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.

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