For 100 years, the Great Ocean Road has been the gateway to one of the most iconic and beautiful coastlines in Australia, perhaps the world. And if you want to take in these breathtaking sights, we suggest you take your golf clubs with you.
Victoria’s Great Ocean Road is famous as a spectacular touring route that boasts some of the most beautiful coastal scenery in the world. Home to quaint seaside towns, white sandy beaches, rainforests, bushland and an abundance of native wildlife – the Great Ocean Road is not just a beautiful driving destination, but the ideal location to experience the great outdoors.
Many, for example, choose to venture along the Great Ocean Walk, from Apollo Bay to the magnificent 12 Apostles, which weaves through beautiful parks, deserted beaches and rugged coastline. Others, find their own way to soak in the amazing natural attractions and also reserve time to play some of the wonderful golf courses along the route between Torquay – about 80 minutes’ drive from Melbourne’s Westgate Bridge – and west to Port Fairy.
THE SANDS TORQUAY
The Sands Torquay is aiming to re-establish itself as one of the premier golf courses in the region after the resort and golf course were sold in February last year to former Morgan and Stanley executive Jack Dahan.
The sale came after several years of decline under the previous owners – a group of Chinese companies – who ultimately went into administration in July 2020 before receivers sold the property.
Investment in the Stuart Appleby and International Management Group-designed layout has begun and significant improvement is already noticeable.
Bunkering at The Sands is a real and significant feature, not just for the number of them but also the deception of distance created by the placement of many of the sandy hazards. While some bunkers have been filled since the course opened in 2004, you will do well to go through a round here without getting some sand in your shoes.
RACV TORQUAY RESORT
Perched within the backdrop of the Torquay and Jan Juc beaches, RACV Torquay Resort is set on an expansive course with spectacular ocean views and direct beach access.
The 18-hole links-style layout was extensively redesigned by Geoff Ogilvy and Mike Clayton in 2013 and features wide couch fairways, fescue roughs, wetlands and ocean views.
Firm conditions and the ever-present wind, which goes hand-in-hand with its coastal location, encourage the links-style ground game and Ogilvy/Clayton’s creation takes this into account. For example, the simple bunkering is relatively small but in many cases the surrounds are contoured to feed balls into the sand. The greens feature subtle slopes and are receptive to running shots, especially played from the correct side of the fairway.
Four holes on the front nine are played around a large salt marsh that has been created to help with drainage and improve the look of the layout.
ANGLESEA GOLF CLUB
Located at the eastern gateway to the Great Ocean Road, Anglesea is a picturesque seaside town that really swells in population during the summer months.
One of the favourite attractions for tourists is the Anglesea course – a wonderful par-73 layout, which is also home to hundreds of Eastern Grey kangaroos (you can even book a family tour of the course to view the kangaroos).
For golfers the real attraction is the Vern Morcom-designed layout, which features gum tree-lined fairways and bunkering that looks remarkably similar to those found on Melbourne’s famous Sandbelt courses.
RIGHT: Anglesea features Sandbelt style bunkering on the other side of Victoria. PHOTO: Brendan James.
There are more than 40 bunkers scattered around the course and they have been well positioned to add to the challenge of the design that twists and turns across the undulating terrain.
Your score can really be made or broken on the front nine. There are three par-5s and a short par-4 that present birdie opportunities for better players but stern tests occur in between.
The most difficult par-3 at Anglesea is the 176-metre uphill 6th hole, where good scoring over the opening five holes can come to a halt with poor club selection or a mis-hit here. A narrow opening between the front bunkers allows you to run a tee shot onto the green, which slopes markedly from right to left.
The par-5 8th hole is a definite birdie chance for most players. At 461 metres, the hole doglegs sharply left and plunges downhill before rising again on approach to the green. There are two definite playing lines en route to the green. Longer hitters can drive over the tree line down the left side, while other players can stick to the right but they need to avoid a sandy wasteland and a fairway bunker.
LORNE COUNTRY CLUB
With its fresh sea air, white beaches and relaxed Mediterranean atmosphere, Lorne has been attracting holiday makers for more than a century.
Whether you’re staying overnight or just passing through, take time out to wander down Lorne’s main shopping strip, which features boutiques, cellars, fine cafes and restaurants.
Lorne Country Club, which opened for play in 1968, is perched high above the town and affords spectacular views across Louttit Bay and the Southern Ocean from the clubhouse and various parts of course.
The nine-hole layout – which is home to an array of native fauna, including kangaroos, kookaburras and koalas – weaves its way up and down as well as across the hillside beneath the clubhouse and there are few, if any, genuine flat lies thus adding to the challenge of hitting straight shots into the small greens.
Lorne’s most memorable hole opens the round. The 480-metre par-5 climbs to the top of a small rise and the best driving line over the crest is marked for your convenience. Once over the hill, the fairway sweeps down and to the right bringing the green, and the ocean off in the distance, into view.
Lorne boasts three very different par-3s adding to the fun of a round here. The uphill 143-metre 2nd is a gem, with a terraced green that 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 putting surface, otherwise a tough up-and-down will follow.
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.
APOLLO BAY GOLF CLUB
When en route to the 12 Apostles, stop into the beautiful seaside village of Apollo Bay located at the foothills of the mighty Otway Ranges. Hit the waters of the Southern Ocean or enjoy the fruits of the sea caught by local fishermen.
Apollo Bay is the ideal base to explore the famous 12 Apostles as well as the surrounding Otway National Park. But there is also a beautiful nine-hole layout – laid out on easy-walking terrain across Point Bunbry – where you can satisfy your golfing desires with most holes offering a view over nearby Boat Harbour and on to the bay.
Links golf has been played at Apollo Bay for 99 years. It is raw and exciting, which also makes a round here a lot of fun.
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, Peterborough offers nine-holes across stunning ocean side land where a million-dollar view accompanies every shot you play.
It is a links with fast-running and gently undulating fairways, while the greens feature wide, uninterrupted frontages that allow you to bump and run your shots beneath the wind. There are also several ‘punchbowl’ greens – like that to be found on the 2nd hole – where a slight mis-hit might find a generous bounce back towards the middle of the putting surface.
This feature isn’t the only ‘old school’ design trait you will see here. There are some crossover holes as well as two tee shots that require hitting over the Peterborough street that lines the edge of the course.
Like Apollo Bay, Peterborough is a raw links experience. The layout occupies a thin wedge of land between the town and the rugged coastline, with two holes – the 2nd and 6th – laid within metres of the cliff-tops. At the 6th, a 140-metre tee shot must be played across the edge of the ocean to find the green.
WARRNAMBOOL GOLF CLUB
Warrnambool is the largest town to be found along what is known as the ‘Shipwreck Coast’, based on the 180 plus ships that have come to grief along the rugged stretch of coastline.
Located just 12km from the western end of the Great Ocean Road, the town covers a plateau behind a steep bluff overlooking Lady Bay and the surrounding terrain has given rise to a wonderful course.
The majority of the layout covers landscape formed by sand dunes, while the routing is predominantly lined by coastal ti-tree.
The highlights of the course are on the front nine with the two short par-4s – the 311-metre 4th and 327-metre 5th holes – being the most memorable.
The 4th demands a well-struck tee shot – perhaps with a fairway wood – to ensure you find the short grass and avoid the out-of-bounds to the right. A large dune blocks your view to the elevated green from the right half of the fairway, so an approach from the left is a better line. Correct club selection from the fairway is vital as shots that fall short will roll back down the fairway, and long shots can run into trees and scrub.
The 5th hole is a gem. The elevated tee not only offers ocean views but it leaves you in doubt that a mis-hit drive away from the narrow fairway will result in a lost ball as thick scrub and trees line both sides of the fairway all the way to the green. This hole might be short but it demands precision hitting, even from the fairway with a short iron as the green slopes markedly from back to front.
The course’s presentation has reached a very high standard in recent years as a result of the club securing a long-term source of recycled water to irrigate the layout. More improvements off the course are also on the way, with plans for a new clubhouse given the green light and construction is now due to start within a few months.
PORT FAIRY GOLF CLUB
While the Warrnambool course offers the occasional glimpse of the sea, the links layout at Port Fairy – just 20 minutes’ drive to the west – takes you so close to the water you can feel the spray on your face some days.
Port Fairy’s natural setting encapsulates all the endearing qualities of the great links layouts of Britain and Ireland with wild windswept holes rolling between and over sand dunes.
Port Fairy would not be out of place on the east coast of Scotland or along an isolated beach in north-western Ireland. Instead, it is 300 kilometres west of Melbourne on a stretch of coastline seemingly purpose built by Mother Nature to be home to a links course.
Routed along rows of rolling unspoilt sand dunes, Port Fairy is a classic links where no two days on course are the same, thanks to the wind, but the golf is fun, not brutal.
Golf has been played on the present site since 1963, even though the Port Fairy Golf Club was first founded in 1901. It was a nine-hole layout for more than 20 years before expanding to 18 holes in 1985. In 2000, the club commissioned Mike Clayton to oversee any further changes to the layout and he has been advising them ever since.
The improvement in the design and quality of the playing surfaces at Port Fairy during the past two decades has seen it rise to become one of Australia’s finest layouts. In January this year, it was No.28 in Golf Australia magazine’s Top-100 Courses ranking.
It is easy to see why golfers from near and far have been inspired to make the journey to this relatively remote par-72 by the sea. The golf aside, there are awesome views of the Southern Ocean from several holes and between June and October it is possible to see whales breaching just offshore.
The front nine holes have been laid among the dunes furthest from the beach and run predominantly east and west. The one exception is the 122-metre par-3 8th that is played to the north and is easily affected by the prevailing south westerly winds blowing high struck tee shots to the right of the green and two deep bunkers.
Port Fairy’s most exciting holes are incorporated into the stretch from the par-3 11th to par-4 16th. The ocean comes into view for the first time as you walk onto the tee of the 465-metre par-5 12th. It is a straightforward three-shotter with out-of-bounds on the beach to the right of the fairway and tall Marram grass rough to the left. The key here is not to be distracted by the view and keep your shots low out of the wind.
The toughest of Port Fairy’s holes is the 408-metre par-4 14th where, again, out-of-bounds lines the right of the fairway. When the wind is blowing hard off the sea from the right it might be necessary to hit your drive out over the boundary fence to allow the wind to bring back into the middle of the fairway. The second shot here is breathtaking. It doesn’t get much better than having to play any number of clubs (depending on the wind strength) from a downhill lie to a small green set against a Southern Ocean backdrop.
A spectacular redesign of the 178-metre par-3 15th in 2006 changed the direction of the hole to run along the coastline and it has proven to be a masterstroke. The 15th has now become the hardest par-3 on the course and is widely regarded as one of the best one-shot holes in Victoria.
Generally, the playing conditions here are firm and fast and being able to control your ball close to the ground and out of the wind is vital for good scoring – just like playing the revered links courses of Great Britain and Ireland.
WHERE TO STAY
ALLOGGIO & GREAT OCEAN ROAD HOLIDAYS
Alloggio’ in Italian means accommodation, and that’s what they do.
Alloggio is the leading consolidator of short-term holiday accommodation in Australia, including along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road.
If you are looking for Great Ocean Road accommodation, look no further. Alloggio’s reach extends the length of the road from holiday homes in Torquay, to little beach shacks in Anglesea, sprawling luxury family homes in Aireys Inlet and cosmopolitan apartments in Lorne. Then there are warm fireplaces in Wye River to salty, sun drenched balconies in Apollo Bay – every possible taste and budget is covered.
Great Ocean Road Holidays professionally manage more than 600 holiday home accommodation rentals in Aireys Inlet, Anglesea, Lorne, Apollo Bay, Fairhaven, Wye River and more. They have operated for more than 40 years and guarantee the best price and even better service.
Some properties include:
Kilolo
Multiple pavilions combine beautifully to provide intimate spaces within a home of enormous proportions, boasting uninterrupted views to Lorne and out to the Southern Ocean.
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom residence (pictured above) has been meticulously crafted using handpicked material and recycled timber. Featuring stone bench tops, floor to ceiling glass, exposed beams and ornate tiling the residence has been completed to a standard seldom seen. An open kitchen, living, dining space, open onto the spacious ocean facing deck.
www.greatoceanroadholidays.com.au/accommodation/greatoceanroad-kilolo/
Narriyu
Nestled within the Otway forests, hidden high on a ridge with spectacular views as far as the eye can see, this Tony Hobba-designed property (pictured above) will take your breath away. Providing rarefied seclusion yet located only minutes from Aireys Inlet surf, shops and cafes, Narriyu is as much a luxurious exclusive retreat as it is a beach house.
www.greatoceanroadholidays.com.au/accommodation/greatoceanroad-narriyu/
The Pole House
The Pole House is widely known as the most photographed house on the Great Ocean Road.
Suspended 40 metres above Fairhaven Beach, the Pole House is one of Australia’s most iconic homes. Recently renovated, the Pole House now adds a luxurious modern setting to a holiday experience. Picture yourself waking to the sound of crashing waves, opening your eyes to find yourself suspended above the most spectacular coastline in the country.
www.greatoceanroadholidays.com.au/accommodation/greatoceanroad-the-pole-house
PETERBOROUGH HOUSE
Located in the idyllic coastal village of Peterborough, at the mouth of the Curdies River on the Great Ocean Road, Peterborough House is the perfect destination for your next golf getaway.
The newly refurbished motel accommodation has a range of light and spacious rooms that take advantage of the beautiful gardens. You can enjoy the perfect balance of relaxation and access to the area’s stunning sites, coastal walks, beaches and, of course, the cliff-top golf course.
All guests have laundry facility access, as well as access to the enclosed, expansive garden and beautiful pavilion, the perfect spot for a morning coffee, afternoon reading session or post-round beverage.
WHERE TO PLAY
THE SANDS, TORQUAY
Green fees: $60 (18 holes, off-peak times), $70 (peak times)
www.thesandstorquay.com
RACV TORQUAY RESORT
Green fees: $74 (18 holes, off-peak times), $85 (peak times). Discounts for RACV members.
www.racv.com.au
ANGLESEA GC
Green fee: $60 (18 holes, weekdays), $65 (weekends).
www.angleseagolfclub.com.au
LORNE CC
Green fee: $35 (18 holes).
www.lornecountryclub.com.au
APOLLO BAY GC
Green fee: $25 (all day ticket).
www.apollobaygolfclub.org.au
PETERBOROUGH GC
Green fee: $20 (all day ticket), $60 (weekly ticket).
Phone: (03) 5598 5245
WARRNAMBOOL GOLF CLUB
Green fee: $49 (18 holes), $15 (juniors under 18).
www.warrnamboolgolf.com.au
PORT FAIRY GOLF LINKS
Green fee: $59 (18 holes, Sunday to Friday), $69 (Saturday).
www.portfairygolf.com.au
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