Portsea Golf Club (44)

My second visit to Portsea Golf Club but the first since the course redesign and construction of the new clubhouse some years ago.

Portsea was ranked 44 in the 2012 Golf Digest Top 100 rankings that I am tracking, although has now dropped to 62 in the 2016 edition.

Another round in the SGA Tour Victoria on a cold winters day for an early morning drive to the end of the Mornington Peninsula 



Unfortunately despite being in our first group due off the 1st, we had another social group in front, who were slow getting away and so we teed off over 20 minutes late.   Not a great way to start the round.

Portsea is not a long course by todays standards, but it demands precise shot making, particularly irons to greens that have sloping fronts that can see a shot that is not played to green correctly, take the slope and end up 20-30m down a hill.

The par 3 holes are examples with them requiring carries over sloping fairways.

 

After a couple of double bogeys to start the round, my first 1 putt (5 in total for the day) gave me a par on the par 5 third hole.

 

Turned with 18 points and hoping to improve on the second nine.  The 10th is a great short hole called "Little Devil", and a 3 iron and wedge and another 1 putt, only birdie of the day.

 

Gave it back though with only wipe for the day on the pat 4 12th hole.



Closing the round I didn't take advantage of the two par 3 holes and 2 where I had 2 shots thanks to two 3-putts.

 

 

Finished with 36 points thanks to a 5 for 3 on the last.





Box Hill Golf Club ( -)

Good Friday in Melbourne means a public holiday and an excuse for a game at Box Hill Golf Club a suburban course in Melbourne's east.

Club house at Box Hill Golf Club

An overcast start to the day we had some light misty rain later in the day, enough for umbrellas but not wet weather gear.

Where would you rather be?

Always an enjoyable course, the tree lined fairways demand accurate tee shots or you can find yourself having to navigate gaps back to the fairway.


We were off the white tees, which on a couple of holes were quite forward.


First hole, front tees, short par 4

Par 4 first hole



A couple of poor shots led to some wiped holes and 13 points first nine, before starting well on the second nine for 17 points, and a total of 30 points.

Par 3 11th hole

Spring Valley Golf Club (55)

Today was the 11th annual Parkview Hotel Golf Day at Spring Valley Golf Club in the Melbourne Sandbelt.

The weather was great although a strong breeze made some holes play long today.

An ambrose completion our 4 man team had us all on similar handicaps, which is probably not ideal for an ambrose, but an enjoyable day.  We didn't make enough putts early on and so ended up a couple over par.

Wonderful hosts at Spring Valley, with a superb BBQ dinner concluding the day.

Growling Frog Golf Course (-)

The next SGA Victoria game at the Growling Frog course north of Melbourne.

This was also my second round game in the SGA Matchplay.  My opponent had to concede 5 shots.

We were scheduled to start on the 1st hole but a late hiccup meant we started with a shotgun start on the 9th hole.

A reasonably steady start whilst my opponent was struggling had me a few holes up.

Eventually held on to win 3 and 2 and progress to third round.

Morack Golf Driving Range - Swing Profile App

As slightly different post to usual but have been trying to get to the range and work on the long ingrained out to in swing of mine.

Managed to get to the range just before sunrise - best part of the day you know.

The Swing Profile app has a auto capture function so you can set up your phone/camera device behind you press the record button and wait for it to show green on the screen and it will auto record each swing.

The free version only records last 3 swings, so am thinking of upgrading.  The best feature to me is the automatically drawn lines that give you the opportunity to see clearly what the swing is doing.  These don't appear on the exported video though


Still some work on that first downward motion for me.

Yarra Yarra Golf Club (34) - Choice Hotels Charity Day 2017

An invitation to attend the 2017 Choice Hotels charity day to raise money for Kids Under Cover at the fantastic Yarra Yarra Golf Club in Melbourne's sand belt.

Yarra Yarra Golf Club

The weather was not kind with a few showers on and off during the day. 



We started on the par 5 18th hole but never managed to get enough birdie putts close enough to convert.

The Kids Under Cover charity is a great charity helping prevent youth homelessness and if you ever have a old car that you don't know what to do with, you can donate it!

Lang Lang Golf Club ( - )

A very early start for the 1 hr drive south east to Lang Lang Golf Club.  We seemed to be even too early for the pro shop staff as the gates were still closed on arrival.

Some locals were around enjoying the cooler conditions before the rain.

Another SGA Victoria game and a cooler start to the day

Par 4 first hole

We were the first group off the 1st, so got away slightly early to try and beat the weather than was looking a little ominous.

Short par 4 third hole



A mix of holes on the front nine, some longer par 4's but also some really nice shorter holes where it is all about placement off the tee and ability to hit short irons.  Today our distance judgement was not great.

Par 4 10th hole

A total of 4 wiped holes and 8 points on the front nine, before starting the back nine with a par 4 on the dogleg 10th.

Par 4 14th hole

The rain finally arrived around the 14th hole and although only for a few holes it was reasonably heavy and enough to make it unpleasant, wet clubs, ground and conditions.


Had a slight improvement on the back nine with a couple more pars including a par on the 18th.  Sixteen points for a total of 24 for the day.