A round of golf is not always about playing 18 holes, nor is it about tough challenges and breaking handicaps.
LORNE CC
Lorne is a beautiful seaside resort town on the Great Ocean Road that is a tourism hotspot for those seeking sun, fun and surf.
And those visitors wise enough to pack their golf clubs for their getaway will find a quality nine-hole course that is not only fun but challenging.
Perched above the township and overlooking Louttit Bay, the current layout opened for play in 1968 and is home to an array of native fauna, including kangaroos, kookaburras and koalas. The hillside terrain ensures there are few, if any, genuine flat lies adding to the difficulty of your approach shots.
The 480-metre, par-5 opening hole is a ripping opener. A hilltop marker is the playing line for your tee shot and as you climb the crest of the hill on this sweeping right dogleg, the green comes into view … as does the ocean beyond. Shot selection for your second will tempt low markers to go long – but the towering blue gums left and right caution
the majority to play conservative to the flattest of Lorne’s fairways just short of the putting surface.
Lorne boasts three very different par-3s. The uphill 143-metre 2nd is a gem. The terraced green lies diagonally – short right to long left – to your tee shot with a crater-like bunker cut into the hill short and halfway along the putting surface. The preferred miss here is definitely to the right of the green, otherwise a really difficult recovery shot awaits.
The 124-metre 5th hole is likely to yield as many bogeys and double bogeys as it does birdies. Played from an elevated tee, the kidney-shaped green is separated from its heavily treed surrounds by a bunker left and a much larger, sprawling sandy hazard to the right. It is a great short hole, especially when the wind is strong off the water from the left.
Green fees: $25 (nine holes); $100 (weekly).
PETERBOROUGH GC
Peterborough is a par-32 that rates among the most scenic to be played in Victoria.
Located about 30 minutes’ drive east of Warrnambool en route to the world-famous Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road, all of Peterborough’s holes afford ocean views.
It is a links with fast-running and undulating fairways, while the greens feature wide frontages allowing you to bump and run your shots beneath the wind. The 140-metre tee shot across a cliff on the par-3 6th hole is one of the highlights of a round here.
Green fee: $15 (nine holes).
No website available
SPRING PARK
Spring Park not only offers fun golf, but the nine-hole walk is like venturing through a setting that is part botanical garden, part typical Sandbelt, which is not surprising given its location.
The par-33 is in the Melbourne Sandbelt, so it should come as no surprise that the fairways and large greens are well-maintained, while each hole is lined by rough that offers sandy lies, not deep impossible to escape lies.
Spring Park’s opening hole sets the tone for the round. The 287-metre par-4 plays slightly uphill and there is some risk in taking a driver from the tee. The fairway narrows between gums trees about 200 metres from the tee, so lay your tee shot back to leave a full wedge into the putting surface protected by two bunkers in front.
The prettiest hole on the course is also its shortest. The 105-metre par-3 7th features water, sand and trees between tee and green, so it’s no pushover. A small pond lies in front of the tee, while tall gums also obscure the view of the left edge of the green. A typical deep Sandbelt bunker lines most of the right side of the putting surface. It might be short but this diminutive offering is a gem.
Green fees: $21.50 (nine holes, weekday); $23.50 (weekends).
TAMBO VALLEY GC
Tambo Valley is a hidden gem of the Victorian high country, lying just off the Great Alpine Rd.
The volunteer-run course is dominated by holes lined with pine trees and is surrounded by native bushland covered hills that rise steeply from the clear waters of Junction Creek, which flows through the course.
It mixes stunning views with a fun layout that consists of three par-3s, three par-4s and three par-5s.
Green fee: $20 (day pass).
www.visitomeo.com.au/visit/tambo-valley-golf-club
THE DUNES LINKS – CUPS COURSE
The Dunes on the Mornington Peninsula is not only home to the nationally-ranked links course, it also boasts a superb par-33 nine-hole course known as The Cups.
Covering similar terrain to its famous ‘big brother’, The Cups offers a shorter, fun and more forgiving links experience, which is why it is considered one of the best nine-hole courses in the country.
As you might imagine, wind is certainly a factor and a challenge to club selection, especially on the four par-3s.
Green fee: $30 (nine holes).
THIRTEENTH BEACH – SHORT COURSE
Thirteenth Beach Links is home to two nationally ranked courses – the Beach and Creek Courses – and, as of March this year, the Short Course.
The Short Course – designed by Tony Cashmore, who created the Beach layout and the Creek in collaboration with Sir Nick Faldo – is already gaining its own plaudits for the quality of its design and high standard of presentation.
Each hole of Cashmore’s diminutive creation presents a different challenge with undulating greens and surrounds dominated by run-offs and swales that will challenge all aspects of your short game, be it with a wedge or a putter.
Green fee: $30.
NSW
BONDI GOLF & DIGGERS CLUB
Founded in 1935, this is a quirky little nine-holer perched high on the clifftops at North Bondi.
The views are spectacular and the course is a lot of fun for golfers of all standards.
The par-28 has only one par-4 but the eight par-3s are all different, not only in distance but the shots you need to play to make par, which makes this layout so interesting.
One of Bondi’s most memorable tee shots, especially in the wind, comes at the 150-metre par-3 4th hole. Perched near the cliff’s edge, the tee offers incredible ocean views, while the line to the green is over a cliff-top chasm. The tee shot needs to be accurate to avoid two bunkers short of the putting surface as well as rocky outcrops to the right.
Green fees: $20 (nine holes, weekdays); $27 (weekends).
BREAKERS CC
Breakers Country Club is an easy-walking par-33 layout, separated from nearby beautiful Wamberal Beach by the equally pleasant Terrigal Lagoon.
A creek snakes its way through the course, cutting it in two, before flowing into the lagoon.
It is a lush and challenging layout – with six par-4s and three par-3s – that has become far more appealing in recent years with slight tweaks to the design and markedly improved conditioning of the fairways and greens.
Green fee: $25 (nine holes).
Related Articles
World Exclusive: Trump’s Indonesian Tee-off
Review: Bonville Golf Resort
