Heading east out of the main wine-growing area of the Hunter Valley you will find the town of murals, Kurri Kurri. As you drive around this classic country town, it’s not hard to get a grasp of its history which is depicted in more than 55 murals on various buildings. There’s even a six by three metre mural on the side of the clubhouse at Kurri Kurri Golf Club, which pays tribute to the Hunter’s favourite golfing son, the late great Jack Newton. There are wonderful images of Newton’s Australian Open win and the iconic pose with the Auld Claret Jug and Tom Watson at the 1975 Open Championship, where he lost in a play-off. It’s a fantastic piece of artwork that really adds to experience of playing a round here.

The Kurri course, located just outside the town centre on the main road to nearby Maitland, is one of the real improving golf courses in the Hunter region.

Good quality bentgrass greens, well-grassed blue couch fairways and a simple but enjoyable design laid across rolling terrain combine to make Kurri a pleasure to play. In fact, the greens are the equal of many city clubs boasting more impressive maintenance budgets.

One of the stand-out holes is the 145-metre par-3 6th, which requires you to play across a sizeable lake that lies in the middle of the front nine holes. While the hole measures nearly 150 metres from the back markers, the water carry is no more than 100 metres, making it a slightly less daunting tee shot. The real defence of par here is the green, which is large and full of subtle slopes, placing a premium on club selection and accuracy to leave your tee shot in the right position on the putting surface.

Pacific Dunes. PHOTO: Brendan James.

Continuing the journey toward the coast, you will find Easts Leisure & Golf – incorporating Maitland Golf Club – an easy 15-minute drive from Kurri Kurri.

The Maitland course dates back to 1899 but has been upgraded over the years and most of the greens are large and receptive. It is not a lengthy course by modern standards but it does demand accuracy to avoid the hundreds of well-established gum trees, iron barks and oaks lining each fairway.

Raymond Terrace Rd, which borders the southern edge of the Maitland course, offers a short cut to the town of the same name, about 25 minutes’ drive away, and one of the lesser-known layouts of the Hunter – Muree Golf Club.

Muree is approximately halfway between the wine country layouts and the Port Stephens area courses, which makes it the ideal place to play while also experiencing the best attractions of both areas.

There are several standout holes at Muree but the par-3 12th is one of its most memorable. The tee of the 170-metre hole is cut into a hill, with a creek cutting diagonally across the front. A wall of trees stands guard behind the upturned dish green, which is also protected by bunkers left and right.

Tanilba Bay Golf Club. PHOTO: Brendan James.

Port Stephens – incorporating well known holiday destinations like Nelson Bay, Shoal Bay, Fingal Bay and Soldiers Point – is renowned as a blue water paradise of unspoiled waterways and more than two dozen beaches. It is also a fishing haven and one of the best places on the New South Wales coast to go whale or dolphin watching.

The highest ranked course in this neck of the woods can be found en route at Medowie.

Pacific Dunes, designed by Sydney-based architect James Wilcher, opened for play in 2005 and has appeared in Golf Australia magazine’s Top-100 Public Access Courses ranking ever since.

Laid out on a gently rolling sandy landscape, Pacific Dunes has two distinct nines. The front nine is heavily bunkered and its fairways wind between tall timbers, several lakes and natural wetlands. The more open inward half also features several water hazards but is dominated by long strands of large Angophoras and Swamp Mahogany trees.

While Wilcher’s layout stretches to a lengthy 6,403 metres from the tips, the course still manages to incorporate some very good short par-4 holes and imaginative par-3s. One of my favourite short two-shotters at Pacific Dunes is the 297-metre par-4 3rd. In terms of risk-and-reward design, this hole is a gem and presents questions and options for long hitters and short hitters as you stand on the tee. The contouring of the slight dogleg right fairway and the placement of six huge bunkers create a visually daunting view from the tee. Long bombers can attack the hole by flying their tee shot over the bunkers, skirting thick scrub to the right, to find a small landing zone just short of the putting surface.

The back nine opens with another terrific short par-4. Water, rather than sand, defends par on this 288-metre gem as a creek bisects the fairway, about 160 metres from the back tee, before turning to follow the left edge of the fairway and flowing into a waterhole hugging the left fringe of the angled and bunkerless green.

From Medowie it is just a 15-minute drive to Tanilba Bay Golf Club, which is one of the most improved courses in the Port Stephens area in recent years.

Horizons Golf Resort. PHOTO: Brendan James.

Tanilba Bay is a relatively flat walk – until you reach the short dogleg right par-4 15th, which plays over the crest of hill – and features two ‘burns’ that meet at a T-intersection in the heart of the sand-based course.

These water hazards come into play on 10 of the 18 holes, while several billabongs throughout the journey must also be avoided. The most devious of these can be found just short of the green on the short par-5 17th, which is reachable in two blows for most solid ball-strikers if they are willing to take the risk of not hitting into the pond that is no bigger than a medium-sized greenside bunker. It should also be noted that this hazard cannot be seen from back down the fairway, so I recommend your approach here should be aimed right of the flag.

Tanilba Bay also boasts some pretty good dogleg holes with the sweeping left par-5 3rd and the adjoining par-4s, the dogleg right 5th and 16th – being the best of them.

Next stop on this Hunter tour is the hub of the Port Stephens holiday playground, Nelson Bay. It should be no surprise, given the tourist appeal of the town, that Nelson Bay Golf Club is one of the most popular courses in the Hunter region.