A once-planned championship golf course site at Fingal has been snapped up by a private buyer, locking away one of the Mornington Peninsula’s largest residential landholdings.

A plan to build a championship golf course on one of the Mornington Peninsula’s biggest coastal landholdings has been quietly shelved, with a Melbourne buyer snapping up the rare Fingal site and locking it away as a private estate.

The almost 12ha property at 265 Sandy Rd, Fingal, widely regarded as the largest residential land parcel in the tightly held pocket, sold earlier this year after attracting interest from cashed-up private buyers chasing scale, privacy and long-term land security.

While the price was not officially disclosed, property insiders say the land changed hands for circa $3m in August, well below the $5.5m.

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The seller was represented by RT Edgar agent Cameron Gulliford, while Jones Real Estate advised the buyer.

Jones Real Estate managing director Paul Jones said the Land’s backstory and its sheer size made it one of the most unusual residential opportunities to trade on the Peninsula in years.

“My understanding is the project did reach the permitting stage for an 18-hole championship course,” Mr Jones said of the abandoned golf plan.

“Significant groundwork had been done, including irrigation and water licences, but ultimately the project didn’t proceed and the land later returned to private ownership.”

Jones Real Estate managing director Paul Jones said the scale and coastal proximity of the Fingal landholding made it a once-in-a-generation residential opportunity.

The failed golf course proposal has lingered locally for years, adding intrigue to the site, which sits close to major Peninsula drawcards including Peninsula Hot Springs, St Andrews Beach Golf Course and the Sorrento-Portsea coastal strip.

Mr Jones said the buyer, a Melbourne-based purchaser with other Peninsula holdings, was drawn to the rare mix of scale and proximity.

“This is around 12ha of genuine residential land at the prestige end of the Mornington Peninsula,” he said.

The expansive Fingal landholding at 265 Sandy Rd spans about 12ha, making it one of the largest residential parcels in the tightly held coastal pocket.

“While it’s technically Fingal, the property sits closer to St Andrews Beach and within about 10 to 15 minutes of Portsea and Sorrento.

He said it was likely the largest residential landholding within a 15 to 20-minute drive of Portsea.

“There may be larger parcels nearby, but they’re working farms,” Mr Jones said.

“This is genuinely residential land, and that’s what sets it apart.”

RT Edgar agent Cameron Gulliford represented the seller in the off-market-style transaction at 265 Sandy Rd, Fingal.

Green wedge zoning and environmental overlays limit development at the Fingal site, instead favouring long-term lifestyle or private estate use.

Unlike many large Peninsula land deals, the purchase was not driven by development upside.

Green wedge zoning and environmental overlays restrict intensive development, ruling out subdivision or house-and-land projects, but allowing for a high-end lifestyle estate.

“The buyer’s intention is long-term land banking and creating a private compound, a true Peninsula retreat,” Mr Jones said.

The Fingal property sits close to major Peninsula drawcards including St Andrews Beach and the Sorrento and Portsea coastal villages.

“Here, the appeal was being close to Sorrento and Portsea while still having absolute scale and privacy.”

Asked what 12ha delivered that even prestige homes could not, Mr Jones said the answer was simple.

“This isn’t about a big backyard,” he said.

“It’s about space, seclusion and landscape, rolling coastal land, native vegetation and neighbours far enough away that you can genuinely disappear.

“And to have that just over an hour from Melbourne CBD is something you simply can’t replicate.”

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