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Address: 1910 Donnybrook Road, Yan Yean
Number of Holes: 18
19th Hole: Yes including a mobile one.
Motorized Carts: Yes
Cost:
9 — $20/ 18 — $23 (weekday)
9 — $30 / 18 — $35 (weekend)

Growling Frog opened on the 1st of September 2004 after a few months delay due to the lack of rain the Melbourne has had over the past 12 months. With the fact that the course is so new there are few things that wont be quite right yet. Around the course there are a quite a few areas that haven’t had the chance to grow a grass cover yet so there is a bit of mud about. Apart from the obvious things wrong that you would expect from a brand new course, Growling Frog is in great condition. One of the things you will notice about Growling Frog is there is quite often a sizable rough between the tee box & the start of the fairway. The other thing you will notice is the abundance of bunkers, they are everywhere. Make sure you bring your sandwedge & maybe a beach towel because if you’re not careful you will spend a lot of time in the sand. As unbelievable as it may sound I didn’t find any bunkers at all, more by good luck than good management, but Trevor found himself in a couple. He said the sand in the greenside bunkers could have been a bit deeper. It make’s it hard to play out greenside bunkers when you don’t have enough sand to get underneath the ball. The fairways are in great condition, (not that I found many, no bunkers but not many fairways either), there are a few weeds that have been sprayed but not yet removed. The greens are big & undulating making for some very interesting putts, the are in fantastic condition & roll true.

One problem I noticed, I don’t know if this is something that will be fixed in the future, is there are no seats beside the tees. It may not sound like much, but toward the end of the round we were all looking for some where to take a load off.

The Clubhouse is in a fantastic position. From the inside the clubhouse you can see the 1st tee the 9th green, the 10th tee & the 18th green through floor to ceiling windows. It is a great place to finish your round.. At the moment there is no bar, but that will be rectified in the coming weeks.

For a course that has just opened Growling Frog is fantastic, in the coming months it will only get better. Trevor & Neil weren’t overly impressed with the course, the cost being a factor in their judgement, but I enjoyed my first round here.

Address: Craigieburn Road West, Craigieburn
Number of Holes: 18
19th Hole: Yes
Motorized Carts: Yes

Cost:
9 — $14 / 18 — $14 (weekday)
9 — $16 / 18 — $22 (weekend)

Craigieburn is quite a interesting course to play. Each hole is different from the last. Also each hole plays different with the wind & the wind does blow out here. The first time I played here the wind was blowing at around 40 kph. Nice for flying a kite but it makes playing golf a little hard.

Craigieburn start off with a nice hole. A 300 metre down the hill par 4, if you get your tee shot right it could be the beginning of a good day. The second tee is a bit blind back up the hill, but relatively straight. From the second green to the third tee is a little confusing for the first timer. There is a small sign on the back of a tree directing you where to go. When we played in 2005 the was a fair bit of construction going on around the middle holes of the front nine. They are putting in or reconfiguring a lake which leaves a bit of dirt piled up on the edge of a few fairways. The par 5 4th is right in the middle of this. With the road down the right hand side & the lake construction down the left hand side you have to get you ball straight.

There is only the one par 5 & one par 3 on the front nine.

Two of the best holes on the course are the par 4 10 & the par 3 18th. The 10th begins from an elevated tee. The fairway slopes to the left & up to the green.

The second is the close hole. The par 3 18th. Again the tee is elevated & the hole is only 120 metres from the back makers, but if the wind is blowing it makes for a great deciding hole.

I quite enjoyed playing Craigieburn, but next time I would prefer it without the wind.

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.

Address: 68 Kingswood Drive, Chirnside Park
Website: www.chirnsideparkcc.com.au
Holes: 18
19th Hole: Yes
Motorised Carts: Yes
Cost:
9 — $12 / 18 — $16.50 (weekdays)
9 — $14.50 / 18 — $22 (weekends)

Just a note on the cost. When Chris & I played here in late November they had a special going. On Monday to Thursday they had $10 play all day. This also included a free beer after the game. This was for a limited time but an expiry date wasn’t indicated.

Cary & Chris played Chirnside Park in late November. The golf course is part of the Chirnside Park Country Club. It has a lawn Bowls & tennis courts in the same complex. They also have a small pokies venue there as well.

To quote Chris as a description of Chirnside Park “It’s hilly as”. There are a number of hills around the course & some of them are quite steep. Make sure you bring your sand wedge with as well as there are a lot of greenside bunkers.

The hills come in to play on the first hole. It’s a 370 meter par 4 down the hill. With house bounding the right hand side of the fairway it’s best to keep it straight or to the left.

The second is one of the stand out holes of the course. A 148 meter par 3 with the deepest bunkers I have ever seen. The left side of the green is not a place you want to be, the lip of the bunker would be about 8 feet from the bottom. Not an easy shot to play, trust me that’s where I ended up with my tee shot. One problem with the bunkers here at Chirnside park is the fringes of the bunker are like concrete, the sand in the centre of the bunker is fine but the edges make life very hard if your in there.

A tough hole on the front 9 is the par 5 3rd. It’s 490 meters & most of it is up hill. The course appears to have been modified on the 4th tee. Beside the 3rd green is an overgrown area which looks like a old tee. The 4th tee is now back down the hill making it a par 3 not a par 4 as it states on the card. It is a beautiful looking hole with bunkers protecting both sides of the front of the green.

The 10th is, to me, one of the better holes on the back 9. A 350 meter par 4 down the hill with a pond at the front left & a bunker on the front right of the green means your approach needs to be spot on.

One of the criticisms I would have of this course is there lack of signs. On a couple of occasion while playing the round we weren’t sure where the next tee was. Also there is no advice as to the direction of the hole. A couple of times we had to just blindly hit off from the tee & hope we were going in the right direction.

Most of the holes around the course are bounded on one side by houses, on mostly the aren’t a factor. But if you on occasion, like me, you have a tendency to slice the ball in a wild & unruly manner you may find your self joining a family for a BBQ lunch.

All in all a very nice course with good quality greens & fairways. We’ll be back to give it another bash, next time with a little prior knowledge as to the direction of the holes.

Address: Queens Road, Melbourne
Holes:18
Carts: Yes
19th Hole: of sorts
Costs: 18 — $23.50 (midweek)

Albert Park Golf course would have to be one of the most centrally located golf courses that I have ever seen. It is right in the centre of Melbourne. In fact when the Grand Prix is on the course is closed because the track uses the first fairway as a run off. The first couple of months after the Grand Prix the first fairway is a mess.

Even without the Grand Prix the first tee might be a bit intimidating. The club house is right on top of the first tee. If you are a nervous golfer you wont enjoy this tee at all. If the pressure of a crowd of people isn’t bad, there is a road running down the left hand side of the first fairway (the Grand Prix track), so if you have a tendance to hook take a drop. The first hole doglegs left, in the direction of the road which makes things worse for everyone, even those who don’t have a hook.

The first four holes at Albert Park all have the road running along the left hand side. Not a good way to start for all you hookers.

One of the problems we did encounter was trying to find the 4th tee from the 3rd green. There was no signage & you pretty much had to guess the direction you had to go.

One thing that Albert Park has that we haven’t uncounted before was back to back par 5’s. The 6th at 455 meters is a standard length par 5 but the 7th is a nice & short 416.

You need to be careful of is between the 7th green & the 8th tee, this part of the course can be a bit dangerous. You have to walk back down between the 7th & 3rd fairway. From the 7th green, with the 3rd green is on your right there is very little protection, there is a chance the approach shot of the players coming up 3rd fairway may land in your vicinity.

After the par 3 8th you are again confronted with another par 5. The 9th is another fairway which is affected by the Grand Prix circuit. I’m not sure how it is affected, but that is what the signs say.

If you thought the road on the first four hole was a bit much, then you shouldn’t play the back nine. The last three holes of Albert Park all border Queens Road. For those of you who don’t know Melbourne city very well, Queens Road is a very busy city road. For players with a hook, the 16th, 17th & 18th tees would be a nightmare. There is only cyclone fencing separating your ball from on coming traffic.

The pro shop at Albert Park has something that most pro shops don’t have….. that is BEER. They sell beer & sprits along with coke & pies. On some days they also have a Refreshments (beer) cart that drives around the course offering supplies to thirsty golfers.

To sum up Albert Park, it is a nice Golf Course taking into consideration where it is. Located in the heart of Melbourne it has to be very space conscious. Most of the fairways are pretty close together so the rough is barely noticeable. The fairways are separated by a thin line of trees

Address:
Number of Holes: 18
19th Hole: Yes
Motorized Carts: During the summer months
Cost:
9 — $11.50 / 18 — $16.50 (weekday)
9 — $13.50 / 18 — $18.50 (weekend)

Glen Waverly public is a nice golf course. Nothing special but a nice course to play & very reasonable priced. When we played the fairways were nice & lush & the greens were in pretty good nick. The pace of the greens was a little bit had to judge, some greens were faster than others, but after the rain on the previous two days it’s a bit hard to determine what is the course & what is the weather. It is quite a short course at 5136 metres. There is only the one par 5 & that is the 6th. On the back nine there are no par 5’s. There are three par 3’s are that rest are all par 4’s.

You’ll notice when you play Glen Waverley that there are a lot of doglegs. It starts with the first hole which is a par 4 dogleg right & followed up by a another par 4 that doglegs left.

There aren’t any holes that are what you would call signature hole here. There are a couple of nice looking holes, the first of which is the par 4 5th. The fairway has a pretty narrow opening of the tee, it then opens up with a dogleg left to a green that slopes quite steeply back towards the front.

The 11th is another nice looking hole. A 332 meter par 4 with a dogleg right. Play the ball down the left hand side of the fairway & you’ll have an easy shot into the green..

When you complete the 11th you have to walk down the edge of the fairway of the par 3 12th. Depending on who is on the tee this could be quite dangerous.

The 14th is probably one of the biggest doglegs that I have played in along time. When you walking the bend it feels like it is going to come back it self.

The clubhouse at Glen Waverly is probably one of it’s best assets. There are a number of tables around & a BBQ. The clubhouse seels beer & bottled mixed drinks (you can’t take them out on the course though) making it a great place to finish the round if you are playing with a large group.

In closing, Glen Waverley is a nice course but I would go out of my way to play here.

Address:
Number of holes: 18
19th Hole: On some days
Motorised carts : No
Cost: 9 — $10 / 18 – $17 (Most days the honour system is in place here)

To start with one thing I must say about this course is, don’t come out if you don’t feel up to a couple of hill climbs. Now I’m not talking about some little bump on the ground that some people call hills, I’m talking serious steepage.

When Stewart & I played played this course we only played 9 holes. I had heard about the rope pull that they have on one of the holes here so I wanted to see that. Therefore the review that I have here is only for the back 9 (where the rope pull is located).

To play from the 10th tee your have to walk up the serious hill from the club house. Now I’m not the fittest bloke in the world (as anyone who has seen the photos would know) but we had to stop twice on the way up to catch our breath. Once at the top the view makes the climb worth while. It is just gorgeous.

A couple of standout holes on the back 9 would have to be the par 3 11th & the par 4 16th.

The par 3 11th is just an amazing hole. It’s 165 meters long & my guess is that 150 of those meters are straight down. We had no one behind us so both Stewart & I took a couple of balls of the tee. I thought about taking a 6 iron after seeing how far it was & then rethought the idea & took an 8 iron. The 8 iron was too much. The second ball I hit was a pitching wedge & that was right on the money. Now I’m not a big fan of heights & standing on the 11th tee I had a slight case of vertigo, that’s how high up this elevated tee was.

The second hole that I felt was a stand out was the par 4 16th. It is just a gorgeous hole. It is 314 meters long with the last 90 meters at the base of the big hill. The hedges at the back of the green just make it a wonderful hole to look at & play.

The reason we played the back 9 begins at the 16th green. It is a rope pull system that is there to help you climb back up the hill. It is the first time I have seen anything like it on a golf course. There is a rope that runs in a loop powered by a motor at the top of the hill. You push the start button when you are ready to climb the hill & this rope loop is there to pull you up. If I haven’t explained this properly have a look at the photos to give you a better idea of what I’m talking about.

Now there are a couple of problems with the course. First off the greens. Most course have a different grass on there greens than they do on the fairways. Unfortunately at Woodend it is the same grass just cut lower. This may not sound like a big deal but when you are trying to putt on this surface it doesn’t give you fair value for your putts.

The other thing is when you are going to the 11th tee your have to cross the 17th fairway. There are no warnings about that you are about to cross a fairway, it may not be a problem with the number of people that play the course but to me it seemed a little dangerous.

All in all a brilliant course. The views that you get from the top of the hill are spectacular. I will be going back to play the full 18 some time soon. I’ll just make sure that I’m well rested.

Address:
Number of holes: 9
Motorised Carts: No
19th Hole: No
Cost: 9 or 18 — $13

Please note: The course is often closed to the public for parts of the day when they have comps for their members. On the weekends it’s members only until 3 p.m.

Strathallan Golf Club is in the middle of suburbia yet has the feel of a country club. The members are friendly & the course has lot of holes bounded by parkland so sometimes you can be forgiven for forgetting where you are.

There are only nine holes at Strathallan but the most holes have an alternative tee placement if you are playing 18.

One of the standout holes of the course is the par 3 2nd/11th. At 122 meters it is doesn’t sound all that imposing but throw a 30 foot high Gum tree in the middle of the fairway & it makes things a little more interesting. One problem with this hole is that tee area for the 2nd hole is a little confusion for the first time player. There is a new planting of trees which run directly in the path of the green leaving the inexperienced player unsure of where the green is.

The course isn’t a long one, the longest hole is 360 meters, but it is a pleasant one. The view of the city from the 6th/15th green is a beautiful. The first time I played the course it was blowing a gale & there is little shelter around the course, which leaves your ball at the mercy of the wind on most holes. Yet this adds another dimension to the course, one which I will be playing again in the near future.

Address: Lower Plenty Road, Lower Plenty
Number of Holes: 18
19th Hole: Yes
Motorized Carts: Only only

We were fortunate enough to be invited out for a round of golf at Heidelberg private golf course. One of the first things you notice about Heidelberg is that it’s now where near Heidelberg. It’s actually in Lower Plenty right next door to the pub. The day started slowly as the course was closed for a couple of hours due to frost. We started from the 10th tee with a couple of lovely lady members behind that didn’t mind us hacking our way down the fairway.

Heidelberg is a lovely looking course but as you can imagine with a private course they are not catering for a lot of new players. This makes your first time out a little difficult. The score card doesn’t have a map & there isn’t a hole map at each tee.

Once we had finished 18 holes, we were able to determine that the front 9 is a lot more user friendly than the back. The fairways are a lot more open & it gives you abetter idea as where you are going. On the back 9 for the first time player there is a lot of hitting & hoping you are going in the right direction. For example the 11th tee has a slight rise in front of the tee, which would be fine if you have played there before but if not you have no idea if the hole breaks left or right just after the hill. Close your eyes & hope for the best.

On the back nine there a quite a few challenging hole, none more so than the 16th. It’s a 321 metre par 4 that has a sharp dogleg left. You need to put your tee shot in the right position or you could be in trouble. The fairway at the dogleg is very narrow with trees on both the left & the right making an approach from any where other than the middle of the dogleg a very difficult shot.

On the front 9 with of the standout hole is the par 3 6th. The green is well protected by bunkers which means you have to play well off the tee to have any chance or par or better.

Heidelberg is a great course & we will probably enjoy it more if we get the chance to play it again, not that we didn’t enjoy it the first time.