Course Tour

These columns will inform users about the individual holes that make up the golf course.

Each hole has a column of its own for a description on the best way to play the hole and can be accompanied by further information, possibly a flyover video (drone videography is a great method for this!) and some images or a gallery from different focal points of that hole.

Users like to be able to see the surrounds of each hole, so some great images from differing angles captures the greens nicely too and these can be added using the Gallery functionality.

A very short par four, a big right dogleg, and the sixth most difficult hole for men. Difficult because you must place your tee shot as far left as possible, and about 150m out, to allow a straight shot at the green – too far right with the tee shot, and you’ll face a low fade around the big pine tree far out from the green, even further right and you’ll hit a big tree close to the tee. Out of bounds is a problem here too, with a creek as little as a couple of metres from the fairway where it narrows opposite the pine tree.

A double left dogleg par five, three is a tough hole if you can’t draw the ball. The ideal tee shot is a draw off the trees on the right, but overcook it and you are in the river. If your second shot doesn’t get close to the second corner of the dogleg you provide yourself with another opportunity to put your ball in the river as you try to curl your third around the corner. If your approach shot is long, or left, or right, it will roll off the green. Such fun.

A straightforward uphill par four, and the easiest hole on the course for the ladies. Protected by a bunker left front, and with the pin often placed behind the bunker, putting the ball close is a challenge, but with this hole what you see is what you get.

Officially the most difficult hole for the men, purely because of the length at 396m, but relatively easy if you get a decent tee shot away. Right side of the fairway is the place to be, to open up the slight dogleg to the left towards the end of the hole. Drift off the right of the fairway and you can usually find a way to hit a recovery through the trees back towards the hole, but if you hook your tee shot into the left rough you risk being lost or unplayable.

A dead straight par four, one of the easiest on the course. Like five, a pushed tee shot may end up with a path through the trees to send a big fade/slice towards the green, but a pulled tee shot may see your second shot blocked – or you may give yourself an opportunity to try the big draw/hook you’ve been practicing. A couple of bunkers right of the green can spoil the hole, but the green itself is not difficult, with a predictable gentle slope from front to back.

A long-ish par three running down towards the river, the length alone provides the challenge. Avoid pushing your tee shot too far right, where you’ll find a ditch and lost ball territory, and there’s not a lot to fear.

Eight is a beautiful hole, a gentle left dogleg dipping into a valley before climbing to the green, with the river running along the left border. Stay well away from the left throughout the hole, as even good tee shots or approaches along the centre line of the hole will run hard left when they hit the ground – particularly important at the green, as a big false front will send straight approaches hard left downhill into a greenside bunker. The green itself slopes strongly from back to front and from right to left, so this hole presents challenges from tee to flag.

The first thing to do when you get to the ninth tee is to sit down and catch your breath after climbing the steep path from the eighth green. After that, there is an unwritten rule in the club that golfers who have driven to the ninth in motorised carts tee off first, followed by players who have struggled up the hill, youngest first. Another slight dogleg left with a right sloping fairway, and even a well struck draw will drift off the right side of the fairway. That’s better than a hook into the trees on the left, as there is plenty of lost ball territory there. Approaching, play left of centre to avoid the bunker right of the green – not as easy as it sounds, as approaches are often played from sidehill lies which push the approach towards the sand.

Officially the sixth easiest hole for men, but it really isn’t. It takes two good shots to get to the corner of yet another left dogleg, and another very good shot from there to avoid the bunkers left and slope right to put a ball on the green. Avoid left off the tee like the plague, nothing but lost ball territory or at best a difficult shot to the corner from there, so keep the tee shot on the right half of the fairway to open up the corner, and give yourself a chance. But beware, any approach to the right third of the green will fall off the slope on the right, leaving a tricky chip.

It is the tee shot which makes this the seventh hardest hole on the course. Men tee off through a narrow chute between tall trees, and yet again this is a mild left dogleg – but overcook the draw and you are in the jungle with no prospect of getting to the green for two. Push the tee shot and the bush is slightly more forgiving, and the fairway more accessible. The green itself is domed, so any shots too long, or too right, or too left, will not hold the green – and the fall-offs to both left and back are particularly severe.

Our most antisocial hole, as the men turn left after 11 to walk 50m to the tee of the par four, while women turn right and stroll 150m to the tee of their par three. For the men, again something of a wide chute for the tee shot, this time to a very mild right dogleg. A strong pull and the ball may be lost not far from the left of the fairway, a push is less likely to be lost, but it won’t offer a straight shot to the green. Anywhere on the fairway is okay, but stay well clear of the big bunker short right, which will give you the dreaded long sand shot to the green.

A right dogleg from a crippled dog – this one really turns the corner, 90 degrees to the right, so your tee shot must be down the left side, and it must be long enough – say, 180m – to give you a view of the green. Hard left is dead or lost, hard right is dead or lost, and if you hit your tee shot into the bush on the right corner of the dogleg you are chipping out at best. The green is big, sloping back to front and left to right, and it is never an easy putt. A tricky hole.

The second easiest hole for both men and women, this short par three is straightforward but for a couple of issues – deep bunkers right and left of the green, and, in the case of the men, a stand of not insignificant trees directly in front of the men’s tee. Some choose to play short from the tee to avoid any prospect of bunkers, then putt up from ten metres in front of the green for their three or four. It’s not the worst idea in the world.

Dead straight, but narrow, with deep bush either side of the fairway, and any ball penetrating the bush by 10-20 metres will eventually become someone else’s practice ball. Get on the fairway even if you have to take an iron for safety – always works – and get to the green as best you can. On approach, stay away from the heavily contoured right side of the green, which drops away sharply – drop off the green there and it is virtually impossible to put the next shot close to the hole.

The second most difficult hole for men, and it really shouldn’t be. 16 has the widest fairway on the course, so if you are ever going to open up your shoulders off the tee, this is the place to do it – it even offers a very slight left to right dogleg to accommodate the hacker’s big slice. Don’t go too wild, big hooks and slices will be lost – but a good tee shot offers an easy approach of about 150m to a big kidney-shaped green, a kind of reverse Redan, running left to right and with a very strong fall to the right, so approaches running up to the right half of the green will not hold. But none of this matters if you fail to negotiate the biggest hazard on 16, a big pond a few metres short of the green – and if your tee shot ends up on the right side of the fairway, or you are in the right rough, you have no choice but to take the pond on.

Yet another right to left dogleg – most members are convinced that the course was designed by a left-hander. Not too far to the dogleg, just clear the short chute, but again a hook or slice is lost ball territory. However, get your tee shot away and nothing else on 17 justifies its status as the third hardest hole for men, and it’s a good hole for high handicappers to pick up points. The green is big, and slopes left to right and back to front from a flat section at the left back to a flat section at the right front, both of which are common hole locations.

It will come as no surprise to find that the 18^th hole is a right to left dogleg – one of the sharpest on the course. Like 13, it takes a good tee shot to open up the green, about 180m or so, after which you are faced by a long uphill approach to a green protected by a big false front and bunkers left and right. Left of the hole is out of bounds, and the bush on the left dogleg corner is no fun, so if in any doubt, bail out right, even with a big slice – the bush on the right is quite open, and more often than not you’ll be able to hit through the trees and straight up the fairway. No major problems on the green, gentle slopes back to front and left to right, so just put the ball in the hole and hope that the bar is open. If not – well, there are plenty of pubs in town!