay at least S$500,000 for a membership, while fees for expats can go up to S$850,000, according to real estate agency Singolf Services Pte.

Foreigners can join the private clubs, but the limited number of memberships will drive up prices, said Lee Lee Langdale, owner of Singolf.

“It’s a well-known fact in Singapore that land, especially golf courses, will be taken by the government to build other facilities that are in high demand,” says Langdale, who doesn’t think this will make Singapore any less attractive to foreigners. “Most expats don’t have much time to play golf anyway.”

Many people who do want to continue playing choose to go abroad to play a match, she said.

“The easiest option is to leave,” said Hawker, the British expat whose visits to Marina Bay Golf Course have dwindled to once a month in recent years as he opted to play more rounds abroad. “I can’t justify the cost of a private club for a long time.”

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