With a Centenary year fast approaching, Brisbane’s Nudgee Golf Club is on the cusp of completing what is arguably the most exciting project in their long history.
Situated across Kedron Brook to the north of Brisbane Airport and a short distance from the Morton Bay foreshore, the club was established in 1930 and has been a breeding ground for great players ever since.
Among its host of champions, Nudgee includes the great Norman Von Nida, who appeared in the club’s first pennant winning team in 1931 at the age of 17, and would later turn professional and claim 48 victories worldwide in a tournament playing career spanning three decades. In recent years, the club has watched with pride as member Scott Hend has won on the European Tour three times and claimed 10 Asian Tour titles, as well as representing Australia at the Rio Olympics.
Exciting achievements for a club with such humble beginnings.
The original nine-hole course at Nudgee was laid out by a group of local golfing enthusiasts led by William Childs, a vigneron and owner of the land, which had long been used as a vineyard.
Nudgee remained a nine-hole layout until 1948 when adjoining parcels of land were purchased to help expand the course to 18 holes, which were completed in 1950. A third nine followed and was opened for play in 1964. Some of these holes were lost during the initial construction of the Gateway Arterial road in the late 1980s, but the State Government sold the club some land that led to the building of a second 18-hole layout, the South Course, which was opened in 1991.
But it would not be the last time the club would be affected by the major road running along its western boundary.
Nine holes were again lost back in 2014 when land was acquired by the Queensland Government to construct the expansion of the Gateway Motorway and roadside facilities to the west of the course. The complex was reduced to 27 holes but the Government’s decision to reimburse the club for the land acquisition has laid a financial platform for the current works that began a number of years ago.
With a Master Plan in place, work being undertaken by course designer James Wilcher will see 36 holes – to be known as The Kurrai and The Bulka courses - restored once again in the existing 88 hectares of space, necessitating a significant re-routing and construction phase to achieve the feat.
It’s to the club’s credit that they have undertaken this significant investment in their long-term future but equally noteworthy was their willingness to put their hands up to host a PGA Tour of Australasia event prior to the works being completed.
Only a few months ago, the club and PGA Tour of Australasia announced the Queensland PGA Championship would shift from Toowoomba to Nudgee’s The Kurrai layout and was there from January 20 to 23, with Anthony Quayle claiming the title by two strokes with 12 under.
The PGA represented Nudgee’s return to this stage for the first time since hosting consecutive Queensland Opens in 1998-99 and the club would have be proud of the strong field that assembled to test their skills on the new layout, given the scheduling of the event just a week after the Australian PGA Championship is played a few kilometres down the road at Royal Queensland Golf Club.
Most of the field would have been astonished at the transformation occurring.
The former North and South layouts had, what one member bluntly described as, ‘Pancake flat’ greens, fairly basic bunkering and nary a water hazard in sight, save for the large dam that will catch errant tee shots to the right of the 1st hole.
Today, the panorama from the clubhouse showcases the amount of work that has been undertaken to establish both water catchments for irrigation purposes and to add character, challenge and definition to holes on what is largely a flat tract of coastal land.
The added wetland areas and new plantings of native plants and grasses is evidence of the club’s commitment to their environmental responsibilities as they transform their courses. There is almost as much information on the club’s website dedicated to paying care and attention to the local flora and fauna as there is to detailing the golf courses proper.
Aside from the 1st hole, the adjacent dogleg 10th will be an exacting test plunging more than 400 metres to the green with at least a 250-metres carry, from the back markers, to cross water on the corner. More conservative plays out to the right to avert the threat of the penalty area will result in a challenging approach from upward of 150 metres into a well bunkered green.
A number of holes forming The Bulka Course remain under construction with the finished 36 holes expected to be opened by April 2022, weather permitting.
The Bulka Course is laid out over the eastern section of the property closest to Moreton Bay and will be maintained primarily as a slightly shorter but ‘fun’ 18 for social and corporate play. Club officials were quick to point out, however, that the course would still be an excellent test of golf and with similar design characteristics, providing options to mix and match nines between both courses.
With an exciting masterplan in place and the promise of greater facilities to come, it’s no surprise that playing membership numbers have swollen to more than 1,000 in recent times, although seven-day memberships have been temporarily paused until the golf courses are completed.
“It’s a thinker’s, ball-striking golf course now, whereas in the old days, it used to be blast away. You’ve really got to golf your ball out here now." – PGA professional, Matt Guyatt.
The Master Plan and vision for the club’s future were the catalyst for PGA Tour of Australasia professional Matt Guyatt’s decision to apply to join the professional staff at Nudgee when the opportunity arose.
“When the job came up here, I applied as I thought the project was going to be phenomenal’.” Guyatt said, “I thought the golf course in the long run would be good enough to host a professional event in the next five years.
“I tell people all the time that it’s very much Melbourne style golf in Brisbane, The way the green complexes have been designed, you now have to understand where the flag is located from the tee so you can position yourself correctly to get to it.”
Guyatt’s words rang true as example after example played out as the round unfolded. A case in point was the short 9th hole on The Kurrai, a ‘risk reward; par-4 for many players from all but that very back tees but with several conservative lines available for players not willing to go all-in at a green heavily protected by water at the front and left.
The pin position absolutely dominates the strategy from the tee, as many players come to realise the closer they get to the green. With a pin cut on the right, nearest the gaping bunker, the longer the layup out to the right, the shorter but more delicate the pitch or flop shot needs to be just to stay on the green. Laying up short of the water, however, will leave close to 100 metres in a direct line up the green avoiding the bunker. If the pin is cut further left or to the front, the more aggressive the tee shot can be.
Wilcher’s redesign of the longer holes seeks to pose similar questions to players regardless of their ability. A number of menacing centreline bunkers will tempt long hitters to fly them to set up shorter approach shorts, however there are lines to the left, right and short of the bunkers that are equally plausible tee shot strategies. Again, some awareness of the nuances of the green complex ahead and where possible, the flag position, should drive your decision making.
Depending on mowing lines that are employed, there are lines from certain tees that will provide the best approach into greens that angle in certain directions. Undulations in some fairways partially obscure potential hazards ahead and the use of some quite dramatic and expansive bunkering sets up a number of blind approach shots that will require a little local knowledge.
However, it’s the green complexes and the size and shapes of the bunkering that are at the heart of the transformation of each course. The former ‘pancake-flat greens’ have well and truly been consigned to yesteryear with every green on the property now featuring varying degrees of movement and undulation, some fairly moderate and others more severe in nature.
There are sections of greens that will inspire many interesting pin positions where a little thought and good execution will result in balls feeding in toward the flags, Conversely, slightly miscued approach shots can be repelled if they pitch in the wrong spot and missing some of the greens on the short side will prove devilishly difficult with many sharp run off areas and greenside embankments to contend with.
“Once you know where to hit it, it’s certainly gettable but the par-5s in particular are really challenging off the championship tees,” Guyatt added, “You’ve probably got to be able to carry it 255 metres to cover some water hazards or they absolutely become a three-shot hole.
“With the direction of the holes too, there will be some that will be in reach in two, depending on the ever-present wind, but that means the others will not be as they generally run in the opposite direction.
“It’s a thinker’s, ball-striking golf course now, whereas in the old days, it used to be blast away. You’ve really got to golf your ball out here now.”
Over recent months as additional holes progressively opened for play, the Golf Operations team have been kept busy changing up the offerings to members and guests by incorporating different nine and 18 layouts from a combination of holes from across both courses. As the year draws to a close, there will be less than a handful of holes remaining that are still to be renovated in full.
Once the finishing touches are complete, when all 36 holes are open and the changes bed in over the growing season ahead, Nudgee’s members won’t know themselves with two ‘new’ courses of quality and variety at their disposal every day.
It’s taken a number of years but Brisbane will soon have a new ‘must play’ destination to explore at an historic venue in Nudgee.
FACT FILE
LOCATION: 1207 Nudgee Rd, Nudgee, Queensland.
CONTACT: (07) 3267 7744.
WEBSITE: www.nudgeegolf.com.au
DESIGNER: James Wilcher (redesign 2021).
PLAYING SURFACES: TifEagle (greens), wintergreen couch (fairways), Zoysia matrella (bunker surrounds).
COURSE SUPERINTENDENT: Peter Culross.
PGA PROFESSIONALS: Shayn Barham, Matt Guyatt, Gary Warburton,
Mitch McComas.
GREEN FEES: $40 (weekdays); $50 (weekends). Carts $40.
FACILITIES: Two 18-hole golf courses – The Kurrai (par-72, 6,394m) and The Bulka (par-70, 5,727m). Two putting greens, driving range and on-site PGA tuition.
ACCOLADES: Host of the 2022 Queensland PGA Championship. Ranked No.88 in Golf Australia Magazine’s Top-100 Public Access Courses in Australia.
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