Golf courses that deserve more attention
Here are our 2022 hidden gem golf courses that deserve more recognition. Many are in areas that we golf tour to, some not but we discovered them on business trips where we fitted in a sneaky round and were more than pleasantly surprised. I must say given a wet year, I was very often lucky to fit in those rounds and avoid the wet weather that seemed to surround golf this year. However if you are in the area for the summer holidays and you have the golf clubs in the back, give these courses a go. You will be surprised.
It may sit in the shadow of it’s more well known Hunter Valley cousins in The Vintage and Cypress Lakes but Hunter Valley is a strong test of golf. It may start off innocuously enough with two short par 4’s and you are thinking resort course for everybody. But then it changes with the 4th, a 170m water carry par 3. The 5th is a 400m par 4 with OB on the left and the 6th of 347m is first, a 190 metre water carry from the back tee. This is all a dress rehearsal for the 7th which is a 392 m hole with fairway bunkers guarding the tee shot and a pond stopping any ideas of running a fairway wood or hybrid up to the green. The back nine continues to be tight and demanding and you are left with the feeling this is not an easy rest round from the other two courses in the area. Check out on this link for ideas we have for Hunter Valley itineraries.
Braidwood Golf Club
It may only be a 9 holer but if you are coming down by a road to Canberra for a golf trip it is well worth a diversion as a warm up round. Braidwood is a pretty, tight course on the edge of a National Trust listed town. Parked on a hillside sliding down to a creek, it is like playing in New Zealand with avenues of pine trees and sheep grazing in the distant.It has everything . Long par 5’s , tight part 4’s and idyllic par 3’s . Well worth the trip for the golf and the novelty. Check out our ideas for Canberra golf tour itineraries and how you could include this gem.
The Island Course, Nambucca Heads
It may not have the grandeur and exacting nature of Hamilton Island’s golf course but it is a unique experience playing golf in the middle of a river. Nambucca Head’s Island Course is a must particularly if you are going on a golf trip to the Coffs Coast. As you cross the stoney bridge you are struck that the golf course takes up the whole of Stuart Island. The golf course, designed by Ross Watson in 1989 is also well worth the side trip. After that first tee shot where the swelling Nambucca River welcomes any errant hook shot, the course is actually a twisting layout around bunkers and wetlands. Although not long at 5130m in total length with six par 3’s and three par 5’s, it keeps you interested and honest throughout the whole journey. See how we incorporate it into a Capital Bucketlist trip to the Coffs Coast.
Sandy Links
Hey, want that Melbourne sandbelt experience without feeling you have to take the kids’ holiday money away from them? Ensconced in Melbourne’s southeast suburbs and right across the road from Royal Melbourne, is a formerly forlorn public course called Sandringham. However in recent years it has been rejuvenated with a rebranding, a redesign by OCM , the PGA and Golf Australia building their headquarters there as well as a training facility and driving range. The course maintenance is done by the staff at Royal Melbourne so like it’s illustrious neighbour, you get wide fairways but bouncy hard greens and approaches at public golf course green fee rates. There are no par 5’s at Sandy Links so as to keep the flow of golfers moving. Like RM, it is the shot into the greens and where they land that dictates whether you stay on the green or are 30m away. Sandy Links got a rating with a bullet on this year’s Australian Golf Digest Top 100 with a 58.
Southern Golf Club
Would probably take our prize as our favourite course played for 2022. Southern Golf Club in Melbourne’s sandbelt gets little attention but is well deserving of more. Not as bouncy as Sandy Links but still firm, it has two distinct nines. The front nine is flat and skirts around classic sandbelt bunkering and something different from other courses in the area, wetlands! The second nine is underlating and treelined with tight approaches to greens. Should be in AGD’s Top 100 like it’s neighbour Spring Valley is. Very little difference between them. Also the green fees are reasonable for a course of this standard in a major metropolitan city.
Cobram-Barooga Golf Club
Never seems to get the publicity that other courses on the Murray receive but this 36 hole layout is one of the best on the Murray. Although not as long as for example as Corowa or Black Bull, it has the attraction of two circuts which differ from each other. This is not always the case on the Murray. The Old Course is a mostly open grassland, undulating course with pine trees and red bunkers. You almost feel that you have been teleported to Royal Adelaide. The West Course is a journey closer to the River Murray through tall forests and around ponds and creeks. Well worth putting on a trip itinerary. See how we have included it on our Murray River golf tours page.
Gungahlin Lakes Golf Club
Gungahlin Lakes creates a galvanised opinion amongst Canberrans. Some find it annoying to play because of some of it’s short par 4’s, others love it’s challenging holes and easier holes. However it is very popular course amongst our clients this year and despite being a flat course, has been a fallback because of it’s drainage. However one cannot deny the improvement in it’s playing surfaces. It’s greens have become firm and the different slopes within them, have come into play. The last three holes are a fine finishing stretch and the 16th with it’s water carry is still one of the toughest par 5’s in Canberra. Check out how we suggest to incorporate it on a golf week to Canberra.
Palm Meadows Golf Course
The Graham Marsh designed course on the Gold Coast does not seem to get much of a mention these days. Back in the 1980’s with Greg Norman playing and winning the Palm Meadows Cup, it was part of the new breed of courses on the “Goldie”. However other courses have come and surpassed it . However it is still a very enjoyable course to play with a combination of wide and tight holes and a dramatic finishing hole in the par 5 18th. It is also fun playing around the palm trees which are not going to spread and encroach like a gum tree does. Also in the cooler months, the putting surfaces are a very firm Bermuda which can make the short game interesting.
Kurri Golf Club
Situated in the Hunter Valley town of Kurri Kurri, this golf course can be a good break on a Hunter Valley golf trip with us from the championship courses in other parts of the valley. It is a good tree lined, country course that winds its way over lakes and hills. The course conditioning is excellent with probably better greens than are at the resort courses in the area.
Port Macquarie Golf Club
Well worth a side trip if you are travelling by car up for a Coffs Coast golf trip with us. Wedged in close to the beach , 7km south of the city centre, Port Macquarie Golf Club reminds me of the topography of the Australian Golf Club in Sydney. Although not as long at under 5900m with a par of 71, it’s conditioning is almost up to the standard of the Kensington layout. Although there are a lot of straight holes, the wind, the lurking forests and well placed bunkering will keep you focused. If you can, put it on your itinerary.
