Address: 189 Hidden Valley Boulevard, Hidden Valley
Number of Holes: 18
19th Hole: Yes
Motorized Carts: Yes
Cost: 18 — $40 (weekday); 18 — $50 (weekend)
First off I would like to thank the kind folks out at Hidden Valley for allowing us to review the course at no charge, it a shame the weather didn’t play ball.
According to the Hidden Valley Publicity department …
“Hidden Valley is on land in Wallan that was originally owned by the late Robert Holmes a Court. Holmes a Court used the property then named Heytesbury Estate with a view to turning it into a world-class thoroughbred stud. Before the West Australian entrepreneur died in 1990, he sank $40 million into making the rolling pastures fit his dream. The lavish family homestead was converted with a minimum of fuss into the Hidden Valley clubhouse, complete with formal dining rooms, bars and conference facilities.”
Hidden Valley have the best facilities that I have seen at any golf course. The locker room has plenty of room with showers, complementary sunscreen, even a sauna. The staff & friendly & helpful & the food & drinks in the spikes bar reasonably priced. There is a swimming pool, tennis courts & an equestrian centre.
Couple of things to keep in mind when planning a round of golf here. First off there are members only times on the weekends. On Saturday’s it is members only until 12:30. On Sunday there are two blocks of times set aside for members. They are from first light until 8:30 & then from 11:00 until 12:30.
Also there is a dress code that is enforced. You must wear a collared shirt & dress pants. If you wear golf shoes only soft spikes are allowed on course.
Now for the golf.
From the start you can tell that Hidden Valley is a well maintained course. As you approach the 1st tee your pass between two large lion statutes that appear to be guarding the course. The fairways are in top condition, the sand in the bunkers is of good quality & the greens run true. When we played the fairways were pretty firm so your ball got a good run on, it looked like they had been poisoning some weeds so the fairways looked at little patchy in places but I sure that it’s not the norm.
On the front nine there were a couple of hole that stood out in my mind. The first of which is the par 3 4th. It’s only a short par 3, but with trees on both the left & the right, it’s a hole you have to play straight. The par 5 8th has out of bounds down the left & water down the right. It starts off with a relatively open fairway but closes in with trees on both sides as you approach the green. The last hole on the front nine is the par 3 9th. Again it is a short par 3, but you have to tee off over water to the green. With the Clubhouse behind the green, it is a nice looking hole.
The back nine in my opinion (& Neil’s) is the better of the two. Again the back nine begins by passing between two lion statues. There a number of holes that are worthy of mention but I’ll restrict myself to three. The par 4 13th can be a game breaker. From the back tees it has a double water carry ( which means you have to hit over water twice to reach the green in regulation). From the visitors tees you test your driving abilities & have a crack at the green, take the easy option & you may still have play over the water to reach the green. When you do carry the water you still may find yourself in trouble, bunkers will catch any ball the makes it over the water but misses the green.
The second hole of note is the par 5 15th. From the tee there is water straight ahead & to the right. You have to place your shot left but be careful. At about the 200 metre mark the fairways narrows the width of the path with water on the left & the right.
You can’t play at Hidden Valley without mentioning the par 3 18th. The green for this hole is on an island which makes for an interesting finish to the day. It’s not an overly tough hole but with a lot of golfers if you put water in front of them all bets are off.
We had a most enjoyable day at Hidden Valley, even if it did rain for most of the round ; ) Thanks once again to the staff they were all fantastic.