The inner-city public golf course's $6 million grant - part of an invitation-only $560 million grant round funding Labor election promises - went before a Senate inquiry on Thursday.
Club president Andrew Tighe confirmed to senators Mr Albanese was afforded an honorary membership in 2012, which came with full privileges worth $1100 in 2026.
Guidelines dictate all MPs must declare gifts worth more than $750, but Mr Albanese has never done so, maintaining he was unaware of the membership until recently.
Club records showed Mr Albanese resigned the membership in September, having never played a round.
"Conventionally, you only give it to people who never use it," Mr Tighe said.
The revelation comes after the prime minister was forced to retract earlier statements in parliament and to media that the grant was for works to prevent sewage run-off during floods.
The issue was another example of a prime ministerial lie, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said.
"He just can't bring himself to tell the truth and take responsibility," he said.
The $6 million grant is not being used on sewerage works but rather a clubhouse renovation, stormwater harvesting and a "native species botanical garden".
Club general manager Mathew Ward said he arrived at the $6 million figure without serious rigour.
"It was my estimates plus some internet research ... a bit of an educated guesstimate, I suppose," he said.
The modest Sydney golf club has found itself at the centre of a political storm around the grants scheme labelled as "grey corruption" and a distortion of proper process.
Club officials told the committee their bar staff had been repeatedly pranked and abused as a result of the heightened interest.
"Smart alecs ring up our dear bar staff and ask for their Albo money back," Mr Tighe said.
Mr Ward said they had to disconnect phone lines at times, with bar staff called "scum" and worse.
The multimillion-dollar pledge was made by Mr Albanese in the 2025 election campaign, and is one of 220 projects funded by the Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program.
That grants round has been hotly contested since the Centre for Public Integrity released a report in September raising integrity concerns over the distribution of funds.
The government maintains it has followed its own best-practice manual for funding election promises through the scheme.
However, the report found a bias towards projects in Labor-held seats, and an even starker tilt towards projects in marginal seats, which suggests funding was offered to help win an election, rather than on community need.
At the heart of the issue is whether it is acceptable for politicians to fund projects without merit-based assessments.
Departmental officials scored each funding project on three criteria: community benefits, project viability, and project deliverability.
However, they have declined to release each project's score, saying only that each funded project was judged at least 60 out of 100 on each of the criteria.
Coalition senator Paul Scarr said that denied observers the chance to decide for themselves of the worthiness of half a billion dollars in taxpayer funds.
The Australian National Audit Office, also appearing before the inquiry, said it might also investigate the scheme to see whether the department "actually robustly applied the scoring methodology".
Senator Scarr used the example of the city of Gold Coast, which did not receive any funding.
"The Gold Coast is essentially the sixth-largest city in Australia. It received no grants under this program, none, and that's a population of approximately 750,000," he said.
