[1] The Golf House grew out of a pawn shop run by Russian immigrant, Harry Landis who arrived in Sydney via Broken Hill in 1917.

Ron Ries, an employee at Consolidated Neon for over 50 years remembers how the Golf House sign was designed and drawn out on a blackboard in fluorescent paint.

[1] In 1977 Harry Landis Jnr moved his music business to Park Street, leaving The Golf House as the sole occupant.

While the shop was the premier golf store in Sydney, it relied to a great extent on the second hand trade and new equipment was increasingly being made more cheaply in Taiwan and elsewhere.

In 1985 Rob Landis and his partners sold the stock and the half-share in the building to professional golfer, Lindsay Sharp, while retaining the name.

Lindsay Sharp is known for his sporting efforts as he was the first professional to win the newly introduced National Ambrose competition in Australia.

The announcement was controversial, and led to an agreement whereby ownership of the sign was transferred to Sharpies Golf House on the condition that it be donated to the City of Sydney at the conclusion of the lease.

[2] Sharpies Golf House closed in 2004, and the new owners of the building sought to donate it to the Powerhouse Museum, but met with opposition from the NSW Heritage Office.

The elements consist of the golfer, the club in three positions, the ball, with a metal track and a chaser of about 48 globes, the hole and the flag.

The curved lightweight metal top member with external light bulbs was severely rusted along its base.

Sharpies Golf sign has strong associations with the business district of Elizabeth Street, Central Sydney.

[1] Sharpies Golf House Sign was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 1 November 2002 having satisfied the following criteria.

[1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

The sign retains the character of the time – the golfer dressed in his 1950s clothes, swinging his club and getting the dream of every weekend hacker – a hole in one.

Originally designed to convey commercial information, the sign has been visible in a prominent location for half a century resulting in it becoming a landmark element.

The Sharpies Golf House Sign has high social significance as it has been viewed by motorists and train commuters since the late 1950s and early 1960s.

[1] This Wikipedia article was originally based on Sharpies Golf House Sign (The Golf House), entry number 1655 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 14 October 2018.