History

At the height of his international career, Greg Norman designed a $30 million golf course on the Gold Coast for a group of Japanese owners.

The new course in the foothills of the Gold Coast Hinterland, opened in 1990, but it was short lived with a lack of funding forcing its closure just one day after opening.

It stayed untouched for five years and became unkempt and overgrown, before a consortium of Australian businessmen had a shared vision of establishing a club and golf course unparalleled in the Australian market.

The course would be owned by its members, where only members and their guests could play.

As a result, The Grand Golf Club was born.

Acquiring the site in February 1996 for much less than the $58 million price tag placed upon it in 1992, the new owners immediately engaged Greg Norman to restore what had the potential to be one of his great legacies to Australian golf.

The greens were overhauled, fairways restored, new bunkers positioned and the tee boxes upgraded to complete the structure of a Grand Members Course.

After just 18 months of intensive work, Norman was awarded membership #1 and given the honour of launching The Grand Golf Club on December 3, 1997.

The course’s crowning glory came in 2001 when it hosted The Australian Open, which attracted some of the worlds greatest players and was won by Australian Stuart Appleby.

Only three Queensland courses have hosted the Open, Gailes in 1955 and Royal Queensland in 1947, 1966 and 1973 prior to The Grand in 2001.

The course and facilities have been constantly improved with a major revamp commencing in 2017 as part of The Grand’s 20th anniversary celebrations.

The Grand has consistently been in the top half of Golf Digest Australia’s list of top 100 national courses.