It’s been almost two years since Melbourne developers Moda took over Red Rocks Golf on Phillip Island, and in that time the short-course gem has seen a wealth of change.

Originally known as Aussie Golf Ranch, Red Rocks was the brainchild of PGA Professional Rohan Walker, who always dreamed of owning his own golf course and built the facility from scratch with his wife, Lisa.

The facility features 27-holes of golf across three separate nine-hole layouts. Headlined by the championship 9-hole par-3 course, golfers equally enjoy the 9-hole pitch and putt course, as well as the 9-hole mini-golf.

While improvements and changes have been made on-course, Moda Founder and Director, Ed Farquharson, says the off-course developments have been the most pleasing.

“We’ve seen a pretty sharp increase in membership numbers, more so across kids and females, which has been great,” said Farquharson. “That’s certainly been a target market for us down there.

“From an enjoyment perspective, we’ve focused on providing a better food and drinks offering, encouraging events and functions and things like that.

Also on the horizon is to bolster the current on-course accommodation, which Farquharson hopes will continue to attract new demographics to the site.

“We’ve currently got four cabin-style accommodation units and we’re looking to expand that to possibly 18 to 20 eventually and link the golf course up with the new Isle of Wight hotel in Cowes,” he said.

“From a demand demographic, the Isle of Wight hotel will cater for one-to-three-night, four-night stays, so we saw the golf course as an opportunity to expand on longer-term stays. Whether it’s stay-and-play packages or even family packages attracted by the proximity to the beach.

“The land itself is 23 acres right on one of Phillip Island’s best bay beaches, Red Rocks Beach.”

Red Rocks has also been busy building stronger relationships with the local Phillip Island community over the past two years, including the residents of the nearby Lifestyle Philip Island community that now boasts its very own golf simulator.

“They enjoy their golf, so we’ve welcomed them with open arms and facilitated a few wine nights down at Red Rocks,” said Farquharson.

“They don’t have a liquor licence at Lifestyle, so being less than a kilometre away, it provides a nice added amenity to their village.

“The fact they’ve got a simulator shows that golf’s an aspect of what they love doing and our par-3 course is a great option for them, too.

“Players don’t have to commit to a full 18-holes; they can scoot around nine pretty quickly and easily.”

As developers, taking on a golf course was an interesting and bold business decision for Moda, but some fresh eyes and left-field thinking is proving to be exactly what Red Rocks needed.

“It’s been a hard slog,” said Farquharson. “We’ve invested significantly into the golf course, landscaping and making general capital improvements around the property.

“Rohan and Lisa (Walker) did an incredible job building it from nothing, and an extraordinary job running it on their own for so many years, but it just needed a bit of capital spent in the right places.

“We were just lucky enough to pick it up at the time we did. Linking it up with the Isle of Wight hotel eventually will only improve its viability and ensure the course can continue to be presented in great condition.”

To find out more about Red Rocks Golf, CLICK HERE.