Inflation is on the rise and the cost-of-living is starting to hit the hip pocket nerve. But there’s no need to sacrifice your golf game.
COLLIER PARK
Perth, Western Australia
Green fees: $32.50 (weekdays), $41.50 (weekends).
A compilation of Australian course designers – including Peter Thomson, Michael Wolveridge, Michael Coate and Terry Gale – have played a hand in developing the three nine-hole loops at Collier Park, just south of Perth’s Swan River.
Each nine – the Island, Pines and Lake layouts – has a different look and feel from wide, tree-lined fairways on the Pines to the more heavily bunkered Island nine and links style of the Lake course.
PALMERSTON G&CC
Darwin, Northern Territory
Green fees: $32 (weekdays), $37 (weekends).
As you might imagine in Darwin, the Palmerston course is set in tropical surrounds and has been designed to interest players of all standards.
The layout has been the home of Northern Territory PGA Championship since 2016 and will host the event again in May 2023.
Originally constructed in 1995, the layout underwent a major redesign in 2005 to include nine new holes designed by Glenn Campbell. As a result, the par-71 is very much a tale of two nines. The outward half is challenging in terms of length and water comes into play on six of the nine holes, while the inward nine is tighter with more heavily tree-lined fairways.
One of the most memorable holes at Palmerston is the par-3 4th hole known as The Causeway. It is 167 metres from the tips, but can play much longer into the prevailing breeze. The tee shot needs to be played across the edge of a lake to a wide, almost triangle-shaped, tiered green that is protected in front by two small bunkers.
www.palmerstongolfcourse.com.au
CENTENARY PARK GC
Melbourne, Victoria
Green fees: $32 (weekdays), $39 (weekends).
Located on the doorstep to the Mornington Peninsula at Frankston, Centenary Park is widely regarded as one of Melbourne’s best public courses.
Designed by golf professional Bill Clifford, golf has been played at Centenary Park since 1974 when Frankston Council decided to move the course away from the centre of town.
Perhaps the most memorable feature of the layout is the green complexes. The bunkering surrounds on most holes is not overdone and the putting surfaces are challenging and fun.
NORTH TURRAMURRA GC
Sydney, NSW
Green fees: $32 (weekdays), $40 (weekends).
Established in the 1950s, North Turramurra golf course offers players a magnificent outlook onto Ku-rin-gai Chase National Park, which is home to more than 30 species of native animals and birds.
The layout was dramatically improved when it was extensively redeveloped as part of the North Turramurra Recreation Area Project and reopened for play in 2017.
WARATAH GC
Newcastle, NSW
Green fees: $32 (Mon-Tues), $42 (Wed-Sun).
Waratah is the oldest club in the Newcastle region having celebrated its 120th year
in 2021.
There are plenty of highlights at Waratah, from the difficult 415-metre par-4 4th with its smallish but well-bunkered green, to the series of holes that run alongside Cockle Creek bordering the course.
CARRAMAR GC
Perth, Western Australia
Green fees: $31 (weekdays), $36 (weekends).
Designed by former Touring professional Bob Stanton, Carramar was built and opened in 1994 by the City of Wanneroo.
From the championship tees the course measures 6,121 metres and is renowned as one of the most challenging public layouts
in Perth. While the course does not play
long, Carramar’s test comes in keeping your shots away from the surrounding native bushland and on course for the large greens on each hole.
MARANGAROO GC
Perth, Western Australia
Green fees: $31 (weekdays), $36 (weekends).
Marangaroo is a Murray Dawson design lying in the heart of Perth’s northern suburbs, about 25 minutes’ drive north of the CBD.
The layout – not long by modern standards at 5,616 metres – meanders through a beautiful native bushland setting and, since opening in 1988, it has become one of Perth’s most popular public courses.
BERWICK MONTUNA GC
Melbourne, Victoria
Green fees: $30/35 (off peak/peak, weekdays), $35/40 (weekends).
Berwick Montuna is a picturesque par-69 on Melbourne’s south-eastern outskirts that measures a tick over 5,000 metres from the back markers.
The highlight of the round opens the back nine with the 354-metre par-4 10th. Regarded as one of the hardest holes in Melbourne, the dogleg left features a lake cutting into the fairway that prompts some thought from the tee – either lay up short of the water and leave a long approach into the green, or play aggressively and aim for the sliver of fairway leading to the green.
www.berwickmontuna.com.au
BRIGHTON LAKES R&GC
Sydney, NSW
Green fees: $30 (weekdays), $45 (weekends).
Brighton Lakes is undoubtedly the best course it has ever been in almost 100 years of existence.
Forced from their original course site beside the Cooks River, opposite Sydney Airport, North Brighton GC became New Brighton GC when it headed west to Milperra in the 1950s.
The course was played for more than 60 years before six holes and a practice fairway were lost to build the Brighton Lakes Estate.
Course architect Bob Harrison was commissioned to design seven new holes and redesign four others as part of the Brighton Lakes redevelopment, which opened for play in August 2019. Today, it is one of the best publicly accessible courses to be found in south-western Sydney.
CAMDEN GC
Sydney, NSW
Green fees: $30 (weekdays), $45 (weekends).
The long-term golfing resident in the south-western outskirts of Sydney is Camden Golf Club at Studley Park, which is the 132-year-old house that stands in the middle of the property bearing the same name.
The house, which can be seen from most corners of the layout, later became a grammar school before being sold to a Twentieth Century Fox executive, Arthur Gregory, who was a keen golfer. Gregory commissioned the acclaimed architect Eric Apperly to design nine holes.
A second nine followed years later created by Dan Soutar. That course was lost when the Army bought the property during World War II but golf returned in 1950 with the formation of the Camden club, whose foundation members looked to revive Apperly and Soutar’s work.
The historic house was sold by the club in 2008, which led to a major investment in improving many aspects of the layout, which included the remodelling of four holes – the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 13th holes.
Arguably the best hole at Camden is one of this quartet – the 342-metre par-4 13th. A solid tee shot is required to carry the edge of a dam and reach the fairway that runs diagonally from right-to-left alongside the huge water hazard. The key here is to know how much of the hazard you can bite off with your drive to get the best angle into the large green. The penalty for missing such a grand target is a tough recovery with steep drop-offs from the fringe mixed with three large bunkers, short, right and left.
CARBROOK GC
Brisbane, Queensland
Green fees: $30 (Mon-Tue), $35 (Wed-Fri), $45 (weekends)
Founded in 1978, Carbrook really didn’t hit its straps until an extensive eight-year redevelopment was completed in 2006.
While the course has continued to improve over the years, arguably the club’s biggest drawcard is the bull sharks – one of the most dangerous in the world – that have been in residence in a lake on the course for nearly 20 years.
FOX HILLS GC
Sydney, NSW
Green fees: $30 (weekdays), $40 (weekends).
Fox Hills is an easy-walking layout that has always proven popular with social golfers.
A re-routing of the layout in recent times has added greater interest to the early stages of the round. Arguably the best hole here is the rated the hardest on the course. The 362-metre par-4 4th calls for a long, straight drive to avoid a lake to the left and a creek on the right. The creek cuts across the front of the green and wraps around its left edge, while the approach must be precise to avoid tall trees either side of the ideal playing line.
GLEN WAVERLEY GC
Melbourne, Victoria
Green fees: $30 (weekdays), $34 (weekends).
This is a beautiful layout, laid across rolling terrain in Jells Park about 30 minutes’ drive south east of the CBD.
There is enough movement in the landscape here to add some stiffness to the test of hitting the relatively small greens. The short par-4s are simple but fun as they tempt you to have a crack with the driver from the tee.
MARRICKVILLE GC
Sydney, NSW
Green fees: $30 (weekdays), $35 (weekends).
Laid out along the northern bank of the Cooks River, Marrickville’s popularity has surged in recent times as golfer’s look for challenging, fun and interesting places to play.
The layout has changed very little over the decades and it offers a wonderful mix of testing and tempting holes. The round opens with the second hardest hole on the course – a 209-metre par-3 with out-of-bounds in the Cooks River to the right, trees to the left and a small pushed up green lying in the distance.
The best of the par-3s though is the 172-metre 13th where your tee shot must carry the river’s edge left, avoid bunkers left and right and out-of-bounds beyond the putting surface. Good luck with that.
www.marrickvillegolf.com.au
RANDWICK GC
Sydney, NSW
Green fees: $30 (weekdays), $35 (weekends).
If you are looking for a links golf experience, with a bit of quirky Scottish-like golf
design thrown in, you should have a round
at Randwick.
The layout is a par-59 measuring just 3,545 metres from the tips, but what it lacks in the distance it more than makes up for in interesting and fun links golf. And, if you’re off your game on the day, play with your head up and enjoy every moment of the million-dollar ocean views.
GUNGAHLIN LAKES
Canberra, ACT
Green fees: $29 (weekdays), $39 (weekends)
Located in Canberra’s northern suburbs, the Jamie Dawson-designed Gunghalin Lakes features attractive lakes and ponds flanking many of its fairways and greens.
Gungahlin’s highlights come late in the round, starting with the trio of holes from the long par-5 16th hole, which plays alongside a lake and then calls for a water carry to a wide green.
RICHMOND GC
Sydney, NSW
Green fees: $29 (weekdays), $39 (weekends).
The oldest golf course on its original site in NSW, Richmond is the current home of the Australian PGA Seniors Championship and the parkland layout is a ‘sleeper’ course on the burgeoning golf scene of Sydney’s north-western fringe.
Holes 13 to 15 comprise Richmond’s version of ‘Amen Corner’ and include two robust par-4s – the latter with twin water hazards to negotiate on opposite sides of the fairway – before a strong, 164-metre par-3 across water to a wide but shallow green.
GORDON GC
Sydney, NSW
Green fees: $28 (weekdays), $36 (weekends).
Nestled within the leafy suburbia of Sydney’s upper north shore, Gordon Golf Course has been a popular and affordable layout for visiting golfers for nearly 90 years.
The par-65 stretches to 4,600 metres from the tips but the heavily tree-lined fairways and undulating topography more than compensate for the short journey.
As you might expect from a course of this length, the par-3s are prominent on the scorecard. Of the nine par-3s at Gordon, the 185-metre 16th is the standout. From the slightly elevated tee, you are faced with a shot that must carry a creek winding across the front of the wide green. Any shot falling short of the left half of the green will be repelled away from the putting surface by a steep slope and lead to a possible bogey or worse.
CABRAMATTA GC
Sydney, NSW
Green fees: $23 (weekdays), $37 (weekends).
Cabramatta’s layout plays in two loops of nine holes away and back to the clubhouse, which is perched on the highest point of the property, just a few minutes’ drive from the hustle and bustle of the suburb’s busy commercial hub.
The layout has a reputation for always being well-presented making it one of the most popular courses in Sydney’s south-west.
ST LUCIA GL
Brisbane, Queensland
Green fees: $20 (Mon), $39 (Tues-Fri), $46 (weekends)
St Lucia Golf Links is one of Brisbane’s oldest courses, having opened for play in 1926 as the original home of the Indooroopilly Golf Club.
Originally designed by Dan Soutar (who a year earlier finished work on Melbourne’s world-famous Kingston Heath), St Lucia became a municipal course in 1985 and has since undergone a raft of changes. Some holes have been shortened, a number of bunkers removed and others reshaped, while several greens have also been remodelled. The historic Hillstone clubhouse and terrace facilities have been extended.
Only months after opening legendary course architect Alister McKenzie, while visiting Brisbane, offered advice on the design but little evidence of the suggestions remain.
What does remain is a popular, well-presented layout that offers fun golf in beautiful surrounds.
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