Woodlands Golf Club (19)

Despite still being a bit under the weather I ventured out to Woodlands Golf Club for another SGA Tour Victoria competition.  Woodlands was rated at 19 in the 2012 Golf Digest Top 100, and I note they have held and improved that by one in the 2014 rankings.

The weather was overcast and a Westerly breeze meant the temperature stayed low for a March day in Melbourne.  Woodlands is another great Melbourne sandbelt course, with a number of shorter par 4's but these and the par 3's all well protected by either bunkers or tricky swales around the greens that make getting up and down a test.

Par 4 1st tee

 

Par 4 1st hole

The first a dog leg left par 4 only needs an iron or 3 wood off the tee, but depending on the line taken will leave a short to medium iron in to green bunkered on the left.  Started off hitting the fairways but irons to the greens kept staying left and I encountered bunkers on opening few holes.

3rd hole looking back from green

3rd green

The greens were firm and fast and a pleasure to putt on.

Par 4 4th hole

Another short par 4 4th hole is all about placing tee shot so the approach can hit the green as the green is small and difficult to get up and down if you miss.

Par 3 5th hole

The first of the short holes, the par 3 5th is a typical sandbelt par 3 with bunkers surrounding the green demanding accuracy from the tee.

Par 4 14th hole

The course is set amongst beautiful tree lined fairways that punish the errant shot as I quickly discovered today.  Not enough fairways hit and even when I did, the over the top swing was seeing balls stay left today with less slice.

Mandalay Golf Course

The Mandalay Golf Course at Beveridge is a Peter Thomson designed course set in a new housing estate about 50 minute drive north of Melbourne.

Clubhouse under construction

Practice nets - that's it for warm up

The clubhouse is still under construction and at the moment only the 3 practice nets are in place (March 2015).

Another SGA Tour Victoria round for a early morning shotgun start.  Our group was on the first hole, a short par 4 to get the round underway.

The Mandalay fairways are in very good condition, the rough is not as long as the first time we played and the conditions were perfect for scoring.

Par 4 8th hole

Par 4 9th hole

Ninth green from path behind

Managed to have 21 points on the front nine including a wipe on the 7th when I didn't get out of a greenside bunker.

Par 3 11th hole

Generous fairways but greens well protected by bunkers, the course also usually has the regular breeze to help protect it but today was very still.

Par 4 12th hole



A steady start to the second nine before a couple of pars at the par 5 16th and 17th gave me 19 points for the nine and 40 overall.

Par 5 16th

Although not included in the 2012 Golf Digest rankings as it was not open, Mandalay has been listed at 56 in the Golf Course Guide Top 100 courses.

Par 5 17th