Neil, Stan, Min & myself went out & had a hit a Werribee on the weekend. The weather didn’t look too crash hot early on but I’m glad we didn’t pull the pin Min took a wrong turn & got to the course a little late, thankfully he managered to catch up to us. A bit of luck that the 2 tees (the one we were playing & the one Min was playing) were so close together. It’s been a while since I have played Werribee & it was Neil & Min’s first time. Neil was impressed & is talking about going back out again. I have added more photos to the original lot here. There are some nice holes at the course, there is a river that runs along a couple of holes. One of the best looking views is the 14th green. The fairways & the greens were in great condition. A couple of things to keep in mind. We couldn’t get on course until after 2 o’clock on a Saturday afternoon, it is members only until then, this isn’t an issue during daylight savings but in winter you will have buckleys of finishing 18 holes before it gets dark. They also charge you $2 for the use of a sand bucket, this is a first for me. It’s not an option, they just charge you the 2 bucks when you pay your green fees & hand you a bucket. I’m not sure if you get your $2 back if you give them the bucket back at the end of the round because the pro shop was closed when we finished up.

All up we had a good day, nice course & great company. I hope Min enjoyed his first hit with us & will be back soon.

Neil Trevor & I popped over to the 9 hole golf course at Strahallen after work yesterday. It’s been about 12 months since I’ve been here & the course is in pretty good condition. The greens are green & the fairways have grass on them (mostly). There is a temporary green on the 1st, they appear to be reseeding the rest of the fairway. I like this course, the close proximity to work helps but it has a couple of great holes that I enjoy.

You can check out some old photos of the course here. The view of the city from the 6th green is quite amazing.

We headed out to Broadford on Tuesday the 29th for a round. We figured that any of the course closer to Melbourne would have been chocker block. Turns out it only took 35 minutes from my house to get there so it wasn’t too bad at all. The course is in pretty good shape. The greens are well looked after & were in great condition. There were a couple of fairways that were a little worse for wear but only 2 or 3 at the most. It is a nice course with quite a good lay out. The heat hits you from both directions out here through, boucing back off the hard ground as well as the aireal assult, so if you are playing out here best to get out early in the summer.
We had a good day with Shane pulling off the shot of the day. A perfect chip in on the second hole Neils best shot of the day was a duffed drive, it finished on the fringe of the green on the short par 4 on the back 9
It is a really nice set up out here with a big clubhouse the looks out over the 9th & 18th greens. The are in a simaliar situation to Whittlesea, both being country course & short on water, but also both being great course to play.

Neil & I had last week off work so we headed to Ivanhoe. I haven’t been here for a while & was looking forward to getting back. It’s a nice short course, just the 1 par 5 but it is also in a nice setting. We were paired up with a couple ladies & were hoping to beat the cool change. I’m not sure if it is a deliberate ploy by the ground staff here or we just caught the course before a haircut but the rough was quite long especially around the greens. As I mentioned it’s not a long course & if this is not the norm around the course it should be. The thick rough added a couple of shots at least, Neil got caught out a couple of times.

Hopefully it wont be so long before we head back out here.

We headed out to the Dunes with a couple of last minutes cancellations. In the end there was a group of 6 of us. Neil, Trevor, Luke, Russell, Glen & myself made the trek. I had been waiting to play The Dunes for a few years now & finally got the chance & I must say I wasn’t disappointed.

From the 1st tee this is a challenging course. Get off line & it will bit. Conversely put it down the middle & you will reap the rewards. The fairways are perfect & you drives will run.

A bit of local knowledge comes in handy on this course, or you can buy a course guide from the pro shop. There are 2 available, the el cheapo for about $3 or the deluxe model for about $9. They will pay for themselves on quite a few holes as there are a number of blind tee shots on this course.

The course is beautifully bunkered with fairway bunkers right on the driving distance & the greens are brilliantly protected. Once you are on the green, if you get the line right they will run true.

We got lucky on the day we played, the wind was not really a factor. Having said that even on a calm day there a couple of holes that are higher up than the rest of the course & the wind was still a factor. This course could be an absolute beast if the wind is up.

I enjoyed our day out here & it is one of my favorite parts of Melbourne to play golf. There are so many great course out this way that you have to make the time to come out.

You can check out the photos here

Great news. Our mate Stan is back from the land of the nutbags Stan myself & Neil went out to Yarrambat on what can only be described as perfect golfing weather. The day was gorgeous The fairways & greens were near on perfect & the kangaroos were out in force, Yarrambat to a tee. It was Stans first hit for 6 months so as you can imagine he was a little rusty, but it didn’t take too long for him to start hitting some nice shots. Stan was the only one among us that registered a birdie for the day, knocking down a 2 on the par 3 8th. As sad as it sounds I felt like I played better than the first round of the RLS championships but in the end I shot 3 more Perfect weather today, the worst ever then & 3 shots worse off, figure that out.

We are looking to head out to Werribee some time soon so stayed tuned for updates.

Cheers

Cary

The conditions were a massive improvement on the last round at Yarrambat It was dry & relitivly still. I didn’t help my game to much in the opening holes but I hacked my way up the first fairway & then did something I have never done at Whittlesea on the second. I put my ball out of bounds off the tee After the 3rd hole I started to get my act together. At the end of the day I lost 3 balls & finshed with a net 75 (I think). Neil’s day wasn’t so good. He wasn’t a very happy chappy for most of the day & I’m pretty sure his bag was a club lighter at the end of it Unfortunatly Neil had to work in the afternoon so we had to go straight after our round so I don’t know what the standings are going into the final round. If I findout I’ll stick it in as a comment.

First round of the Epping RSL Championships & the conditions couldn’t have been any worse. For anyone living in Melbourne you would be well aware of the crappy day that we had. There was a gale blowing all day & the rain only let up for a couple of holes. They were the worse conditions that I have every played in

Having said all of that there was a 8 groups teeing it up. Neil was on fire shooting a net 68 to take a 6 shot lead into the second round in Whittlesea in a couple of weeks. For the record I shot a net 77 which I was quite happy with The lessons seem to be paying off for Neil & to a lesser extent myself.

I had an RDO on Monday & got a knock on my door at 12 o’clock. It was Stuart asking if I was up for 9 holes of golf. Of course I had to consider my options, play golf or mow the lawns. This may shock you but I choose to play golf As with Sunday the wind was up a bit but no where near as bad. This was the first time I had been up to Whittlesea since thier clubhouse burnt down. You will be happy to know the course is still open & they have a couple of portables set up to use as a temporary clubhouse.

They are still badley in need of water at Whittlesea but thankfully there appears to be a tiny bit more in the dams than the last time I played here. The big dam which plays a main part in the par 5 4th is still pretty much dry, there is a small amoutn of water collecting at one end but not enough to be in play. The fairways are still dry but no worse than they normally are up here. The greens were in great condition. As I mentioned we only played the front 9 but from what we played, Whittlesea is good condition considering everything that has happened here in the last 6 months.

We traveled out to Sunshine Mt Derrimut Golf Course for our monthly hit with the Epping RSL. This is the second time I have been to this course & both times it has been blowing a gale. Which is a shame because the course is fantastic but strong wind is just one thing I hate to play in The fairways & greens were in great condition. There is plenty of water & bunkers in play & some geat views of the city. The course is very open which makes the wind even harder to deal with. One of the toughest holes on the course for me was a par 5 on the front nine, I can’t remember which hole number it was, but it is all up hill & on Sunday it was also straight into the teeth of the wind.

This is a course I would like to play again but not when the wind is up like it was on Sunday.