BIRALLEE Tavern owners Ben Stewart and Lisa Ryan have taken over The Clubhouse bar and restaurant at Wodonga Golf Club.
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The long-term Birallee Tavern operators have taken over the remaining two years on the initial lease on the golf club restaurant agreed to between the SS&A Club and Nick and Connie Bond.
The restaurant has been shut in recent weeks with the Bonds concentrating on their other well-known Wodonga eatery, Hollywoods.
Mr Stewart said The Clubhouse name would be retained when the doors re-opened on October 1.
"We are taking some extra time to get this right," he said.
"It has all happened very quickly.
"The menus on offer at 'The Bira' and the golf club will be different.
"The golf club will be good food, but targeted at families and more affordable.
"The area around the golf club is so heavily populated with young families we see this as a real opportunity."
Brock Stanford has been appointed as venue manager and Birallee Tavern part-owner Lisa Ryan will be located at the golf club full-time.
Further changes are planned with a re-configuration of the building layout.
The former restaurant dining area will be converted into a function room and a dividing wall between the bar and lounge area removed to create a revamped eating area.
Mr Stewart said the existing terms of the lease _ three five-year options _ would remain in place when the new golf course owners officially take over from the SS&A Club next year.
Earlier this year, the course was purchased by a North East business consortium that first registered interest in buying the facility when it was put up for sale five years ago by the SS&A Club.
The new owners, whose identity remains a closely guarded secret, will keep the club going.
They also plan to promote the course to overseas markets when they officially take over on May 31 next year.
The purchase price also remains under wraps, but the SS&A Club had previously hoped to raise around $5 million from the sale.
The SS&A Club previously operated the clubhouse before leasing the venue to Mr and Mrs Bond in mid-2012.
Mr Stewart returned to the Birallee Tavern as licencee in 2009 when the business changed its hands.
'The Bira’ was established more than two decades ago.
