Archive for August, 2006

Lancefeild on Sunday the 27th of August

Thursday, August 31st, 2006

The day didn’t start well, an early morning start after going out for Stuarts birthday wasn’t a good combination. I felt 100% better after I saw Shane. The day before was the last game of footy for the year & they had a win. He stumbled home at 5ish in the morning & was in a sorry state 😉

Lancefield Golf Course is a small country course so don’t go there expecting Royal Melbourne, but having said that it is a very challenging & enjoyable round of golf. On this day we had 5 of us, Shane, Tod, John, Stuart & myself. I know it’s supposed to be a no-no but we played as one group & with not another soul in site it wasn’t a problem. I was surprised how few people there were, Sunday at most metro courses is just chockers. This is something I hate about playing on the weekends, the waiting. Not so here at Lancefield.

The course it’s self has open fairways but very tricky greens. Most of the holes here are pretty straight forward but what makes it interesting are the greens. Some of them are just tiny. If that wasn’t bad enough a lot of them slope back toward the front. So if you do manage to hit the small target there is still a chance your ball will roll of the green anyway. A comment that was made during our round was that the greens were pretty quick. We played at the end of winter, in summer, especially towards the end, these greens will be like glass. They are tough enough at the moment, in February they will be near impossible.

My favourite hole here is the par 5 15th. It is a most unusual hole. It is shaped similar to a Z on it’s side. You tee off straight then the hole doglegs 90 degrees to the left. Your second shot has out of bounds on your left & a small forest of pines trees on your right. Your third shot (if you get it past the trees) is a dog leg right up the hill to the green. It is a really cool hole.

I’m glad to say that Shane managed to finish the round in one piece, how I’m not sure. We all had a most enjoyable day & it is a great course to come to for a quite round. Lancefield would be perfect place to learn how to play. You don’t have the problem of impatient people rushing the beginner.

I’ve now added the photos from the day. Some of them are a little dark but you can have a look at them here

Review – Keilor Public Golf Course

Tuesday, August 29th, 2006

Address: Calder Highway, Keilor North

Number of Holes: 18

Carts available: Yes

19th hole: They sell beer at the Pro shop that you can drink at tables out the front.

First time we player here was in August of 2006. I was impresssed with this course, nice fairways & fantastic greens, Not only are the greens in good condition they are challenging. Some of them slope from back to front, some of them have undulations & some of them are quite small. To me this is one of the best parts of this course. Each green can be different & a lot of the time, depending on where you are in relation to the hole, you have to really think about your putt.

Another thing of note. On the back nine there are back to back par 3’s. I haven’t seen this any where before. On the back nine it begins 4,3,4,3,3. All of the 3’s on the back half are 150 metres or more. On the front both of the 3’s are around 125 metres each.

Keilor is quite a hacker friendly course. Three of us played, none of us are what you would call brilliant golfers, but nobody lost a ball all day. That’s gotta count for something 😉 Keilor is also only a par 69 which means only one par 5 on each 9.

The majority of the holes are pretty straight but this can be counter acted by the wind. The day we played out here was pretty calm but if the wind got up I can imgine this would change the course dramatically. What was an easy par 4 with no wind could turn into a nightmare into a head wind.

None of the holes at Keilor are very long, the longest hole on the course is the par 5 3rd. At 435 metres it is not an overly long hole. Three of the par 4’s are under 300 metres, all of them only just. The 1st is 290 from the back, the 5th is 297 & the 17th is 298. None of them really drivable to your average golfer unless you had a decent tail wind 😉

In conclusion. I’m really glad that Stan recomeded playing here. I really enjoyed playing here & will be going back again soon.

Keilor Golf course 25th of August

Friday, August 25th, 2006

Stan, Dick & I went out to Keilor on a Friday morning. The day was overcast & looked alittle ominous, espically after the day before which rain contatnly. We went out there none the less like lemmings to the cliff top & I’m glad we did. The day didn’t look the best but was pretty good golfing conditions. The greens were receptive after the days rains but so were the fairways 😉 This was my first trip out here to Keilor & was pretty impressed I must say. The course was in great nick. The fairways, although a little soggy in places, was in good condition. Tghe greens were fantastic. Not only were they in good nick they were also very challenging. The is the first time I have seen a golf course with back to back par 3, not that any of us par either of them 🙂

There is a more detailed review of the course here.

One thing that did piss me off a bit was I forgot my camera. Doh!!!!! So unfortunatly there are no photos at this stage. On the upside, I really enjouyed playing here so I will be back & next time I’ll bring the camera.

For the record Stan & Dick were neck & neck all day. In the end Dick just pipped Stan by a shot. I was a class above both of them & won by 10 shots 😉

Keilor on the 25th of August

Friday, August 18th, 2006

Stan is the man with a plan. Next Friday, the 25th of August we are off to Keilor golf course. Tee time is set for midday. Let me know if you want to come along via email or a comment here on the website. I haven’t played Keilor before so we will have a new review & hopefully plenty of good photos to add to the albums 😉

Cheers

Yearly Trip to Tocumwal

Thursday, August 17th, 2006

Time to put your hand up if your coming on the yearly trip. The date for this little adventure is Friday the 6th of October, leaving in the afternoon, Saturday the 7th & Sunday the 8th. I emailed Rich River a couple of times & got no response so we decided to play Tocumwal Golf Course instead. You can have a look at the course here. We have booked the two rounds for the two courses already, which is a good thing as they are nearly booked out already. To play a different course each day we had to take an early morning tee time both days. Shane has been kind enough to offer us his caravan at the Cobram caravan park & Daryl has also offered to bring his camper trailer along as well. This will reduce the cost of the weekend a fair bit, thank guys.

We need to find out who’s coming so we can arrange the transport & the sleeping arrangements, so please, email me or leave a comment here if you want to come. Also send me an email of leave a comment if you have an questions about the trip. My email address is Cary@golfinmelbourne.com hope to hear from you soon.

Cheers

Craigieburn Blows

Sunday, August 13th, 2006

The day looked great but looks can be decieving. The wind was up & so were the scores. We had 5 people up for the round, Trevor was told he had to stay home & Scott went to the footy with his dad. Good call Scott. It doesn’t seem possible but nearly ever hole was into the wind. The fairways & greens were in pretty good nick but trying to judge the distance was a near on impossible. The group we had was Neil, Dick, Ian, Stuart & myself. Stuart had to pull the pin after 9 holes, his arm was giving him a bit of jip. Perosonaly my putting gave me a bit of grief, I had 5 birdies putts & finished with 2 pars & three boogies, not a good avareage. Dick’s driving wasn’t bad for an old bloke & he 1 putted the first 2 holes. Sadly it went down hill from there. Ian’s front nine, according to him, was the worst he has played in a long time. Thankfully he’s back nine was better saving us from his continued cursing, wait that was Neil, & his cursing continued throughout the 18 holes. Personally my front 9 was a mess save 3 holes & the back nince was a mess…. no saving. In the end Ian & I both scored 102 (please no laughing) Neil scored a 110 & Dick stopped counting.

If it wasn’t for the wind I have a feeling we could have carved this course up, but I have never played here when there hasn’t been wind. This is probably the courses defence mechanism 😉 One point of note is 3 groups behind us there was little excitment so to speak. On the 10th tee there was a full on punch up. None of us saw it but we were told. Here is the story as we were told. One group came up & asked the group in front if they could play through & that was it, full on brawl. Ice hockey stuff with shirts being pulled over the head, traping arms & punching the crap out of the bloke. As I said, this is all third person. Play Craigieburn at your own risk ; )

Craigieburn on Sunday the 13th of August

Monday, August 7th, 2006

Ian has picked & booked us into Craigieburn on Sunday the 13th of August. After the Lancefield round fell through we set Ian the task of picking a course to play. This is Stans home course but I have a feeling he wont be able to make it as he will be working which is shame. Tee off is for 11:15 so you can still get your beauty sleep Neil (god knows you need it). Ian has booked us 2 groups with one of them full already, if you want to join us get in quick. Send me an email or leave a comment if you’re up for it.

There are a couple of photos of the course here

Change of plans for Lancefeild

Friday, August 4th, 2006
Unfortunately something has come up & our round at Lancefield will have to be pushed back a couple of weeks. We were booked in for Sunday the 13th but now we will be going on Sunday the 27th of August. Sorry for any inconvenience that will cause anyone but these things happen.
With any luck the weather will have more time to come right ; )