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Fore! Fox unveils his big plans for Phillip Island
By Martin Boulton The Age
August 10, 2005


Businessman Lindsay Fox has joined forces with golfer Greg Norman in a $100 million golf course and tourist accommodation development at Phillip Island.

Mr Fox's company, Linfox Property Group, bought the motor racing circuit at Phillip Island last year.

This week it lodged plans with Bass Coast Shire Council for an adjacent 18-hole golf course designed by Norman overlooking Bass Strait, a 163-room hotel, lodges and conference centre and 506 townhouses.

The company already has planning approval for a five-star hotel and restaurant on the 370-hectare site, but the new proposal is a radical expansion aimed at creating year-round use of the site.

Under the latest proposal, two accommodation villages would be built on the golf course and a third village would be built next to an area currently used for camping during the Australian leg of the international MotoGP.

In June The Age revealed that a consortium involving Mr Fox had paid $7 million for St Kilda's Luna Park and planned to restore the fairground to its former glory.

The trucking magnate is also among 15 bidders who want to redevelop the 'triangle site' beside Luna Park, now occupied by the Palais Theatre, the Palace Entertainment Complex and a car park.

Yesterday Mr Fox's son and Linfox managing director, Andrew Fox, said the circuit at Phillip Island, which also hosts the Superbike World Championship and a round of the Australian V8 Supercars, was among the best in the world, but its future could not be secured without a "broader mix of activities and revenues".

He said linking the hotel, townhouses and golf course with the circuit would "create a unique destination for motor sport enthusiasts, golfers and regional tourists" and elevate the racing circuit to international standards.


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at least we know now.....


cheers

is this in case melbourne loses the GP, the place can be used for something else??? I hope not..

Hot laps, golf, hot laps...

Not a bad idea really.. The golf karts had better be powerful

Could send the moto gp up here when the new track is finished, dont have a picture of the track layout but we do know it definitly exists and has council approval.

I dont know how long it would take to get all the pit facilities up to scratch for a gp though, back when lakeside was running they used to use tents with removable floors which seems a little primative and willowbank is nearly as bad.

Only trouble with largeish companies is they want to see a profit.

I wanna see Rossi and Co. roll into town a couple of days early and get a couple of rounds in.

i read that in todays herald sun....

interesting to see where it stops with linsey fox

I'm larfin.... golf aand GP/supers yeeehaaaaaaaaaaaa

Rossi would still win in a golf cart.....

GOLF? Far to sedate, ruins a good walk. And I can't see a massive hotel or village doing too well on that side of the island - it's just too far for all the shops. A huge hotel that is only booked out 3 times a year, casual staff only I assume?

Hey, I know nothing about golf. But I would have thought that if you were looking for a nice, sunny, calm place to build a golf course... PI would rank just above the south pole and wind tunnels.

photomike666 wrote:GOLF? Far to sedate, ruins a good walk. And I can't see a massive hotel or village doing too well on that side of the island - it's just too far for all the shops. A huge hotel that is only booked out 3 times a year, casual staff only I assume?

shops to built there I reckon.......

samhasa636 wrote:Hey, I know nothing about golf. But I would have thought that if you were looking for a nice, sunny, calm place to build a golf course... PI would rank just above the south pole and wind tunnels.

oops , might have it wrong there
if you look at where REAL* golfers play..St Andrews Royal Troon
Royal Melbourne etc, these courses are subject to some pretty
high winds and weather changes. ALso look at all the golf courses
on the Mornington Peninsula (The Capital The National) all are in the
same microclimate as PI

roll on a golf course I reckon (especially if it keeps the circuit alive)

hmmm, I could play on a Saturday, ride day on a Sunday
top weekend I reckon

*by real, look what happens in America..it rains and they call off play!
sheesh, golf is an outdoor sport that started in Scotland



and a declaration, I am a golfer (19 handicap)


cheers

Smitty wrote:and a declaration, I am a golfer (19 handicap)

Is that all?? I wish!

I better go to this year's GP then. Hopefully it's not going away . Why not try to bring F1 to PI... the Albert park pace is dreadful.

in the good ol' bad days, i used to attend a number of racing events at a track called 'surfers paradise international raceway' was a top place to spectate with a beer hill you could see all the track from. even if it was XXXX hill.

anyway developers built a residental golf course next door to the track. they complained about the noise. developer bought track. track closed.

i just hope they dont make too much $$$$ out of golf course/resort and it takes preceedence over track or that we even loose it.

i play golf (obviously not as good as smitty) and ride/watch bikes, and there is a hell of a lot more golf courses than racetracks.

Lets just all pray to the gods greg that that will never ever happen mate.


Flash

well it'll be sad if they commercialise it too much.

one thing i loved about p.i. on my one trip there was the peacefullness and far-away-from-it-all ness of the track. heading to the track and going down those roads through those rich green fields. it'll actually be a bit sad if some of that goes away. But i can see where they are coming from, regardless of the fact i like its reclusiveness.