It is often said “you are only ever 20 minutes from anywhere in the city of churches”. Here, we expand that perimeter to showcase the Top-12 Courses you will find within a 45-minute drive of Adelaide’s city centre.
6 TEA TREE GULLY GOLF CLUB
Set in the foothills of the Adelaide Hills, Tea Tree Gully has evolved from a nine-hole scrapes course in the early 1950s to a challenging par-71 that now ranks among Adelaide’s finest layouts.
A host of designers including Sloan Morpeth (Commonwealth GC, Melbourne) as well as Kel Nagle and Mike Cooper (Forster Tuncurry GC) have played a role over the years in the creation of the layout that can be played today.
Tea Tree Gully is a tight layout where you have to drive the ball straight and ensure your misses are in the right spots or you will be penalised harshly.
One hole where it pays to be straight, with the right club in your hand, is the short 7th hole – a dogleg left par-4 of 338 metres with four large bunkers squeezing the edges of the fairway at the turn. The fairway also features a slight right-to-left camber that can see balls roll into the furthest of the left traps. A large bunker short right of the putting surface is best avoided.
Green fees – Tee times are available for visitors. Green fees – $35.
7 THE VINES GOLF CLUB OF REYNELLA
The Vines Golf Club of Reynella began as the Marino Golf Club in 1925 before moving from the city to the Adelaide Hills in the early 1960s.
While the location chosen among native bush reserves was seen as ideal to build the course, it lacked the most valuable resource of all, water. Five dams have been built and water harvesting introduced in a series of major projects over the past 30 years, all of which provides 100 megalitres of irrigation to support the course’s very good playing surfaces.
The Santa Ana fairways are terrific to hit off, while the pure bentgrass greens are generally regarded as some of the best you will find outside Adelaide’s Sandbelt.
While the conditioning will impress, you will also enjoy the quality of the challenge. The Vines’ collection of par-3s is memorable with the first of them, the 149-metre par-3 3rd hole, featuring beautiful 100-year-plus red gums surrounding the green. The canopy of the surrounding trees does come into play if you venture off line with your tee shot so accuracy is vital here.
The two back nine par-3s both play to elevated greens. The 145-metre 10th leads away from the clubhouse to a green where most of the front edge is guarded by a cavernous bunker. Club selection here is important as out-of-bounds is directly behind the green, so trying to avoid the bunker with a longer club could prove troublesome.
The shortest of the one-shotters is the uphill 14th. At 129-metres, it’s not a hole where length is the concern but with two bunkers either side of the entrance into the relatively small putting surface, it still pays to be straight.
Green fees – Tee times are available for visitors. Green fees – $45.
8 WEST LAKES GOLF CLUB
With famous neighbours like Royal Adelaide and The Grange, it is not surprising that West Lakes Golf Club is the hidden gem of the Adelaide Sandbelt – at least to golfers outside the South Australian capital.
West Lakes, formerly Riverside Golf Club, has undergone significant changes over the past few years including a name change in 2011, clubhouse renovations and extensive course improvements.
This Neil Crafter and Paul Mogford-designed course is now one of the most enjoyable layouts to be found in Adelaide’s suburbs.
West Lakes is short by modern standards – measuring 5,636 metres – but the par-70 layout is challenging, and by no means a pushover. The tree-lined fairways are well manicured and are predominantly covered with couch grass as the club continues with a program to eradicate the existing kikuyu.
One of the real upsides to West Lakes is its routing. Three points of the compass are covered within the first quartet of holes, eliminating the predictability of wind direction, while each of the opening three holes offer variety by playing to different pars.
The large, modern clubhouse occupies a prime position – overlooking the tees of the 1st and 10th holes, as well as the 18th green – and its natural location attracts a plethora of wildlife.
The par-5 1st hole is 17th on the stroke index and does exactly as it should, easing you into your round at 455 metres and offering an early scoring opportunity.
The green complexes are relatively flat, but they are beautifully maintained with true, bentgrass surfaces and trimmed collars.
Green fees – $40 (member’s guest).
9 MT OSMOND GOLF CLUB
Mt Osmond is one of the oldest in the Adelaide Hills having been formed in 1927. With Edward Holden – founder of Holden cars – at the helm as the inaugural club president, Mt Osmond established a reputation among Adelaide society as the perfect weekend getaway to a country club.
Today, Mt Osmond is a well-manicured challenge having been extensively redesigned by Tony Cashmore, who has created high ranking layouts like Thirteenth Beach and the Henley course at The Heritage in Melbourne. The reconstruction of the course was completed in 1997, with large rolling putting surfaces and visually imposing bunkering elevating the test and enjoyment on offer.
Mt Osmond, by nature of its location, mixes holes with dramatic elevation changes with several easier walking holes that have been terraced into the edge of the sloping terrain.
The trio of holes that complete the front nine are memorable for their visual appeal as well as the challenge they present. The 275-metre par-4 7th holds no surprises as the tee sits high above the wide fairway. But be wary of the two bunkers left and right of the slight dogleg left that are difficult to escape from and ensure a bogey is a good score.
The 7th hole plays alongside one side of a massive water storage dam, while the 8th hole leads you back in the opposite direction, doglegging to the right passed the edge of the same water hazard. The hole plays longer than the 342 metres on the scorecard by virtue of the steady climb to the green, which is angled slightly front left to back right. Three bunkers – two short left and right and a sneaky pot bunker back left – combine with mounds and hollows to place a premium on hitting a straight approach to avoid a difficult up-and-down to save par. It’s easier said than done too, as the fairway cambers down toward the storage dam leaving a right hander with a shot where the ball lies below the feet.
The 8th hole is index No.5 on the Mt Osmond scorecard, while the front half rounds out with the fourth most difficult. At 359 metres from the tips, the par-4 9th hole is a narrow driving hole but any complications you have en route to the green are all but forgotten as you stand on the huge putting surface and as you soak in the view of Adelaide and the ocean beyond. It is one of the finest panoramic views you will experience in South Australia.
Green fees – $55 (weekdays), $60 (weekends).
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