My good friend Marty has joined the party and put out a blog for his local golf club based here in Melbourne. They are also extending an open invitation to Golf in Melbourne members to join up with them on their annual golf trip — to Tocumwal in 2006. Details are on their site. Deposits are required by 1st March so if you’re interested, better get in quick.
I’ve also added a link in the Blogroll!
Neil, Cary & Chris played at Chirnside Park on the 15.02.06. The fairways weren’t in very good condition so we had to play preferred lies. On the first 9 the bunkers weren’t too good either, but were OK on the 2nd 9 bar one hole. The ladies tees were behind the visitor tees on all but two tees which was good for me! The greens were in good nick but were hard to read.
On the 10th I (Neil) chipped in for a bogey from about 17 metres and was asked before my shot if I had my putter with me. My par putt on the 11th sat about 1cm off the hole when Cary said “oh that’s a shame” — but then it dropped in! Oh, and thanks to the person(s) before us who left an indention with the flag pole on the edge of the hole.
On the 15th on my approach shot I hit Chris’ ball with mine about 20 metres away from the green, we thougth that I had put Chris’s ball closer to the green but when we arrived I had put my ball closer to the green and Chris’s about 5 metres away from the green. Cary had 2 birdies for the day — one on the 6th par 5 and the other on the 16th also a par 5. I had 3 pars for the day and Chris had 3 as well.
I finished with 95, Chris 94 & Cary 86.
Neil is arranging a round at Chirnside Park on Wednesday the 15th of February. Tee-off time is 10:30am. Please let us know if you are interested in joining him — leave a comment or email cary@golfinmelbourne.com.
Neil, Scott & myself played the front 9 holes at Bundoora on the 2nd of February. They have started changing over a couple more fairways to couch grass. From memory there are 3 of the 9 holes on the front 9 which are a bit of a mess. You need to tee your ball up on the fairways on these holes. As I mentioned the last time we played here, the holes that have been upgraded are just fantastic, which makes playing the crappy holes just a bit easier. The greens still in pretty good nick. One problem with Bundoora is that are still charging full price for a round when about 6 or 7 holes of the 18 have fairways that are un-playable, a bit unfair if you ask meÂ
Address: 350 K Road , Werribee, Victoria, 3030
http://www.werribeeparkgolf.com.au/
Number of holes: 18
19th Hole: Yes (from the clubhouse)
Motorised Carts: Limited availability
Cost:
9 — $16 / 18 — $24 (weekday)
9 — $16 / 18 — $28 (weekend)
On Sunday, Cary, Michael and I ventured down to Werribee Park to play 18 holes. Whilst the course was in fantastic condition for this time of year with lush fairways and perfect greens, conditions were very tough. Once again, Melbourne’s weather had a big influence on our round, with tropical and humid conditions. By the 8th hole, we were all struggling to keep going. Thankfully, the small kiosk on the 10th tee was open and we were able to get some respite from the heat and put some much needed fluids back into the body. It also saved us from walking back to the clubhouse, which is a decent walk up a steep track from the 9th green.
I haven’t got any notes from the round, and Cary still has the score card, so my memory of the course layout and some of the better holes is a little sketchy. We’ll probably need to play here again to do a more comprehensive review. Overall, I liked the course. It’s quite a long course and is situated on a bluff down by the river bed, and as a result the there is some interesting landscape — mostly a mixture of river flats, steep rises and undulating fairways. The course is located not too far from the Pt Cook RAAF base and we witnessed a couple of fly-buys from a squadron of jets, and a couple of bi-planes. A bit distracting, but nevertheless, a pretty awesome sight. Despite being alongside the river, there is no real danger of going into the water unless you go really wayward. There is however, plenty of sand traps, some of them as sheer as the surrounding cliffs.
One particular hole that sticks in my mind is the Par 5 16th. Coming off the back of a short Par 3 at the 15th, the 16th is a lonnnnnnng hole, and for someone who does not hit the ball all that far (like me), this type of hole are always a bit of a struggle. In the middle of a really wide fairway is the hollow trunk of an old gum tree. What are the odds of hitting it? Fairly low one would think, but — you guessed it — I managed to smack my second shot straight into it, sending my ball not that far from where it started! I jagged a 10ft putt, which fortunately made my score for the hole respectable.
At the end of the day, none of us really set the world on fire with our scores, but it was neck and neck for most of the day, with Cary ending up a couple of shots clear in the end on 99. Michael and I both finished with a 102 — a couple of shots shy of where I really wanted to be, but I’ve been pretty consistent around the 100-105 mark for the last couple of rounds, which I’m really pleased with. Now to get them sub 100!
[Note to self]: Need to figure out a better method for capturing course information/notes. Perhaps a phone with camera/voice recorder capability? Could perhaps use the voice recording to create podcasts?
[Update]: Cary has just posted our photos from the round.
I’m planning a camping trip to Denilliquin over the Australia Day long-weekend (Thur 26 — Sun 29). Anyone else in the vacinity want to join me for a round of golf? Add a comment on this post if you’re interested and we’ll hook up.
[UPDATE: I’ve had a change of plans, and it looks like I won’t be heading to Dennie this weekend. Anyone want to play a round closer to home on Sunday?]
Well, Christmas is well and truly behind us and we’ve been up and running for a couple of weeks now, without too many hitches. We’ve just completed an upgrade to the WordPress 2.0 software that runs the site. As a result there have been some minor outages over the past couple of days — mostly due to some technical problems at the other end and beyond our control. I also noticed that the subscribe functionality has also been AWOL, so if you’ve been trying to subscribe to receive updates via email, give it another try. Hopefully these issues is all resolved for the time being.
There’s been a fair bit of golfing action over the short-break, but plenty more to come with the weather being perfect for golf. It’s great to see that we’re attracting new visitors to the site (welcome!), and the faithful band of regulars have stuck with us. Thank you to everyone. We look forward to your continued participation.
Remember, if you have any suggestions on how we could improve on the site, we’d love to hear them. Email us!
Cary & Shane went out to Ivanhoe on a gorgous Thursday. Trevor was supposed to join us but couldn’t get his clubs out of his shed. I’ve heard some lame excuses but this takes the cake ; ) The place was chockers so we got paired up with a couple of blokes, Barry & Bob. We had a great day, Shane is still trying to figure out how to play after mangaling his finger but he is getting there. I’m trying to deal with the horrible problem of driving the ball straight, the problem being I’m still aiming left to compenstate for a slice that appears to have run away. The course was in good condition with lush fairways & smooth (once your clear the leaves) greens.
In the end, after handicaps, Shane beat me by 1 shot.
Address: Whitfield Rd, Whitfield 3733
Number of holes: 9 (different tees for 18)
19th Holes: No, but it is right next to the Pub!
Motorised Carts: No
Cost: 9/18 — $5 (honour system)
Whitfield is a very pretty small town located 245 km north-east of Melbourne, 60 km north-east of Mansfield and 50 km south of Wangaratta. It is situated in a dairy and tobacco growing and wine producing district in the scenic King River Valley where lush river flats are surrounded by some magnificent high country.
On our recent camping holiday, my brother-in-law Michael and I played a couple of rounds at the local course.
The course is probably a little better than what you’d expect a course to play this far out from a major town, despite the gravel ‘greens’ and the fact that the course is short and only has nine holes. After being a little frustrated during our first round and trying to decypher the course layout the second round was a little more enjoyable.
There are a couple of really nice holes on the course, and the absence of any real hazzards (no bunkers — although the greens are sand!) and no long Par 5’s makes life on the course a little more comfortable for the hobby golfer.
The 1st — a Par 4 (284m) — starts off at the tin shed club house, with a short tee shot required to navigate the 90 degree dog-leg over a crest. You cannot see the green from the bottom of the crest, which makes the approach shot a little tricky. Quite a difficult little hole. Neither of us managed better than a boggie on either round.
The 6th — another Par 4 (256m) — was my favorite hole. You tee off from the top of a picturesque ravine through a couple of trees forming a gateway to the promised land that is the fairway. Once through the trees there is a gentle approach to a smallish ‘green’.
The 8th — a short Par 4 (190m) — is a really nice hole with a narrow fairway and a sharp dog-leg to the right around the 160m mark. You need to get your drive spot on here to give you a good approach to the green because the air-space through the corner of the dog-leg is OOB (over a house). If you get the drive right, it’s just a short chip onto the green.
The 9th — a short little Par 3 at 104m is a nice little hole back to the club house is a good one to finish off with. No hazards to speak of and you have a direct shot at the green.
I really enjoyed my couple of rounds at Whitfield and my scores were OK. I even managed a couple of birdies and a couple of Pars, which is pleasing. If your heading to the high country, I recommend you check the course out for yourself.