Phillip Island is about two hours’ drive south of Melbourne and is internationally famous for two things – its motor racing circuit and the daily march of penguins that waddle ashore at sunset.
The circuit has hosted motor racing events like the Australian MotoGP, World Superbike Championship and the V8 Supercar Series, which showcased the small island to tens of millions of TV viewers worldwide.
The penguin parade spectacle, which is one of Australia’s most popular attractions, can be seen at nearby Summerland Beach, which was also the original home of the Phillip Island Golf Club – a true links layout covering a sand dune landscape that, at that time in the 1920s, drew favourable comparisons with the Barwon Heads course on the Bellarine Peninsula.
The club later moved to a more tree-lined address, but there is still a place on Phillip Island where you can get your fix of links golf – the superb nine-hole par-3 course, Red Rocks Golf Course.
Chances are you haven’t heard much, if anything at all, about Red Rocks, which is the new name of the formerly known Aussie Golf Ranch, which opened for play in 2007.
The ranch was the brainchild of PGA professional Rohan Walker, who dreamed of building and operating a golf course. His plan was to build a course where he could teach kids the basics of the game whilst also providing a challenging layout for golfers of all abilities.
“I wanted to be able to walk out my back door onto ‘my’ golf course,” Walker told Golf Australia magazine in a 2012 interview. “Ever since the first time I picked up a club I dreamed of having my own course.”
In late 2005, he found 23 acres of coastal dunes, about 100 metres from a secluded sandy beach on Red Rocks Bay and just a few minutes’ drive west of Cowes. Renowned course designer Ross Watson – who had just overseen the construction of the highly-ranked Magenta Shores Golf & Country Club on NSW’s Central Coast – was commissioned to design the par-3 course.
Construction to USGA specifications began in July 2006 and for the next eight weeks more than 250,000 cubic metres of dirt and sand were moved and sculpted, primarily to create the extensive wetlands that now feature across the course.
Unfortunately, the drought that gripped south-eastern Australia that year left Walker with little to no water for the man-made wetlands, his main source of irrigation for growing in the playing surfaces. He had to wait more than year before the course could be officially opened for play.
Today, the layout known as the ‘Saltwater Creek’ course, is nine holes covering 1,324 metres from the back markers. There are three teeing options on each hole with the shortest course just 984 metres.
The links has nearly 20 bunkers, the wetlands of Saltwater Creek meanders throughout and grass-covered mounds surround each green. The G2 bentgrass greens have plenty of movement and are superbly kept.
A round here opens gently enough with a 103-metre offering which is played across the wedge of wetlands to a peanut-shaped putting surface that lies diagonally to your approach and features two bunkers long left and right.
Arguably the toughest of the one-shotters at Red Rocks is the 162-metre 2nd, which is flanked by wetlands to the left for the entire journey between tee and green. Miss the large putting surface left or long and your ball will be wet, miss to the right and you are likely to find a bunker.
For mine, the highlight of the layout is Watson’s ‘homage’ to the famous Redan hole at Scotland’s North Berwick. The 145-metre 4th features a bunker set into the front of the kidney-shaped putting surface and a second bunker through the back of the green. The shape of the green allows approach shots to hit the front left and feed right towards any flag hidden behind the front trap.
To compliment the Saltwater course, there is also a very good nine-hole pitch and putt course, with fast sloping greens, that is just 348 metres with the shortest hole being just 22 metres. There is also a fun mini-golf course.
Walker sold the ranch in early 2023 and the new owners – Melbourne-based property developers, Moda Corp – are planning to create more facilities to enhance the golfing experience.
The ‘barn’ pro shop and on course accommodation has already been extensively refurbished with modern touches, while the courses continue to be nicely presented. The courses were created to provide both the beginner with an easy and fun introduction to golf while also challenging the better player. Mission accomplished.
FACT FILE
LOCATION: Settlement Rd, Cowes, Victoria.
CONTACT: (03) 5919 0019.
WEBSITE: www.redrocksgolf.com.au
DESIGNER: Ross Watson (2007).
PLAYING SURFACES: G2 bentgrass (greens), Santa Ana couch (fairways, tees), fescue (green aprons).
GREEN FEES: $23 (nine holes).
ACCOMMODATION: Red Rocks has been beautifully renovated and provides the opportunity to stay in luxury right on the course and just a short walk (300 metres) to Red Rock Beach or Cowes Beach (800 metres). To enquire about vacancies and packages, email lana@redrocksgolf.com.au
ACCOLADES: Listed in Golf Australia magazine’s best Australian short courses 2021.
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