I promised I’d write a review of my round at Bright. It’s been a while coming–I’ve been back from holidays for a couple of weeks now–but, without further ado here it is!
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It was a crisp, autumn morning and after the heavy rains of the last two days, the morning sun offered a welcomed respite. I had to make the most of it whilst it lasted. “Donna, I’m off the play golf” I yelled as a I loaded my clubs into the back of the car and donned my golf cap.
The Bright Country Golf Club is actually located about halfway between Porapunkah and Bright, which are roughly 10km apart. It was only a short drive to the Club from the caravan park that we were staying at in the centre of Bright.
As I entered the course, I noticed that the ground was still showing signs of being wet from the previous days rain and was worried that it might play a little bit soft. The remnants of a morning dew also remained as I teed off on the front nine. The first hole is a longish Par 4, with a fairway that slopes off to the right, with the large, oval green perched up on a crest to the left.
As I teed of from the second hole, I caught up with a group of three guys playing in front of me. One of them was in the rough and they called me through. I thanked them and let them know that rather than play through I’d join up with them to make a group of four. So, from my second shot on the second hole, I had a couple of local guides–Peter & Mark–and their grandfather Colin showing me the ropes of the Bright course. Playing with someone who knew the course layout helps a lot, although it didn’t show in my final scores.
The first thing you notice about the Bright course is the breathtaking panorama of the Victorian Alps, with Mt Buffalo, Mt Beauty and Mt Hotham imposingly casting their shadow across the valley below. Despite being surrounded by mountainous landscape, the course is not hilly at all, and is in fact, quite flat. The most notable feature of the course–particularly after just playing at Growling Frog–is the absence of sand traps. Yes, you read that right–no bunkers! There are a couple of water hazards on the front nine. There is one on the 7th, which is well left of the tee and one on the 9th which is a ‘pond’ in the middle of the fairway on the approach to the green. You can see this one in my pics.
Both the fairways and greens on the course were in fantastic condition, particularly since summer has just finished. The fairways were dark green and like carpet in the very middles. The aprons were well mowed and the rough was, well rough. The greens were consistent and played true, so you could putt with confidence.
The old guy Colin that I played with was quite obviously suffering from the affects of a stroke or parkinson’s disease (OK, I’m no neurosurgeon) and he struggled to grasp the clubs without uncontrollable shaking. I really admired that old guy. He obviously enjoyed his golf and he was giving it a go despite his difficulties. And he taught me a valuable lesson. When it came to adding up the scores at the end of our nine holes, Peter finished well ahead of the rest of us, Colin and I shot a 57 and Mark finished with a 58 after a disastrous last hole. Yes, you got it. The guy with a ‘disability’ (apologies if this is not ‘P.C.’) shot the same score as me! Just goes to show that golf is not all about how hard or far you hit it, or how you do it.
I only got to play the front 9 holes at Bright having only managed to get out on the course once during our stay in Bright. I would have loved to play the back nine, as I enjoyed the front nine a lot. I’m looking forward to going back some other time. I would also like to play at Mt. Beauty, so this is something to look forward to in the future. Perhaps this would make a good weekend trip for the Golf in Melbourne annual getaway?