The 16^th fairway, which runs parallel to the ocean, has been covered in sand from the beach for much of the year. 

The distance between the shoreline and course is becoming less each year.

Course superintendent and long-term employee Troy Richardson said 10 metres of beach in front of the course had eroded across a 15-year period.

Mr Richardson and club manager Barry Dodd have used pegs to mark the boundary to accurately measure future erosion.

Low-lying areas along the 16^th fairway are exposed to seaweed and sand drift, which the club has to manage.

Mr Dodd said the club was looking for long-term solutions to protect the picturesque course, which was regularly listed in golfing publications among the top 50 public courses in Australia.

The club is appealing for donations of small hay bales to build a wall to help protect the course from the tide.  

He said, ideally, the club wanted a rock wall, similar to the one Moyne Shire installed at East Beach.

“(But there would be a) fair cost involved and a few hoops to jump through to get approval for it,” Mr Dodd said. 

It has been an ongoing problem for the club, with temporary fencing unable to halt erosion.

“That issue has been going on for a long time, so we’re not going to fix it in five minutes,” Mr Dodd said. 

“It’s going to be a process but I’m a firm believer in ‘you do it once, you do it right’ and you don’t have to go and reinvest again.”

It was important to preserve the course’s natural beauty and any construction would take into account its coastal location, he said.

No changes will be made to the course and the 16^th  hole. 

“Everything stays the same. There’s no plans to do anything,” Mr Dodd said. 

“It’s a matter of doing some preventative work to maintain the course.”