SINGAPORE – For over three decades, the Garden Course at Tanah Merah Country Club (TMCC) has been a constant in Mr Daren Lim’s life.
He played golf there as a teenager, and, today, it remains a place where his family spends time together, enjoying the nearby facilities.
So, when it was announced on July 7 that the lease for TMCC’s Garden Course would not be renewed after it expires in 2035, Mr Lim was disappointed, but also took a pragmatic view.
The 44-year-old said: “Just to know that 10 years later it’ll be gone, I don’t know what to say about it actually.”
But he noted that TMCC will still have its Tampines Course, adding: “If I were to think of it rationally, it’s not the end of the world. It’s just that we don’t have that plot of land any more. If the Government puts it to good use, that’s fine.”
The golf coach at TMCC, where he has been a member for 31 years, said members had long been aware the lease had a set end date, though they had hoped for a renewal or that only part of the course would be taken away.
The 18-hole course is one of several impacted by the Ministry of Law’s July 7 announcement that leases for certain golf courses will not be extended.
Mandai Executive Golf Course, Warren Golf and Country Club and Orchid Country Club (OCC) are also affected.
Additionally, land currently occupied by the Singapore Island Country Club’s (SICC) 18-hole Bukit Course and Keppel Club’s Sime Course will be reallocated for a new 18-hole public golf course once their leases expire on Dec 31, 2030.
With these developments, Singapore will be left with 12 golf courses – down from 16 currently – by 2035.
Retiree Joey Chang, a member of SICC, was not surprised by the news. The 60-year-old said: “As SICC members, we were all prepared to lose Bukit for a long time.
“After the initial shock five years ago when we lost Sime, most members realised that is inevitable.
“I personally feel that it is okay for SICC to lose (the course) because we’ve planned for it, and in a way sharing it with the larger golfing community is a good thing.”
In 2021, SICC opened a 27-hole layout on the site of its former 18-hole New Course, several months before Keppel Club took over the management and operation of its Sime Course. Keppel Club now runs the Sime Course as a hybrid members-public facility.
However, Mr Chang also expressed some disappointment about the future of the courses.
He said: “I was a bit sad to hear that Sime-Bukit, instead of two 18-hole courses for the public after 2030, would only be one. That’s new and a bit disappointing.”
For Mr Ven Sreenivasan, an OCC member for over 20 years, the news was sad but not entirely unexpected.
He had hoped that only one of the three nine-hole courses would be affected, leaving the vast clubhouse, recreation facilities and the remaining 18 holes intact for members, those from its estate-less golf club My Golf Kaki and the public.
The former senior columnist and associate editor at SPH Media said: “OCC is a wonderful NTUC-operated course where the ‘average Joe’ and his family can learn and play the game.”
The 67-year-old also voiced concern about the broader trend in Singapore’s golf scene, saying: “The general feeling among many average golfers is that with all the lower-tier clubs disappearing, golf here will cater largely to the elites at the bigger clubs like SICC and Sentosa.
“The average Joe who likes swinging his clubs will have to travel to Batam or Johor.”
He added that this shift is particularly disheartening because golf is a sport in which Singapore has the potential to excel, citing Shannon Tan, a two-time winner on the Ladies European Tour, as an example.
While recognising the broader national needs, Singapore Golf Association (SGA) vice-president Ivan Chua also acknowledged that these developments present significant challenges for the local golf community.
He said: “We understand Singapore’s space constraints and the complex land-use demands our nation faces. We acknowledge the Government’s need to carefully weigh the future of golf facilities against other critical national priorities such as housing, infrastructure and economic development.
“At the same time, the golf community will understandably feel the impact of these changes. Golf has contributed meaningfully to Singapore’s sporting achievements, community engagement and active lifestyles.”
To ensure continued support for the national team and promote golf among youth, the National Service Resort & Country Club will establish a Centre of Excellence (COE) in collaboration with the SGA.
This will complement the existing COE at Keppel Club (Sime) and will offer dedicated weekly training slots for the national and youth teams, giving athletes the opportunity to train on different types of golf courses.
Mr Chua emphasised that the SGA will continue working with government agencies and partners “to develop strategies to preserve access, support talent development, and sustain the sport’s growth”.
