Yowani Country Club (Yowani is local aboriginal language for “northern place.”) has been a feature of Canberra’s northern suburbs since 1954. A new layout has just been opened after nearly 3 years of redesign and construction from Contour Golf and contractors. The question is will it work after redesigns of golf courses have had such a varied past?
Out with the old and in with the new
Yowani Country Club was originally a paddock on the corner of the Federal Highway and Northbourne Ave. Lyneham was then an outer northern suburb of Canberra and one of it’s famous residents was Steve Kilby, the lead singer of legendary Australian band, The Church who went to the local high school. Sullivan’s Creek which flows through the property, was an important water source for the first graziers who came to the area.
The original course was carved out by members and had sand greens and the clubhouse was old army huts. Then Scottish professional James Herd Scott was engaged to design a course. He had a hand in designing Federal Golf Club in Canberra but also had designed Monash and Eleanora in Sydney. The course matured into a tight, treelined course with water hazards laced throughout the layout. It become known as one of the toughest courses in Canberra and was one time rated in Australian Golf Digest’s Top 100.
But times were changing and in 2019 it was decided by the golf club to sell off some adjoining land by Northbourne Ave. and to have a redesign done. The course had become quite grown in and some of our clients described the former layout as “old fashioned” and “claustrophobic”. Contour Golf with lead architect Ben Davey won the tender for a redesign. Contour Golf is based in Melbourne and had built a strong business in Asia but was also doing redesign work in Australia at courses like Tasmanian, Mornington and Fairbairn in Canberra.
And now for something completely different...
The old course was a par 72 at over 6300m in length. The new course is a par 70 at 5558m off the white tees (significantly longer off the back plates). Some people might immediately think that it is a “sports course” with short par 4’s and lots of par 3’s. But that is not the case.
The immediate change you noticed from the first tee is that openess of the course. As seems to be the current trend with golf course design, a lot of trees have been removed. The first fairway is nearly a 80m wide! But then the approach shot to a well bunkered, kidney shaped green will sharpen your focus.
It is inevitable that you will run into a bunker at the new Yowani and the quality of the playing surfaces in the sand are a dramatic improvement on the old course. From holes 3 to 7 the new layout follows some of the fairways of the old course and it is some of my favourite stretches of holes on the course. The 4th hole is a 390m uphill par 4 from the back plates with a wonderfully positioned fairway bunker right where the bombers could land their balls. The green has been moved slightly further down the hill and it is like so many of the new greens, heavily contoured to make your short game challenging.
The 6th hole is the same routing as the old 7th . Still a dogleg around a water hazard to an elevated green. But the fairway has been slightly widened and the water hazard cleaned up and enlargened. Gone is the silly tree that use to sit in the middle of the bunker and trees have been removed to leave one of the most heavily contoured greens I have seen anywhere. The putting and chipping is going to be difficult around here!
The 7th follows the path of the old 8th and has been lengthened to make what is called a par 4/5 of 410m. It really plays like a par 5 with a lake interceding on the right to halt the progress of a shot veering that way and a large deep bunker at the front of the green.
Another fine stretch of holes is holes 10-13 with the opening shot of the back nine probably being the tightest tee shot on the course with a lake on the left and a grove of trees on the right. The lake continues to run down to the front of the green and one needs to be out on the fairway to make sure you can loft it over that watery grave.
The 11th follows a similar routing as the old 11th but is now a par 5 of nearly 480m from the back. Again the green awaits in the same position on the far side of the lake, with the fairway arching around it with you working out how much you can take you can take off if you are out of position. Something you had to do on the old 11th.
What follows is probably the signature hole of the course, the par 3 12th. Some course designers don’t like the idea of designating a signature hole (ie Gil Hanse) but golf porn sells memberships and golf rounds. And this hole of 125m is eye candy.
The 13th is another one of those par 4/5’s being 420m off the back. Tree lined but wide enough on both sides, a lake comes in from the left to protect a redan positioned and heavily contoured green. It is rated the hardest hole on the course.
The course finishes with a strong 17th par 5 of 480m which has table top green protected by a dry creek bed at the front. The 18th is a driveable par 4 of 279m but water on the left will beckon your ball all the way to the green if you are that brave and long!
The course is a combination of Rye, Kentucky Blue and Fescue fairways and Bent greens. The greens already run very true and the fairway grasses will keep the course green all year round.
Unlike the old course where the greens did not break much, the new greens are probably some of the most contoured greens within NSW/ACT outside of metropolitan Sydney. The opening up of the course has allowed you to get some wonderful vistas across the property. It at times felt like I was in a Japanese garden and I can see why Contour Golf is a popular designer in Asia.
The only point for improvement is that I would like to have seen a few more well placed fairway bunkers like there is at the 4th. This I believe would make driving at some holes more interesting.
Wait there is more! A new clubhouse.
With the sale of the land by Northborne Ave, a new club house site had to be found. A new site was found near what is already a sporting precinct with the National Hockey Centre and the Canberra Tennis Centre (where Nick Kyrios used to train) nearby. Unfortunately that land did have some asbestos contamination which had to be reclaimed.
But what has been built is fabulous new two storey clubhouse which has been wonderfully fitted out. Upstairs there is a bar and bistro along with conference rooms. There is also a great 19th hole view over the final hole and the course from a range of comfortable seating within the building and out on a verandah.
Yowani Country Club is now again part of the rich tapestry of golf in the national capital. It adds another sample of quality golf course design and construction to what is already a varied palette in Canberra. Contact us through the button below if you want us to put together an itinerary that will excite your group about a golf tour to Canberra!
