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We had a couple of groups head out to Gisbourne on Tuesday. The weather was a bit iffy but we missed the worst of it. Neil, Trevor, Dick, John, Luke, Matt & myself headed out there for a hit using a Cudo voucher. The course was a bit of a weird one. 5 or 6 of the fairways have been “cored”. I have never seen this with a fairway before only greens. I’m sure they have their reason for it but it leaves a few fairways a little rough. The other off shot of this is that they are leaving all of the grass that they are pulling up in the rough, I think we lost about 4 or 5 balls between us in these pile of cut grass. Anyway, enough bitching about the course. It’s been a few years since I have been out here & they have made same changes. There are some fantastic holes out here including the par 3 with the water backdrop, & I’m looking forward to heading back out. I might give it a month or so before I do but 😉

Went out for a hit with Neil, Luke & Matt after work last night. 9 holes at Bundoora. The course is in pretty good nick at the moment except for a couple of small exceptions. The greens have recently been cored but are now good to go. Looking forward to the next hit after work 🙂

Matt, Neil & myself headed out to Hidden Valley on what can only be discribed as a horrible day for golf. It was Matt’s first time out so it was a shame the weather didn’t do the course justice. Apart from the weather the day wasn’t too bad. Lost a ball on my first shot of the day but I did hit one of the best shots I think I ever have. On the second hole, about 120-130 from the green, in a fairway bunker, managed to put it in the hole for a par 🙂 Not to be out done, Neil chipped in on the same hole, also for par. The day was certainly one of extremes, but we all still had a great day & it’s nice to see water back in the back dams at Hidden Valley, it really makes the 13th (I think this is the hole number) a spectacular hole.

Neil Matt Ian & I headed up to Creswick to use up a couple of vouchers on the weekend. The weather couldn’t have been any better, the sun was out & the wind was pretty much non existant 🙂 The course itself……. well that another story 🙁 I sad to say that the course was in pretty bad shape, very very boggy. I surprised that they allowed carts out at all. The sign at the pro shop said to tee up on the fairway & to treat all bunkers as GUR. There were a couple of holes were we fish tailed the buggy’s up the fairway & trust me that wasn’t on purpose. It wasn’t all doom & gloom but, some of the holes were still in reasonable condition & a few more days on sunshine will do the place wonders. I just hope that too much damage hasn’t been done in certain areas. With any luck the weather has turned the corner & we can start getting back out on a more regular basis.

Trevor, Neil, John & myself played Goonawarra on Sunday afternoon. We teed off at 12:30 & only just scraped home before it got dark. The course & the weather were fantastic but as I mentioned in the title, the greens killed us. I couldn’t seem to get the speed right all day long. Had quite a few that burned the edge but then sailed on 2-3 metres past 🙁 The company made up for the pain caused by the greens & it was still a pleasant day 🙂

Trevor booked us in for a round out at Phillip Island using a voucher from one of the websites. The weather was great & the course was in good condition. We have a couple more vouchers so I’ll do a more detailed review next time we head out there. Let me just say that it’s a nice course but I don’t think it’s worth the drive from Melbourne just to play here. If you are down this way & have a spare day it’s well worth it, but if you are going to drive for 1 1/2, 2 hours I would suggest going the the Penisula & playing on one of the courses there.

Trevor had a couple fo vouchers for the Sandhurst North course & invited me Neil & Matt along. We had a perfect day for golf, bright sunshine & just a slight breeze. The was the first time I had been out to Sandhurst & with any luck it wont be my last. It is a great set up. 36 holes with fantastic facilities.

Let’s start with the small draw backs. They are in the process of putting down new sprinklers or drainage on the front 9. This leaves a bit of a patch work of sand lines throughout the fairways. Having said that, it only effected our shots once or twice. The other issue was the sand in the bunkers. Sandhurst is in the same boat as most other courses in Melbourne, after the heavy rains we have had in the last few weeks, most of the sand has been washed away. I’m sure that the bunkers would be much better normally.

Too the positives. What a great course, wide open fairways with well positioned bunkers, both fairway & greenside. The greens were large & if you didn’t get yourself close to the pin you could be left with a 3 or 4 putt to finish off the hole.

There are some great holes here as well, the par 3 called “The Wall” is interesting. Not an overly long par 3 but the green has a stone wall surrounding the back. Came in handy for me, after I left my tee shot short then thinned my chip. I got a nice ricochet of the wall & on to the green 🙂

My favorite hole on the course would be a toss up between the 9th & the 18th with the 9 just winning. There is a lake down the lefthand side of the entire hole with a estuary running in front of the green.

I recomend this course to anyone & from what I hear, the Champion course is even better. So make the trip & have a hit, you wont be disappointed 😉

Neil Matt & I took a trip out to Emerald. It was another beautiful day & a couple of degrees cooler up there than down in the city. The course is in a gorgeous setting, surrounded by gum trees & native birds.
The course is very tight. A lot of the tee shots have a tunnel effect with trees on both sides making you have to hit straight. It’s not the longest course going around but it protects itself with a well thought out design & tight fairways. If you are a little wayward this course will bite you.
The fairways are well looked after & the greens are about what you would expect from a country course.
It is a nice course with friendly staff, if you are up that way, well worth stopping in for a round

We played 13th Beach today, it is a course that I have been wanting to play for years. We played the Beach course which to me was a bit of  a misnomer . At no point did we see the beach.  Don’t get me wrong, the course was fantastic, the fairways were perfect & the greens were true. Perhaps  I built the course up too much in my head  but I was expecting to at least see the ocean at some point. We played the course with the wind blowing, but playing on the coast I guess you would be dreaming to expect it to be still. I think I lost about 8 balls during the round ( the only comp I won all day), it is a punishing course when you play off line. One of the things I was really disappointed with was the bunkers. I played out of about 5 bunkers, 2 of them were great. The rest of them were crap, fuck all sand & full of stones. Neil, Matt & Ian felt the same way, considering we were that close to the beach you would expect a decent amount of sand in a bunker.
But enough bitching. We headed out to play the course because it was Trevor’s birthday & as stupid as it sounds he couldn’t make it. Neil, Matt Ian & myself tried to make up for it but we couldn’t make up for the fact that Trevor wasn’t there, even with a video call to Trevor which may have made things worse 🙂 To sum things up, I have been dying to play this course for years, perhaps I built it up too much in my head, but I can’t get over the fact that there wasn’t any holes that played in view of the ocean.

Neil booked us in for a last minute round out at Eyensbury. It cost a little more out here, $59 for a round & $40 for a cart. Neil, Trevor, Matt & myself tied off juust after 11 on a fantastic Melbourne day. The sun was shinning & the course was in great nick. Wide open fairways & well paced greens added up for a perfect day. I’m still getting used to my new clubs, the shafts are a little longer so I need to adjust my stance slightly. I still spraying the driver to right but I managered to get a couple of good ones away. Matt was smashing them off the tee which was always great to see, if he gets his short game together he will get bored playing with us 😉