Address: Yarra Bend Road, Fairfield
Number of Holes: 18
19th Hole: You can buy beer at the Kiosk but you have to drink it there.
Motorized Carts: Yes
Cost: 18 — $21 (weekday)
It’s been at least 12 months since I had played here at Yarra Bend, & it was as good as I remember it. The fairways were well maintained & the greens were in excellent condition. When we were there, there was a little bit of work being done down the right hand side of the first fairway. There was digging equipment but it really wasn’t in play all that much. Once you got past the first, everything was back to normal. Something else of interest is there is now a colony of Flying Foxes living behind the second green. I was quite surprised by the numbers that were there & the noise that they made. I always assumed that bats were quite animals. Also the smell is quite pungent, nothing to lose your lunch over, but noticeable all the same.
Yarra Bend isn’t one of the longest course around, there is only 2 par 5s,(1 on the front & 1 on the back) & one of the par 3s is only 112 metres. It is a very challenging course all the same. On the front 9 there is a couple of holes that are worth a mention.
The first is the par 3 3rd. This hole is 160 metres but plays about 10 metres more than that. From the tee the fairway dips down & rises again to the green. The distance is quite deceiving. Even after you hit the ball it doesn’t go as far as you first think. In our group all 4 of us left the ball short of the putting surface.
The second is par 5 6th. 486 metres is pretty standard for a par 5 but half of this hole is down hill. This brings the green within reach of a good second shot. One thing that did fool me is the bunker down toward the green. It appears to be a greenside bunker from a distance. I played my third to land just over the bunker, only to discover that my ball was still a good 10 metres short of the green.
On the back 9 there is again 2 holes of note. The first of which is the par 4 12th. This par 4 has a dogleg left with a group of trees at the start of the dogleg. The temptation is to drive over the trees but be careful. The dogleg is not as server as it seems, if your drive goes too far left you could find your self in gully. When you approach the green, the easiest way is from the right hand side of the fairway. There is bunker protecting the front left side of the green & the back right.
The other holes is my favourite hole on the course. The 16th is a brilliant hole. A 341 meter par with a slight dogleg left. You need to play this hole from the right hand side of the fairway as you don’t have an approach shot if you go too far left. To complicate things a little more, the fairway slopes to the left. The approach from the right isn’t much better. The front of the green is protected by a large bunker & to the left of the green is the Yarra River. It’s a hole where you need to be on your game to make par.
In the past Yarra Bend has been rated the number 1 Public Golf Course in Victoria & it is a fantastic course. With it’s proximity to the city it does carry a lot of traffic, especially on the weekends, so you do need to be patient some times when you play here. I hope not to leave it so long until I play here again.