A weekend on the fairways will be possible for more golfers in Brisbane with the first new public course in more than 70 years set to open by 2018.

Peter Castrisos, chairman of Golf Queensland, said the 18-hole course would see the sport reach new heights in Queensland.

A former tip site at Cannon Hill has been cleared in preparation for the course, which will be the only public golf course south of the Brisbane River.

Brisbane City Council recently formalised a land swap deal with developers BMD Group.

The Cannon Hill Community Links project will also include new housing and conservation areas on 125 hectares between Creek Road, Fursden Road and Bulimba Creek.

Mr Castrisos said the new course would enable more golfers of all skill levels the chance to spend time on the greens.

"There are only two other public golf courses in Brisbane — Victoria Park and St Lucia," he told 612 ABC Brisbane's Tim Cox.

"It's great to see another one on the scene as we haven't seen one in 70 years ... that's been a long time.

"The more golf courses we have the better chance we have to get people playing this great game."

It's all about access

Mr Castrisos said the need for the new course was huge, with thousands of golfers already registered in Queensland.

"There's 70,000 registered golfers in Queensland that play at members golf clubs, but there's 140,000 people who play the game of golf and need access to courses too," he said.

"We have in Brisbane many members golf courses ... they pay a lot of money to be members and therefore they demand the right to play when they want to play.

The new golf course at Cannon Hill will be the third public golf course to open in Brisbane. ( Flickr: Tord Sollie )

"The average hacker isn't able to get on those courses, so they need public golf courses to have access to the game.

"The more people we can get onto golf courses the more likely they are to join a golf club and support the industry."

Mr Castrisos said the new course had been a long time coming.

"These facilities have to be built by councils and they are reluctant to spend the money as they are not big money-earning ventures," he said.

"It's like every public facility, they have to wait in a queue and it's taken many years to get it through council."

Once built, Mr Castrisos said the Cannon Hill course would be highly utilised.

"There's a huge market of people looking for access to a golf course who don't want to be members of a club but want to take part in the great game," he said.