September 18, 2026
BFNL season comes to a crescendo A bumper program of footy and netball awaits at Newcomb’s Grinter Reserve on Saturday 19 September. The Bellarine Football Netball League grand finals have arrived and it will all begin at 8am with the 13 & Under Division 2 and 15 & Under Division 2 deciders. The A Grade grand final will be fought out between Geelong Amateur and Ocean Grove for the fifth consecutive year and the first pass will be thrown at 3.15pm. Ammos won in 2022, but the Grubbers have since gone on to a threepeat of flags. On the adjacent footy oval, the Under Division 2 grand final starts at 9.15am, the reserves, between Queenscliff and Modewarre, at 11.30am while the senior footy will feature Torquay and Queenscliff, beginning at 2.15pm. The Coutas will be aiming for their first flag since 2013 while Torquay last won in 2024. See pages 30 and 31 for previews of
both games. Ocean Grove’s Georgia Ryan in between Geelong Amateur’s Keisha Guilmartin and Georgia Duncan (rear) with Queenscliff skipper Caleb Whiteley and Torquay’s Ben McNamara. (Ivan Kemp)
Balyang’s big test By Matt Hewson A local golf course will hold a major event in early October, but members still don’t know the future of the facility. Balyang Par 3 Golf Course, one of only two Victorian 18-hole pitch-and-putt courses, will welcome competitors for the 2026 Australian Pitch and Putt Association (APPA) Victorian championships from 2 to 4 October. Balyang member Troy Freeman said the event, open to male and female competitors of all ages and offering a number of gross, nett and nearest the pin prizes, would draw people from across the country. “We’re hoping to get around 30 to 50, that
would be a great start,” Mr Freeman said. “We’ve created a relationship with Waverley Pitch and Putt – they’re the only other 18-hole pitch-and-putt course in Victoria – so we could have up to 20 of their members playing in the event. “There’s also likely to be interest from people interstate as well. There’s a fairly good mix of competitive players in New South Wales that are likely to come down too.” But the future of Balyang is unclear. In 2024, as part of its wider withdrawal from golf facility management, Geelong council invited expressions of interest from developers to lease the publicly owned facility.
The council’s announcement made clear the course would not survive in its existing form, with developers offered the chance to “transform the…existing 18-hole par 3 course into a family-friendly, fun, exciting golf product”. The council has not made any statements about what stage the leasing process is in, but Mr Freeman said he believed the City of Greater Geelong is currently in negotiations with a “preferred tenant”. “We still believe that whoever takes it on probably still has the idea of a driving range down there,” he said. Mr Freeman, who began a petition in 2024 opposing any major redevelopment of Balyang that has since gathered over 1100
signatures, said he hoped the Victorian championships could inspire potential lessees to consider leaving the course the way it is. “We’re just hoping that this event will probably spark some interest with those looking to lease it and generate a bit of a rethink about any major redevelopment,” he said. “Our hope would be that they just give it a chance and see if they can make a go of it. We know the (private) management at Waverley has been in operation for around 32 years and they run a successful business. “There’s definitely a public interest, and people as a whole want the facility to stay as it is.”
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