golfinmelbourne.com

Address: 232 Dendy Steet Brighton 3186
http://www.brightongolf.com.au/
Number of holes: 18
19th Hole: No
Motorised Carts: Yes

Mick, Liam, Stuart & took a trip on a Saturday morning to a course that “regularly ranks in the Top 5 of Melbourne’s metropolitan public courses.” I was suprised that the course wasn’t busier than it was.

A lot of the holes at Brighton play with a slight rise in the fairway leaving you a few blind tee shots. The majority of the holes are straight you can wack away off the tee. The greens are in good condition & roll fair & true. A couple of the fairways were a bit patchy but in general they were pretty good.

The first hole is pretty typical of Brighton, from the tee you can’t see the green as it is down a slight hill. This is one green you don’t want to go long on. The back is protected by water. The green itself is a tough proposition. Depending on pin placement, the two teir green can leave you with a very difficult up hill or down hill putt.

The third is index one on the course and plays slightly uphill. The main feature of the 3rd hole is the greenside bunker. This thing is huge, anything right of the green will find it’s way in there. The middle of this bunker has an island of shrubs & bushes just to make life a little more miserable for those unfortunate enough to find it.

It’s about here that I have to mention the highlight of the day. The par 3 4th was setting for what was nearly the shot of the year. Mick’s 9 year old son Liam came within a proverbially bees …. from chipping in from about 20 metres off the green. He did manage to make the putt for an amazing par. Congrations to you Liam, I can’t remember at what age I made my first par but it was a long way from 9.

One thing I need to mention is the width of the rough & trees between holes. Most of the time it is only a tree width which leads to a bit of cross fairway play. What I mean is that there are people playing every which way on the fairways which can make things a little unnevering. I assume that this was worse being a Saturday, but as I mentioned at the begining it was all that busy.

On to the back nine. The first 2 holes are, in my opinion, the best holes on the course. What makes these holes special is the presenation of the greens. With deep bunkers on both holes, they look fantastic. The 10th is a 345 metre par 4, so your second shot needs to be good or you’ll find youself in the sand. The 11th is fair bit shorter. At 253 metres, it is a green that you can have a crack at driving, which Mick nearly did. The problem with holes like this is you tend to try to hard. I sent my drive way off to the right, leaving a tricky chip over a very intimidating bunker. Stuart went too far, flying his ball over the green, again leaving a very nasty chip back.

The day was going along nicely until we got to the 14th green. All of a sudden the wind picked up & then the heavens opened up. It dumped down, & we were at the futherest point from the club house. After sheltering under some trees for about 10 minutes & no respite in sight, we made our way back along flooded fairways.

Brighton is a nice course, perhaps I was expecting more having heard it was rated in the top 5 public courses in Melbourne. I would like to go back & complete the course some time soon!

Address: 350 K Road , Werribee, Victoria, 3030
http://www.werribeeparkgolf.com.au/
Number of holes: 18
19th Hole: Yes (from the clubhouse)
Motorised Carts: Limited availability
Cost:
9 — $16 / 18 — $24 (weekday)
9 — $16 / 18 — $28 (weekend)

On Sunday, Cary, Michael and I ventured down to Werribee Park to play 18 holes. Whilst the course was in fantastic condition for this time of year with lush fairways and perfect greens, conditions were very tough. Once again, Melbourne’s weather had a big influence on our round, with tropical and humid conditions. By the 8th hole, we were all struggling to keep going. Thankfully, the small kiosk on the 10th tee was open and we were able to get some respite from the heat and put some much needed fluids back into the body. It also saved us from walking back to the clubhouse, which is a decent walk up a steep track from the 9th green.

I haven’t got any notes from the round, and Cary still has the score card, so my memory of the course layout and some of the better holes is a little sketchy. We’ll probably need to play here again to do a more comprehensive review. Overall, I liked the course. It’s quite a long course and is situated on a bluff down by the river bed, and as a result the there is some interesting landscape — mostly a mixture of river flats, steep rises and undulating fairways. The course is located not too far from the Pt Cook RAAF base and we witnessed a couple of fly-buys from a squadron of jets, and a couple of bi-planes. A bit distracting, but nevertheless, a pretty awesome sight. Despite being alongside the river, there is no real danger of going into the water unless you go really wayward. There is however, plenty of sand traps, some of them as sheer as the surrounding cliffs.

One particular hole that sticks in my mind is the Par 5 16th. Coming off the back of a short Par 3 at the 15th, the 16th is a lonnnnnnng hole, and for someone who does not hit the ball all that far (like me), this type of hole are always a bit of a struggle. In the middle of a really wide fairway is the hollow trunk of an old gum tree. What are the odds of hitting it? Fairly low one would think, but — you guessed it — I managed to smack my second shot straight into it, sending my ball not that far from where it started! I jagged a 10ft putt, which fortunately made my score for the hole respectable.

At the end of the day, none of us really set the world on fire with our scores, but it was neck and neck for most of the day, with Cary ending up a couple of shots clear in the end on 99. Michael and I both finished with a 102 — a couple of shots shy of where I really wanted to be, but I’ve been pretty consistent around the 100-105 mark for the last couple of rounds, which I’m really pleased with. Now to get them sub 100!

[Note to self]: Need to figure out a better method for capturing course information/notes. Perhaps a phone with camera/voice recorder capability? Could perhaps use the voice recording to create podcasts?

[Update]: Cary has just posted our photos from the round.