The past 20 years have been a bullish period for golf on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula.
New courses, extensively remodelled layouts and the world-class VicOpen Championship have put the peninsula on the global golfing map.
Portarlington is one of the region’s long-established clubs and in recent years it has emerged as a major player in the elevation of the Bellarine as a ‘must-visit’ for golfers near and far.
The club celebrated its centenary in 2009 but it has improved significantly since then and in January this year it debuted at No.63 in Golf Australia magazine’s Top-100 Public Access Courses ranking.
As I noted in that ranking: “Overlooked and underrated for several years, this Bellarine Peninsula gem makes its debut appearance in the Top-100 Public Access Courses ranking. Once you have picked your jaw off the floor over the quality of the fairways and greens, take a closer look at the design as there are some seriously good holes here. In fact, the closing six holes are worth the cost of the green fee alone.”
Fellow judge Paul Wilson added: “Portarlington is a little slice of the Melbourne Sandbelt on the peninsula, with visually attractive and intimidating bunkering as well as five-star quality couch fairways being the standout features of the layout.”
But Portarlington’s current high standing must have seemed like a pipe dream when the club was first established and then spent the best part of the next three decades moving to different sites around the town – from a six-hole waterside layout along The Esplanade in the centre of town to a nine-hole links near the then racecourse reserve on the western side of village. The latter was laid out in 1914 by then renowned Yarra Yarra Golf Club pro, Rowley Banks.
Financial struggles gripped the club during World War I and into the 1920s, but a permanent home on its current site was proposed and came into fruition in 1937. Fairways were carved out of the wattle trees and bracken fern with most of the material for the scrapes being gathered from a sand pit on the 6th fairway. The nine-hole oil and bluestone scrape course hosted its first rounds in September that year. The scrapes stayed in play for 20 years before all nine greens were converted to grass.
The club decided to expand to 18 holes in the early 1960s and, after purchasing adjoining land, approached the former curator at Point Lonsdale Golf Club, Eric Horne, to design the layout. He did the work for free and the full 18-hole layout was opened for play in 1963. He returned nearly a decade later to revise the layout when additional land became available. Further redesign was made again in the early 1980s.
But the most significant and beneficial changes to the layout came after the appointment in 1996 of the renowned Tony Cashmore as the club’s consulting course architect.
Bit-by-bit over the next 20 years, Cashmore oversaw his vision for the Portarlington layout. This has included the upgrading of all fairways to Santa Ana couch grass, the rebuilding of several greens as well as the reshaping of fairways and bunkers. Several new tee positions were created while a program of tree removal was implemented.
All of Cashmore’s extensive changes certainly improved the quality of the golfing experience at Portarlington. But it is the subtle tweaks to the layout since 2020, under advisement from consulting architects Neil Crafter and Paul Mogford, and the outstanding presentation of recent times that has seen the course surge into this magazine’s national ranking.
Portarlington is an easy-walking par-72 layout where the driving lines are relatively narrow between tall stands of trees on most holes. In fact, the only real respite from the woodlands comes late in the back nine at the 15th and 16th holes. Cashmore oversaw the removal of many trees between the two holes and put a scheme of bunkers between the two rolling fairways.
The woodlands on the second paddock – where you will find the stretch of holes from the 4th to the 8th – have been thinned out over the years leaving wider fairways laid out in between.
Portarlington is the type of course that is well-suited to players who hit their iron shots well. Accuracy off the tee is important but all approach shots need to be precise to avoid bunkers and trimmed slopes feeding your ball away from the green into rough.
A fine example of Portarlington’s demand for approach shot precision comes at the outset of your round. course opens with a genuine birdie chance. Measuring just 260 metres from the tips, the par-4 1st hole can be played many ways as it offers a wide fairway with a large bunker to the right being the only real concern from the tee. But from the width of the fairway, it is important to dial in your approach to a narrow and deep section of a huge expanse of double green, shared with the 10th hole, lying between two large bunkers. Most will have a short iron or wedge in hand for the shot, which needs to be pinpoint for distance and accuracy.
The par-3s at Portarlington are a definite highlight, which is not surprising considering Cashmore’s past involvement.
The 177-metre 2nd was one of Cashmore’s creations and what a gem it is. A snaking creek lines the left side of the hole and is only in play for the really bad mis-hit tee shot. The green is a big one with long breaks, while the right half of the putting surface is squeezed between two large bunkers – one short and another long. But it is the short-trimmed sloping surrounds, which have seemingly been influenced by the great set-ups of the Melbourne Sandbelt, that really impress here.
Another of the ‘newish’ holes is the par-3 5th with a large sloping green, a deep expansive bunker left and a pot bunker lying short and right. The putting surface is angled slightly to your approach and, while you might try and avoid the sandy hazards, a tee shot bouncing through the back of this green will leave a far more difficult recovery, especially from the tightly-mown areas.
These aren’t the only holes where you will recognise a little slice of the Sandbelt has made its way to the Bellarine. Some of the bunkering throughout the course would look right at home at there, while the green complexes and occasional stands of pine trees are reminiscent of what can be found across some of the Sandbelt’s famed layouts.
One such hole that fits the Sandbelt comparison is the 330-metre par-4 12th. This is a cracking hole which was born out of redevelopment work carried out on the course in 2012 and has evolved into one of Portarlington’s finest. This is a wonderful risk and reward hole where players looking for an easier second shot into the green need to navigate their way along the left edge of the fairway, which features three large bunkers and out-of-bounds lurks beyond the tree line. The green sits diagonally to your approach with big bunkers short and long of the wide putting surface. Adding to the challenge of the approach shot is the well-trimmed drop-off slopes left and right, which will repel any mis-hit into deeper grass well away from the green.
Portarlington doesn’t quite reach 6,000 metres in total from the tips but it doesn’t need to be any longer. In fact, there are plans to alter the current par-5 9th hole, which will take a few metres off what I think is already a challenging excursion.
And while the design has evolved into an always fun layout to play, it is the condition of the couch fairways and bentgrass greens that are the real showstopper and are a credit to long-time course superintendent Steve Burchett and his team.
FACT FILE
LOCATION: Hood Rd, Portarlington, Victoria.
CONTACT: (03) 5259 2492; (03) 5259 3361 (pro shop).
WEBSITE: www.port.golf
DESIGNERS: Eric Horne (1963), Tony Cashmore (1996-2020), Neil Crafter and Paul Mogford – Golf Strategies (2020 and ongoing).
PLAYING SURFACES: Bentgrass (greens), Santa Ana couch (fairways, tees).
COURSE SUPERINTENDENT: Steve Burchett.
PGA PROFESSIONALS: Matt Milne (head professional), Tyson Myers, Max Edmanson.
GREEN FEES: $55 (18 holes, weekdays), $65 (weekends).
MEMBERSHIP: There are plenty of membership options ranging from seven- and six-day memberships, through to lifestyle, intermediate, introductory and junior options. Check out the club’s website for more details.
ACCOLADES: Ranked No.63 in Golf Australia magazine’s Top-100 Public Access Courses for 2023.
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