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AFL coach Alastair Clarkson can vouch for The National\u2019s facilities.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
In fact, the now North Melbourne coach clarified to this masthead, Clarkson had been playing at The National that day as an invited guest and, while it\u2019s not the done thing for non-members to use the members\u2019 bathroom, he had not wandered into the club unannounced. Clarkson is also close friends with course superintendent Leigh Yanner.<\/p>\n
Like Clarkson, The National\u2019s club captain, Andrew Tunks, and chief executive Matthew Corby laughed when they were asked about the legendary coach\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n
Apocryphal or not, the story serves as a reminder that The National, like others profiled in this masthead\u2019s series<\/a> about Victoria\u2019s elite golf clubs, prides itself on privacy.<\/p>\n Another, actual intrusion illustrates the point.<\/p>\n Seven\u2019s head of sport, Chris Jones, and news director Chris Salter last year received an angry letter complaining about what the club viewed as the \u201cinappropriate behaviour\u201d on club grounds of Seven\u2019s chief football reporter, Mitch Cleary.<\/p>\n The National chief executive Matthew Corby (left) and club captain Andrew Tunks on the clubhouse balcony.Credit: Penny Stephens<\/p>\n Cleary was on the scent of a story, and had arrived near the 18th green at Gunnamatta<\/a> with a cameraman just as Port Adelaide star Zak Butters putted out.<\/p>\n Butters was, and still is, the subject of intense trade speculation about a possible return to Victoria<\/a>. Cleary was chasing the interview everyone in footy had been hunting.<\/p>\n He landed the interview, and members of The National were furious.<\/p>\n Watching the market<\/p>\n Even among Melbourne\u2019s famous golf clubs, The National stands apart, with a unique model that allows memberships to be bought and sold on a fluctuating share market, a diverse community of prominent people from business, sporting and cultural society, and a reputation among foodies for dining excellence.<\/p>\n The National has four golf courses, which is why it\u2019s often referred to as one of the best value memberships in Australian golf despite a price tag that runs into the tens of thousands.<\/p>\n There\u2019s the recently renamed Gunnamatta course (previously called the Ocean) which is one of three at the Cape Schanck complex. The others are The Old and Moonah courses. Then there\u2019s Long Island, on Melbourne\u2019s sandbelt, which has just undergone a $9.3 million redevelopment.<\/p>\n The Gunnamatta Course at The National Golf Club.<\/p>\n Some wealthy members are also members of one of the other prestigious clubs on the sandbelt, so they can play in Melbourne during the week and escape to the peninsula on weekends.<\/p>\n At Cape Schanck, as you round the first corner of the driveway and start the steep descent to The National, perhaps passing \u201cClarko\u201d on his tractor, you are met by one of the most spectacular views in world golf. The club is so close to the water that the occasional Kombi van can be seen doing laps of the car park, as lost surfers make their way to one of the most dangerous breaks in Australia<\/a>.<\/p>\n How the share model works<\/p>\n Despite the emphasis on privacy, Tunks and Corby agreed to discuss the unique entry rules at The National and the distinct communities or \u201ctribes\u201d that make up the membership.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n At most golf clubs, you pay the fee, wait your time, get the keys and play the course.<\/p>\n But at The National, instead of paying a joining fee you buy a share in the club.<\/p>\n I have been a member of The National since 2018.<\/p>\n Crucially, Corby explains, the transaction usually does not involve the club at all. The buyer acquires their share from an existing member who wishes to sell. The club merely approves the transfer and holds the cash as a third party, acting more like a gatekeeper than a vendor. The marketplace exists between the members, influenced by prestige, demand and scarcity.<\/p>\n Right now, demand is high. Ten years ago, you could join The National for less than $10,000. Last week, a share sold for $74 000.<\/p>\n Why the boom?<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s changed is working from home<\/a>,\u201d Corby said.<\/p>\n The National\u2019s Long Island course.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople can control their schedules better. It\u2019s just not nine to five. So people are in better control of their time and they value their leisure more. The combination of those two things has shifted the goalposts. I suspect what we\u2019re calling the boom may actually become the norm.<\/p>\n \u201cPre-COVID, average games per member were around 24 or 25 a year. Now it\u2019s over 40.\u201d<\/p>\n While Tunks prefers not to think of the club\u2019s membership as an \u201cinvestment\u201d, the reality is that members who sell their shares when demand is high can make more than what they paid. But in weaker markets, a share can decline in value. The risk is real, but unlike an entry fee, the money is parked, not burnt.<\/p>\n Former Victorian deputy Liberal leader Sam Groth<\/a>, known for his booming tennis serve and an equally big hitter on the golf course, last year sold his share at a healthy profit.<\/p>\n But does the rising price of a share risk pricing potential candidates out of membership?<\/p>\n Sam Groth takes a swing at The Lakes in Sydney in 2018.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cPersonally, I don\u2019t love members seeing it as a genuine investment. But we\u2019re arm\u2019s length from it. It\u2019s a regulated market between members,\u201d Tunks said.<\/p>\n \u201cLower prices would arguably make us more accessible. But we can control that about as much as the weather.\u201d<\/p>\n The tribes<\/p>\n As club captain, Tunks has his own parking spot, but unlike many in his position, he is happy for other members to use it \u2013 as long as they ride a motorcycle.<\/p>\n A geologist and mining expert, Tunks wants to start a \u201ctribe\u201d \u2013 a group of members \u2013 just for fellow bikers. If he\u2019s successful, they\u2019ll be able to play in the annual Tribal Challenge against the Wednesday Warriors, the Testaments, The Goat Slappers and the Sassy Sheilas, of which former club captain Meredith Ramadan is a member.<\/p>\n Of the 3200 members listed of The National, 13 per cent are women.<\/p>\n One of the criticisms from both outside and members, is that it feels less like a \u201cclub\u201d than Melbourne\u2019s other exclusive golf clubs.<\/p>\n \u2018People can control their schedules better. It\u2019s just not nine to five. So people are in better control of their time and they value their leisure more.\u2019<\/p>\n The National\u2019s Matthew Corby on the club\u2019s boom<\/p>\n Because of the giant clubhouse \u2013 functional rather than luxurious or intimate \u2013 the large membership base and the four courses, it\u2019s harder to feel like part of a golfing community.<\/p>\n Tunks is keen to change that mindset.<\/p>\n \u201cI hear that all the time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy answer is the tribes \u2014 clubs within the club. Groups of 12 to 50 people who organise to play together regularly. There\u2019s plenty of social fabric here \u2014 but you have to engage with it.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n \u201cAnd also, one of the great things about this club: it\u2019s a broad church. Lawyers, bankers, QCs, geologists \u2014 and plumbers, sparkies, teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n Inside the clubhouse, a sunken bar and cafe-style seating area looks onto the 18th green of the Gunnamatta course and beyond to the rugged coastline.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/96cad78e05a9f6ea0a2ec5c3167ff28576e710c7.jpeg\")
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