07-07-2025
Four golf courses to close by 2035, leaving Singapore with 12 courses
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SINGAPORE – Four golf courses will close permanently by 2035, leaving Singapore with 12 courses in the coming years.
The Ministry of Law (MinLaw), which oversees land policy and administration, on July 7 said the leases or tenancies of Mandai Executive Golf Course, Warren Golf & Country Club, Orchid Country Club and Tanah Merah Country Club's Garden course will not be renewed as their land is needed for future plans.
This continues recent moves to reclaim golf course land for other uses. For instance, the Marina Bay Golf Course was
closed in June 2024 and will be partially occupied by the upcoming Bay East Garden, which is currently being developed.
The leases of another two courses – Singapore Island Country Club's (SICC) 18-hole Bukit course and Keppel Club's 18-hole Sime course – will also expire on Dec 31, 2030.
Thereafter, the land occupied by these two courses will be split between an operator that will run an 18-hole public course and the National Trades Union Congress – which currently operates Orchid Country Club through NTUC Club – said MinLaw in a statement.
How the land will be parcelled and allocated is being studied, the ministry added. It did not say how long the lease for these courses would be.
The first of the four courses to close is the public 9-hole Mandai Executive Golf Course, which is on a tenancy that runs until Dec 31, 2026.
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Its land will be used by the Ministry of Education (MOE) to
develop an Outdoor Adventure Learning Centre . MOE has previously said that the campsite will be one of three new campsites to be built by 2032.
Another two courses will close in 2030, and their sites have been zoned for residential use, according to
the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) Draft Master Plan 2025 .
They are the 18-hole Warren Golf & Country Club in Choa Chu Kang, which has a lease that expires on Oct 31, 2030, as well as the 27-hole Orchid Country Club in Yishun, which has a lease that expires on Dec 31, 2030.
Finally, Tanah Merah Country's Club's Garden course will close after its lease expires on Dec 31, 2035.
'Given its proximity to Changi Airport, the land is being studied for uses that have synergies with the airport to support economic growth,' said MinLaw, adding that more details on the site's future use will be announced closer to 2035.
Following the closures, Singapore is set to have 12 remaining golf courses after 2035, including the existing Bukit and Sime courses.
Of these, two have leases that are expiring in 2030 and will be offered renewals until Dec 31, 2040 – the 18-hole course in Kranji under the National Service Resort & Country Club and Sentosa Golf Club's 18-hole Serapong course.
Another seven are on leases that expire in December 2040.
They are: SICC's 18-hole Island course and 27-hole New course, Changi Golf Club's 9-hole course, Laguna National Golf Resort Club's two 18-hole courses, Seletar Country Club's 18-hole course, the 18-hole course at National Service Resort & Country Club (Changi), Sentosa Golf Club's 18-hole Tanjong course and Tanah Merah Country Club's 18-hole Tampines course.
The Government will review whether to renew these leases beyond 2040 in future.
The last course at Sembawang Country Club has 18 holes and is operated by the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) under a license agreement. The course sits on state land allocated to Mindef.
MinLaw said in deciding on whether to renew the leases of golf courses, it considered competing land demands such as housing, economic activities, transport infrastructure and essential services.
'The demand for land for national uses will become more acute in Singapore, and this will impact the amount of land available for golfing over time,' said the ministry.
'The Government will balance the access to golfing facilities by private golf club members and the general public so that there can be golf courses catering to different segments of the golfing community.'
The ministry noted that leases of golf courses are for a fixed term, with a publicly-known end date, to allow course operators and golf club members to make informed decisions.
'This also ensures that land occupied by golf courses can be returned to the state and redeveloped for more pressing national needs in a timely manner,' said MinLaw.
The ministry said the Singapore Golf Association and the National Service Resort & Country Club will set up a second Centre of Excellence to provide more training opportunities for Singapore's national team and promote golf among youth.
It added that the centre will provide dedicated weekly slots for the golf association to facilitate national and youth team training, and expose athletes to different types of golf courses.
This complements existing weekly trainings conducted by the golf association in other clubs, said MinLaw.
The new centre adds to an existing Centre of Excellence at Keppel Club's Sime course which develops youth golfers, the ministry said.
