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Stuart, John & I made our way to Yarrambat on for at 9:30 tee time. I love this course it is one of my favorites.

The course itself is in great nick. The fairways & greens are fantastic. Once you get off those it’s starting to look at little rough around the edges but what do you expect in the middle of a draught. We had some fun & games with the greens today, the amount of times the ball landed on the green then rolled off was amazing. John couldn’t buy a putt for love or money until the last two holes. On those he drained a couple of monsters which nearly made up for the dozen or so heart breakers he had earlier, nearly 🙂

Stuart won the day with a fantastic back nine of 40, but I was the only one to walk away with a birdie 😉

The morning started off pretty badly. We got to Woodend at about 7 o’clock & it was still dark & it was raining. Not promising at all. Stuart suggested that we travel to Kyneton & if the conditions hadn’t improved by then pull the plug.

When we got there it was drizzling slightly so we figured we would give it a go. The drizzle continued for about 3 or 4 holes & then cleared up.

Starting in the rain at this course is a real contrast to what the course looks like. It is very dry & the dams & lakes are nearly empty. This is a great course & it’s a shame to see it this way. A couple of holes play over the dams & you can imagine that they would be quite spectacular & intimidating if there was water. Having said all this, we still had a good day out.

The plan is to try again for a round at Woodend in the near future.

Address: Yarra Bend Road Fairfeild

Number of Holes:18

19th hole: The Kiosk serves beer

Motorized carts:Yes

 

Yarra Bend is one of my favorite course to play. With the Yarra river as a back drop on a number of holes it is a very pleasant round. The fairways are well maintained & the greens are normally in excellent condition. One thing of note is the colony of Flying Foxes the have been relocated to the trees behind the second green. It’s quite amazing to see the number of these creatures in one place.

Yarra Bend isn’t one of the longest course around, there is only the 2 par 5’s (1 on the front & 1 on the back) & one of the par 3’s is only 112 metres. It is a very challenging course all the same. On the front 9 there are a couple of holes worth a mention. The first is the par 3 3rd. The hole is 160 metres from the back markers but I think it plays about 10 metres more than that.From the tee the fairway dips down then rises again to the green. The distance is quite deceiving. Even after you hit the ball it doesn’t seem to travel as far as you first think.

The second is the par 5 6th. This is a gorgous hole. At 486 metres from the back tees it’s not an overly long hole but half of the hole is downhill. This brings the green within reach of a good tee shot & a good second shot. One thing that does fool me nearly ever time is the bunker on the righthand edge of the fairway towards the green. It appears to be a greenside bunker from a distance but is a good 10 metres short of the green.

On the back nine there is again two holes that are worth a mention. The first is the par 4 12th. This par 4 has a dogleg left with a group of tree 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 you drive goes too far left or clips the top of the trees you will find your self in a gully. When you appraoch the green, the easiest wayis from the right hand side of the fairway, there is a bunker protecting the front left side of the green & the back right.

The other hole is my favorite hole on the course & one of my favorite holes of all time. The 16th is a brilliant hole. At 341 metre from the back markers, par 4 has a slight dogleg to the left. You need to play this hole from the right hand side as there is a group of trees blocking your approach if don’t leave yourself enough room to go over the top. To complicate things a little further the fairway slopes from right to left. Your approach from the right isn’t a piece of cake either. There is a large deep bunker proctecting the front of the green & some nasty rough over the back. It is a hole that makes you earn your par & is also visually spectacular.

In the past Yarra Bend has been rated the number 1 Public Access 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.

Photos

Address: 156-200 Melton Valley Drive Melton

Number of Holes: 18

Carts available: Yes

19th hole: No

 

 

 

 

Melton starts you off with an intimidating first tee. Right beside the clubhouse & the road close by on the left. You need you game face on here from the outset. The good news is that the hole itself, aside from the distraction, is an easy par 4.

Melton Valley is a very nice course with some challenging holes, the fairways are in great condition & the greens can be quite tricky if you land your ball in the wrong spot. The first green is a good example of this, sloping toward the right hand side.

The back 9 begins in much the same fashion as the front, but this time you have the carpark close by on the right & the clubhouse at your back. The 11th hole is probably the pick of the bunch. A 468 metre par 5 with a dogleg right. The are trees on the left & water on the right. It is a tough tight fairway but if you get your tee shot right you have acrack at the green, get your tee shot wrong & you could be in for a long hole.

The are a couple of great par 3 here at Melton. The 9th has you playing over lake & the 12th also has water in play on the right handside of the green.

We enjoyed our round out at Melton Valley & I’m sure we will be back in the near future.

You can check out all the photos here

 

Address: Browns Road, The Cups, Mornington Peninsula

Number of Holes: 18

Carts Available: Yes (with GPS)

19th hole: Yes

From the outset this course is something special. Your fist view of the course when you come in from the car park is gorgeous. Don’t worry, the green you see completely surrounded by water is only a practise putting green.

In the clubhouse you have the option of taking a GPS system with you, whether you are walking or riding. These things are really handy & annoying at the same time. While standing on the tee it can tell you how far away from the green you are but it will also tell you how far you are from the lake, bunker or any other hazard you don’t want to know about.

This course is outstanding!! One of the best courses I have ever played!! Everything about this course was magnificent. The tees, the fairways, the greens & even the bunkers. The fairways were, on most occasions, narrow requiring a good tee shot & the greens were well protected by bunkers & ran true & even.

From the first tee the course makes you go “Wow!!”. The approach to the first green is spectacular & intimidating at the same time.

I can wax lyrical about nealry every hole here but I will concentrate on just a couple.

My favorite hole here at Eagle ridge would have to be the par 5 7th. It is just a brilliant hole. From the tee the hole dog legs to the right but then the green is back to the left. The green is obscured by a grove of trees on the left, pretty much forcing you to lay up down the middle, but don’t hit it too far or you’ll run out of fairway, or too short leaving you a tough chip over the trees. Oh yeah did I mention the group of bunkers in front of the green!! This is one hole you have to play right to get right & I loved every metre of it.

My other favorite hole was the par 3 6th. This is one of the best par 3’s that I have ever played!!! At 170 from the back tees, it is a testing length hole. The bunkers surruonding the hole also get in your head. What the photo doesn’t show properly is the gully in front of the tee which has a number of small bunkers just waiting for the topped tee shot.

As I mentioned early this has become one of my favorite courses & I can’t wait to get back out here to have another crack.

Check out all the photos of our day out here

Address: 473 Doncaster Road Doncaster

Number of holes:18

Carts available:no

 

Mick, Stuart, Neil & myself all made our way our to Eastern Golf Course. The day before was a shocker, rain,hail,gail force winds, very ungolf like weather. We tee’d off at 8 in the morning after Stuart & myself bought a golf umbrella from the pro shop. First off I must point out that the Eastern Golf Course is a private course. Mick won the tickets at a trivia night. After talking to the people at the pro shop, there is a possibilty of playing here again but it will have to be on a Thursday.

When we got there, there were a few members lining up on the first tee, so the pro shop bloke told us to hit off the back. One of the first things you will notice about this course is a lot of the fairways are sloped. The clubhouse is on top of the hill & the course is mostly below.

Before I talk about specific holes, I’ll talk about the course in generally. The fairways were in great nick, even after the downpoure we had experienced in Melbourne the day before. The course has some fantastically placed bunkers. All of the par three’s are well protected especiallay the 3rd. But the thing that makes this course special are the greens. They would have to be the best greens I have ever played on. They were quick, even after the rain, but they were true. If you got the ball on the correct line with the correct pace you put would go in. The down hill putts were scary as hell, all you had to do was get them started & they would keep on running.

To the specifics.

There are a lot of fantastic holes here at The Eastern. My favorite hole of all was the par 4 7th. It is a 331 par 4 with a dogleg right. Down the right hand side is a lake which you can try to take on at your peril. It is a visually spectacular hole & also one you have to place your shots well or it will bite you in the ass. Stuart took on the dogleg & won, but it took one of the best drives that I have seen him hit in quite a while.

One of my other favorite hole is the par 3 3rd. It’s 178 metre downhill but the front is surrounded by bunkers. Again it is a beautiful looking hole & tough to play.

We played stroke play on the front 9 but everyone thought that I might start crying & take my bat & ball & go home after that so it was decided that it would 4 ball best ball on the back. Neil & Stuart paired up agiants Mick & myself. Neil & Stuart got off to a flyer but Mick & I pegged them back until we were all square on the 18th (9th). Neil & Stuart cleaned us up on the last hole with a par to out 5, it’s all Micks fault, he didn’t put his tee shot on the green 😉

I am looking forward to the opportunity of playing this course again with the weather being a little friendlier

You can check out the photos here