Trentham Golf Club

An early morning tee off meant for a very early departure for the 90 minute drive to Trentham Golf Club.  Their website describes the course as one of country Victoria's best and most beautiful courses.

A freezing morning and I watched the temperature drop from 12C leaving Melbourne to be 6C when I arrived at Trentham.  A quick warm up in the practice nets and a few practice putts and we were off.

The first is a gentle start and despite a wide inviting fairway I managed to put it in the trees to the right.  Not a good start to a stroke round to open with double figures.

A bit better at the par 3 2nd hole, just missing the green and holing out for a par.

The course is short, but still interesting and the tight fairways with a few doglegs with trees that can block out an ill placed tee shot make for a challenging day.  The greens are very good, firm and a good pace.

Par 3 5th hole

 Had started to get round back in some shape with a few bogies and pars.

Was that a real fungi?

Par 4 7th hole

Turned with a 51 off the stick, including the first hole 10, so on to the back nine to recover some of the damage.

Par 4 11th 

Again some short par 4's that give you an opportunity and invite an iron off the tee to lay up.  If only I could be hitting better short irons in.

Par 3 13th

The par 3 13th is the first of two short down hill holes that have the greens nestled together at the base of a hill.  The 13th has a water carry and the 15th is a down hill shot to a green protected by two towering gum trees.  The course guide suggests either going over or hitting a low punch under and between the trees.

Today I tried the over the top route, managed to hit an overhanging branch, and after hitting my second on to the green from top of the slope found that I was the one 'going over' and after slipping on the wet and muddy turf, came a crashing to the ground.

I managed to play out the final three holes in some increasing discomfort and by the time I was back in Melbourne decided a trip to emergency was needed.  Alas a broken bone in my wrist means an enforced lay off for a few months.

Looking forward to next game soon.

Heritage Golf & Country Club - St John (57)

The Jack Nicklaus designed St John course at the Heritage Golf and Country Club in Melbourne's Yarra Valley was the venue for another SGA Victoria Tour event.

My last trip here was for the Victorian PGA Pro-Am, so I was keen to play better on this occasion.

As usual the course at Heritage was in magnificent condition, fairways well grassed, greens firm and fast, with putts holding their line.

The short par four 1st gets things away to a gentle start.

A lunch time tee of was unusual for me who prefers waking up and arriving at the course for sunrise to get away early.  Today the gentle breeze of the morning picked up a little by mid afternoon which with the fast greens combined to make conditions testing.



Playing of the blue markers was still about 6000m around and water on several holes means you may need to make decisions to lay up on some holes or back yourself in to clear the hazards.

Approach to par 4 6th hole

15 points on the front nine was poor, considering it included a birdie 2 on the par 3 seventh hole.  Started the back nine better and another birdie with a chip in at the par 5 12th held promise.

Par 3 11th hole

View from 12th tee

Alas 1 point in last 3 holes despite having a couple of shots meant a finish with 32 points for the day.