About & History - Midlands

About & History

The Story of Midlands - Ballarat RSL

A Ballarat sporting and community club since 1919. From a local golf course to a thriving destination for golf, bowls, dining, events and more.

More Than a Golf Club, a Place People Come Back To

Midlands started as a golf club and has grown into something much broader. Today the club is home to golf, bowls, Don’s Kitchen, the Ballarat RSL Sub Branch, Ballarat Bingo, a sports bar, function spaces and a community that stretches well beyond sport. The facilities are modern, the welcome is genuine, and there’s always something going on.

Located in Invermay Park, Midlands – Ballarat RSL is one of Ballarat’s most established sporting and social destinations. The club is home to an 18 hole championship golf course that caters to players of all abilities, supported by a range of facilities that make Midlands a place to enjoy well beyond the fairways.

Alongside golf, the club offers lawn bowls, welcoming dining options and flexible function spaces, all supported by a vibrant calendar of sporting and social events. These facilities combine to create a relaxed and lively environment that appeals to both members and visitors.

Whether you are visiting for a round of golf, a meal with friends or a special celebration, Midlands offers an inclusive atmosphere where people feel welcome and comfortable from the moment they arrive.

Over a Century of Golf, Community and Growth

Midlands has been a Ballarat golf club for more than a century. The course you play today opened in 1976 on land north of the city, designed by Peter Thomson. The story before that, and since, is below.

1919

The club is founded

A public meeting at the Ballarat North Bowling Club pavilion on the evening of 7 April 1919 voted to form a new golf club. The course was nine sand-scrape holes laid out across paddocks on the edge of Ballarat North, total length 2,300 yards. John C Dearden took the chair as the club’s first president, with 32 men and 22 women signing on as foundation members. The name was the Ballarat North Golf Club.

1920

Eighteen holes for the first time

A year on, the course was extended from nine holes to a full eighteen. The 1920 season opened on Saturday 17 April with a mixed foursome played for trophies, and the new layout drew compliments from the press for the splendid playing ground. The club had also bought its first proper clubhouse, a wooden building relocated from Mount Buninyong.

1936

Becomes the Midlands Golf Club

By the mid-1930s, central Victoria was renaming many of its features, and Creswick Road had become part of the new Midland Highway. The committee proposed “Midlands” as a name better tied to the region than to one suburb. On 23 March 1936, members at the annual meeting approved the change, and the Ballarat North Golf Club became the Midlands Golf Club, with Clive Cleaver as president.

1956

A licensed club

The club applied to the Licensing Court to operate as a registered club, and the licence was granted in 1956. Alterations were made to the clubhouse to meet the court’s requirements, and the first drinks were served at sixpence for a four-ounce glass. The same year, Midlands hosted Olympic rowers free of charge during the Melbourne Games as a gesture of friendliness.

1970–1971

The decision to relocate

In 1970, Selkirk’s announced it would resume the land where holes 8 to 15 sat, on lease to the club since 1939, to extend its clay pit. The Town Planning Appeals Tribunal ruled in Selkirk’s favour. Faced with the choice of accepting a reduced course on a constricted site or starting again on its own land, the 1971 annual meeting committed to start again. A new board was elected to lead the redevelopment, and Harris, Thomson and Wolveridge was engaged as the course architect, with Peter Thomson as a vital partner in the firm.

1973

Peter Thomson opens the eleventh

On 7 December 1973, Peter Thomson, Guy Wolstenholme and club champion Alan Cox each hit a ball from the new eleventh tee to mark the opening of the first completed holes on the Heinz Lane site. Thomson played a five iron to within eight metres of the pin. Of the club’s decision to move and rebuild, he said: “We admire the club for the vision it has had and it is assured of success.”

1976

A new course, a new clubhouse

The new course and clubhouse were officially opened on 12 December 1976 by the Governor of Victoria, His Excellency the Honourable Sir Henry Winneke. The plaque he unveiled still sits at the entrance. The eighteen-hole Peter Thomson layout, the new clubhouse on the highest ground above the lake, and the freehold land underneath it remain the heart of Midlands today.

1990

A permanent water supply

When Vic Roads began building the Ballarat Bypass Freeway, the club agreed to supply heavy clay from a site beside the ninth fairway for the freeway’s noise barrier. The dig left a dam, completed in June 1990, holding sixty-three megalitres at a depth of eight metres. It overflowed within two and a half months. After more than a decade of water uncertainty, the course had a permanent supply.

2000

The Fairways Function Room opens

The club extended the clubhouse with a dedicated function space, designed by architect Kevyn Joy at the northern end of the building. It opened in May 2000 and was named the Fairways Function Room. Built for wedding receptions, conferences and meetings, it is still the room the club’s hospitality side is built around.

2017

The Ballarat RSL comes home

After more than ninety years at 2 Lyons Street South, the Ballarat sub-branch of the Returned and Services League moved to Midlands in June 2017. The clubhouse was altered to give the RSL its own rooms and offices. Three flagpoles went up at the car park entrance for the flags of Australia, New Zealand and the RSL, and a restored 1918 German Howitzer, captured by allied forces at the Battle of Amiens, was installed alongside them. The Ode has been recited in the clubhouse at 6pm every day since.

2019

One hundred years

To mark the centenary, members commissioned a full history of the club, From Small Acorns: 100 Year History of the Midlands Golf Club, 1919–2019.

A Proud History, an Exciting Future

Midlands has always been a club that evolves. New facilities, new partnerships, new reasons to visit. The RSL joined in 2017, Ballarat Bingo in 2019, and today the club is investing in modern spaces, upgraded greens and an experience that goes well beyond a round of golf. The next chapter is already underway.

Golf

Eighteen holes through wide, tree-lined fairways. Designed by Peter Thompson & Bob Shearer. Open 7 days.

Bowls

Two quality greens, social and competitive play, and a welcoming club behind it. Open year round.

Bistro & Food

Malaysian, Chinese and Australian meals. Daily specials, kids menu, and views over the course.

Functions & Events

Modern spaces for corporate events, celebrations, Christmas parties, barefoot bowls and more.

BISTRO & BAR

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Food, Drinks and a Great Place to Settle In

Don’s Kitchen serves Malaysian, Chinese and Australian meals with daily specials and a kids menu. The Sports Bar has live sport on the big screens, TAB, and an atmosphere to match. The main bar is well stocked and the welcome is always warm.

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AT MIDLANDS

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