REVIEW: Yarra Yarra Golf Club

Yarra Yarra's 11th hole is among the best par-3s in Australia. The green is as clever as it is confounding.

WORDS: DAMIAN SHUTIE PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID SCALETTI

Things are a little different at Yarra Yarra Golf Club.

From the moment you meander down the driveway to the clubhouse that looms before you like something out of a European billionaire’s property portfolio, you’ll discover that bucking the trend is often standard procedure here.

And that’s exactly how they like it.

With cynics forecasting the demise of golf clubs due to dwindling membership bases and a lack of juniors taking up the sport, it takes a bit of pluck to declare your club – while not immune to the woes afflicting other courses – is on an upward trend.

But that’s precisely what Yarra Yarra’s general manager Peter Vlahandreas does when spruiking his club’s fortunes and prospects, which, if his words hold true, would be the envy of most of Victoria’s golf clubs.

That’s despite the often-prevailing public perception that Yarra Yarra is perhaps one of the least celebrated layouts on Melbourne’s world famous Sandbelt.

For Vlahandreas, who crossed from Eastern Golf Club earlier this year after overseeing its operations relocation to the Yarra Valley for eight years, it’s all about service. More specifically, it’s about the kind of service that Yarra Yarra prides itself on, which few other clubs come close to emulating.

Vlahandreas pushes his belief that the club shouldn’t just be a place where members attend a couple of times a week for the sole purpose of swinging the sticks; it should be an experience that begins the moment you drive through the gates to the moment you leave the club.

“Clubs are all about escape, sense of belonging and pride of place,” he says.

“Yarra Yarra is entrenched in these beliefs; we have been for over one hundred years. We pride ourselves on our attention to detail and unique golfing experience that we provide each and every day for our members.”

The closing hole is a reachable uphill par-5.

It’s the little touches that set the club apart.

Yarra Yarra’s hospitality staff make it their business to know each member’s favourite beverage, so that it’s waiting for them when they retire to the club’s café, member’s bar or lounge.

And there’s a religiously adhered-to rule on competition days that requires all players to stop into the clubhouse for a coffee or a bite to eat at the halfway point of their round, until the next group wanders in. Again, it’s a place built on its people, and you don’t get to know them by ploughing through your round without stopping to smell the roses, or a latte.

The clubhouse itself is heritage listed, with Yarra Yarra having been founded in 1898 and its current site opened in 1928, and that storied past is something it proudly wears on every inch of its sleeves.

This is a club with a deep sense of golf’s history and its own place within it. A quick stroll through the clubhouse corridors provides a trip back in time that any sporting museum would be proud of.

The 15th is another fine par-3, featuring a split-level green.

There’s the scorecard of one of Yarra Yarra’s most esteemed honorary members, Stuart Appleby, from that famous round of 59 that won him the 2010 Greenbrier Classic on the US PGA Tour. There are glass cases full of memorabilia from the seven occasions the club has played host to the Women’s Australian Open, and also from the six Victorian Opens that have been contested on those same famed fairways.

Vlahandreas says the collection of photos and artifacts is lovingly tended by the club’s members, and rotated regularly to ensure that every aspect of the club’s past receives its due attention and recognition.

“Yarra Yarra is in a very unique position at the moment. Like most clubs we are looking at our future and what the next 50 years looks like for our club and members,” he says. “But we can’t go forward without understanding and appreciating our club’s rich history in Australian golf. It’s exciting times for us.”

Of course, the unapologetic focus on the all-round club experience is worth nothing if the course and the golf itself don’t cut it.

Having enjoyed a round at Yarra Yarra recently, we can report that while there are a number of ongoing improvements in the process of being carried out, the course deserves its place among Victoria’s elite golf destinations.

While far from the longest course on offer in the region, it’s a classic test of risk versus reward that’s designed to repay astute club and shot selection.

It’s also home to some of Australia’s most iconic holes, in particular the par-3 11th, which features majestic bunkering to guard most of the front and right of the green. It appears regularly on lists of the most revered one-shot holes in Australia, and deservedly so.

There’s also the par-4 5th, which delivers a classic example of the thought required to safely navigate most of Yarra Yarra’s challenges. Laying up with your second shot on a par-4 goes against almost every instinct, but with a cluster of bunkers 40 metres short of the green and more sand waiting on both the left and right sides of the putting surface, it’s perfectly reasonable to swallow your pride and hope you can knock your third shot close with a wedge.

For its sheer danger, you won’t forget the par-3 15th hole, either. Encircled by bunkers, the green is split by a tier to which no photo can do justice. Trust us – you don’t want to fly long when the flag is cut on the significantly lower front tier.

While the members here love their course, they’ll admit it has a little way to go before its former glory is fully realised. And with Vlahandreas and course superintendent Rod Tatt driving the restoration, we have little doubt they will get it there. Quickly.

Tatt, who spent five years restoring Woodlands Golf Club, says the course was almost incessantly tinkered with over the years, to the point that it had lost some of what made it so special in the first place.

His team is now in the process of re-establishing those unique qualities to make Yarra Yarra’s on-course experience as dynamic and memorable as it is off-course. That includes replacing the common couch fairways with Santa Ana to ensure year-round quality turf and playing surfaces.

“The past 12 months we have had two key areas of focus. First, restoring the quality of playing surfaces and getting them to a standard in which is expected of the Yarra Yarra membership,” says Tatt. “The second, the revegetation of indigenous heathland and grassland areas around the course that was originally intended by course designer, Alex Russell.”

I was pleasantly surprised at what Yarra Yarra had to offer on-course, and stunned by its clubhouse set-up and general attitude towards a holistic golf experience. It’s a fresh approach that appears to be paying dividends for a club that is undoubtedly different in so many ways when compared to its Melbourne Sandbelt neighbours.

My advice? Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. You will be impressed.

Fact File

THE COURSE

ADDRESS: 567 Warrigal Rd, Bentleigh East, Victoria.

CONTACT: (03) 9575 0575; www.yarrayarra.com.au

DESIGNER: Alex Russell (1928).

SLOPE RATINGS: Men: 130/124; women: 134/130.

PLAYING SURFACES: Couch/Santa Ana (fairways), Poa annua (greens).

COURSE SUPERINTENDENT: Rod Tatt.

PGA PROFESSIONAL: Andrew Bertram.

THE CLUB

MEMBERSHIP: Opportunities for membership are now available for Corporate, Adult and Young members. Full membership gives you access to every single aspect of Yarra Yarra. Contact the club or visit the website to find out about the joining process, membership options and the membership fee structure.

RECIPROCAL CLUBS: Yarra Yarra has a host of reciprocal clubs across Australia and internationally, as well as reciprocal rights the seven other Sandbelt courses. Visit the website for the full list of reciprocal clubs.

VISITING GOLFERS: Tee-times for international and interstate guests who are members of a golf club are available from Monday to Friday. All players must present a letter of introduction and handicap confirmation from their home club. Visit the website for the online request form or call the pro shop.

ACCOLADES: Yarra Yarra ranked No.37 in Golf Australia’s Top-100 Courses in Australia in 2014.