Four golf courses to make way for other land uses by 2035

Four golf courses will close permanently by 2035 to make way for other uses, such as housing, leaving Singapore with 12 courses in the coming years.

- Ng Keng Gene

The Ministry of Law (MinLaw), which oversees land policy and administration, said on July 7 that the leases or tenancies of Mandai Executive Golf Course, Warren Golf and 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 its site will be partially occupied by the upcoming Bay East Garden, which is currently being developed.

The leases of two other courses—Singapore Island Country Club's (SICC) 18-hole Bukit Course and Keppel Club's 18-hole Sime Course—will expire on Dec 31, 2030.

Thereafter, the two courses will be reallocated for public use, with at least one public 18-hole course.

MinLaw said a portion of the site occupied by the 56ha Bukit and 61ha Sime courses—which are next to each other—may be allocated to the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) for its members, given Orchid Country Club's impending lease expiry.

NTUC currently operates Orchid Country Club through NTUC Club.

The ministry added that how the land will be parcelled and allocated is being studied. It did not say how long the lease for the site would be beyond 2030.

The first of the four courses to close is the public nine-hole, 13ha Mandai Executive Golf Course, which is on a tenancy that runs until Dec 31, 2026.

Its land will be used by the Ministry of Education (MOE) to develop an Outdoor Adventure Learning Centre. MOE has previously said this 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 Draft Master Plan 2025.