golf courses in australia

consedering a golf trip in australia I need your advice on the golf courses to play during a 2 weeks trip, sydney ( nsw,??) , melbourne (royal melbourne, kingston heath , national , capital, victoria. commonwealth,???) , barndougles , royal adelaide ??

many thanks

All I can say is if you go to Brisbane, play Brookwater...

some tough ones to get on. Melbourne and Metropolitan in Melbourne. If you can, the National at Cape Schanck, Barnbougle in Tasmania is getting rave reviews (I've not played it though).

Moonah links is a great track despite and causes great controversy as a love hate course.

Queensland, we're I'm from has Brookwater as mentioned which is an amazing track off the tips, with some super resort courses on the Gold Coast, like Hope Island (best service in Australia), The Glades, Sancutary Cove Pines etc.

But there's a lot of distance between these tracks. Whats your planned itinerary?

many thanks for the information

no precise plan as of now but the idea would be to focus on melbourne with short trips to sydney , tasmania and maybe adelaide,

Brisbane and perth seems quite far

the answers for manager guest access (international) are so far ok even if the greens fees are quite high (kh 250, nsw 260)

When I went through Australian Tour qualifying in 1989, we played a course named Riverside Oaks that was in Cattai (?). It was near a town called Windsor, about 40-60 km west of Sydney. If I remember correctly, it was the Australian PGA Headquarters at the time and they were remodeling/rebuilding the clubhouse. I liked it. Pretty good track, but nowhere close to Royal Melbourne...

You must play NSW.

Other good courses around Sydney include The Lakes, The Australian and Royal Sydney. They might be very hard to get on though. But you never know.

Majority of the good courses in Oz are down in Melbourne. If you can get on the courses you've mention that would be great.

My favourite courses in Melbourne: Metropolitan, Kingston Heath, Royal Melbourne West (wasn't so keen on the East course) and Victoria.

In Sydney: NSW Golf Course, The Australian, Concord, Royal Sydney, Camden Lakeside.

Canberra: Royal Canberra - an absolutely amazing course and described by many as the Augusta of Australia.

many thanks ,

for people who may be interested , I post hereafter the addresses of some clubs web sites

http://www.kingstonheath.com.au/

http://www.royalmelbourne.com.au/

http://www.standrewsbeach.com/

http://www.capitalgolfclub.com/

http://www.commonwealthgolf.com.au/

http://www.huntingdalegolf.com.au

http://www.nationalgolf.com.au

http://www.victoriagolf.com.au/

http://www.woodlandsgolf.com.au/

http://www.portseagolf.com.au/

http://www.peninsulagolf.com.au/

http://www.yarrayarra.com.au/

http://www.metropolitangolf.com.au/

http://www.moonahlinks.com.au/

http://www.nswgolfclub.com.au

http://www.newcastlegolf.com.au/

http://www.riversideoaks.com.au

http://www.thelakesgolfclub.com.au

http://www.rsgc.com.au

http://www.camdenlakeside.com.au/

http://www.concordgolfclub.com.au

http://www.bonniedoongolfclub.com.au/

http://www.brookwatergolf.com

http://www.hir.com.au/golf/

http://www.royaladelaidegolf.com.au

http://www.barnbougledunes.com/

http://www.royalcanberra.com.au/

its further to tasmania than it is to brisbane from sydney. i'd fly into melbourne, quick trip to tasmania for barnbougle, back to melbourne, then to brisbane skipping nsw all together I am biased though)

Play Victoria... that's where I'm a member. I won't be able to do much in terms of getting you a game because I'm only a junior but the staff is pretty nice and we have accomodation which will get you a game.

Royal Melbroune West Course is great but not actually that hard but still a gem.

Don't get your hopes up on Capitol unless you plan to gamble away a couple of million at the Crown Casino.

I don't know about Metro, Commonwealth because they are a like ghost clubs and by that they seem to be like a secret club hidden away.

Josh

I found this interesting thread on golfclubatlas.com

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forums2/index...;threadid=21925

from http://www.sportscapes.com/

consedering a golf trip in australia I need your advice on the golf courses to play during a 2 weeks trip, sydney ( nsw,??) , melbourne (royal melbourne, kingston heath , national , capital, victoria. commonwealth,???) , barndougles , royal adelaide ??

 

many thanks :)

 

any of the courses in the melbourne sandbelt are fantastic,and from what i have heard, about barnbougle its extremely tough but come on down to melbourne you wont be sorry

In Sydney there are the big ones you really can't go wrong with, Royal Sydney, The Lakes, The Coast, New South Wales, Concord...But NSW out of those is ranked and known as the best.

Royal Adelaide I havn't played but am keen to, as I think it may be the best ranked Australian course and is a reciprocal club to my club, so I could get on easily.

Courses in Melbourne that I've played are Royal Melbourne, Huntingdale, Moonah Links(Moonah Stinks), The Dunes, Yarra Yarra and The National. Moonah Links has 2 courses, the Legends course and the Open course they use for the Open, the Open course isn't a good track but the Legends is really nice, not as hard but far better. The Dunes used to be used for the Open and is really nice. Huntingdale used for the masters and is a great parkland course. Yarra Yarra is in my opinion super over rated, don't bother. My pick of the bunch, only just infront of Royal Melbourne, however is The National, I'd say it's the most beautiful course I have played, with views out to the ocean. It has 3 courses, ranked 8, 24 and 40something from memory, and I played the one ranked 24, it was really great.

When I went through Australian Tour qualifying in 1989, we played a course named Riverside Oaks that was in Cattai (?). It was near a town called Windsor, about 40-60 km west of Sydney. If I remember correctly, it was the Australian PGA Headquarters at the time and they were remodeling/rebuilding the clubhouse. I liked it. Pretty good track, but nowhere close to Royal Melbourne...

Don't know what it was like back then but Riverside Oaks is not much of a golf course anymore, it's really become like a resort course(without the resort), you have to have a cart and mainly visitors play and the greens are in bad shape and no one repairs their plug marks. It's become Sydney's course for those who want a handicap, people that need to be members somewhere to have a handicap join there because it is only $95 a year for membership, and then they just play other courses as visitors all the time.

play the lakes. probably the best 9 holes (back) in australia.

I would agree with albatross. I just got back from Adelaide. I was able to play Royal Adelaide, Kooyonga, Grange(west). Even though they have been in a drought Kooyonga & Grange were in pretty good shape. Unfortunately Royal Ad. was very brown/dusty/patchy and lightning quick. These were the hardest courses that I have been able to play to date. Very deepbunkers, undulating greens, rolling fairways. It was pure heaven for 6 rounds. I would have liked to have seen mor of OZ but we were down there on a limited time schedule. On a side note, I also played night golf in Singapore at Jurong CC. If you ever get the chance, it is worth trying it out. The fairways are lit like stadiums, the heat is bearable and the players assistant was a riot.

Cypress Lakes and the Vintage in the wine country just north of Sydney are good tracks.

or there is Australia's Augusta, Bonville, at Coffs Harbour.

Terry Hills in Sydney if you can get on

Bonville is one of the most scenic courses i've ever seen - its cut straight out of the rainforest :wacko:. If your up in Brisbane - Brookwater, Club Pelican and Pacific Harbour are all good tracks, and Club Pelican and Brookwater were both designed by Greg Norman

My opinion is to fly into melbourne and head down to Cape Schank. Man, there is sooo many good tracks along there and from memory they are pretty much on one road which goes around the Cape. The national has 3 courses which are all top 50 in aussie, Moonah links should be on the itenary aswell. Plus, closer to Melbourne central there are courses like Victoria, Royal Melbourne (sandringham is a public course across the road from Royal Melbourne which is not too bad) But yeah, there are HEAPS of great tracks in Melbourne

Can I offer this advice?

Forget Cape Schanck GC and play at The Dunes instead - it's just down the road. Best course I've ever played (not that I've played the world's greatest courses).

A true links course with a wonderful layout - definitely my favourite.

Sorry, I just re-read your post. You probably meant you were heading down to Cape Schanck in general, and not the course specifically, right?

sandbelt courses in melb are fantastic. if you can play metro, do so. victoria is fabulous. head down the coast and play national, also a new course named st andrews beach which is fun. my parents and friends rave about barnbougle in tassie. nsw is a must play. greens generally play fast in australia and i always play less bounce on my wedges with the firmer soil.

bombs

in sydney it can be tricky to get on a lot of the better courses.
a few good examples iplay are as follows all pretty good.
NSW is ok mid week on 2 only days i believe
THE AUSTRALIAN u might be play mid week but its $350+ usually ok.
ST MICHAELS next to NSW is public and one of the very best.
LONG REEF is similar another great public links .
RIVERSIDE OAKS is very resorty but well worth it long way out tho 70 mins form CBD.
ELENORA is the new jewell but very tough to get a game on, if u can get on there u must go.
TERRY HILLS agn difficult but very good.
CROMER is a probability they have done this up a few yrs ago, very good wooded course.


u MUST say ur a member form o/s and u will be much more likely to get a game.

hope that helps a bit

I've played golf on a number of occaisions in Melbourne and Sydney, I grew up in Perth and have lived in Brisbane for the last two years.

I think the 3 best cities to play golf in Australia in no particular order are Sydney, Perth and Melbourne.

Personally I feel that Brisbane is a waste of time, traffic snarls will take hours to transit between courses as good courses are few and far between.

Domestic flights between Melbourne and Sydney are relatively cheap and will only take you 1.5-2 hours.

The Melbourne sandbelt region has some great courses if you are traveling there I would suggest playing The Victoria Club and Royal Melbourne. Both are fantastic courses and great experiences, if you wish to stay away from the city the accomodation is EXCELLENT value and the food and beverage service is very very good, try the steak sandwich

I have stayed at Royal Sydney Golf club and the accomodation was excellent, the service is also first class. Again if you don't want to stay in the city accomodation at the club is a great idea. Food and Beverage is also very good, I have had dinner at the club a couple of times.

There are plenty of great courses in NSW and the ones on your list in NSW are all very good

The courses that I have played in NSW and Victoria have been leaps an bounds in front of the Qld courses I have played. I must admit having not played Hope Island but I have played at a number of "Premier" golf clubs in Qld, Indoorapilly, Brookwater, Arundel Hills Country Club, Middle Ridge, Royal Queensland and Brisbane golf club.

Middle Ridge, Brookwater and Arundel Hills are the only ones I would considder playing in Qld. I have also played at a couple of other dozen courses in Qld but nothing worth noting.

Unfortunately due to climate and I dare say lack of funds for the organisations running them the conditions are often very poor.

Perth Western Australia is a 4 hour flight from Melbourne so it may be a little far for you to travel however it offers some of the best golf courses in the country and I would say that Joondalup Country Club is a MUST PLAY if you ever travel to Perth.
Joodalup can be quite spectacular it was built in an old limestone rock quarry and there are some spectacular drop offs, cliffs and rock walls.
On one par five there are a number of ladders to climb out of one of the bunkers.

The Cut is a spectacular links style course, make sure you buy a yardage book as there are a number of blind shots that can land you in deep deep rough and you will lose your ball if you don't know where to hit it.

Lake Karinyup is a beautiful golf course but hard to get on to being private and rather exclusive. It has hosted a number of Aus opens and Johnnie Walker Classics, a real challenge and IMO better than Royal Melbourne in terms of layout.

Also check out the following courses via the web if you are interested in traveling to Perth-

Cottesloe Golf Club, Mt Lawley Golf Club, Western Australian Golf Club (The first hole a par three is a real knee trembler if you aren't warmed up! 250 yard par three with water down the left), The Links Kennedy Bay, Meadow Springs, Secret Harbour Golf Links, The Vines Resort and finally-
Royal Perth Golf Club (I am a member of Royal Perth, if you wish to play there let me know and I can arange it for you. It is a very friendly welcoming club and extremely social food and beverage are excellent and the service is first class.)

I have found the conditioning of the courses in Qld and Victoria can vary due to drought/water shortages. Victoria should be fine now but last time I played Royal Melbourne and Victoria club you could tell the courses needed more water on them.

NSW courses around Sydney had always seemingly been green and lush and I haven't played any there in drought conditions.

Perth is well prepared for water shortages and the courses manage their water usage very well, so the courses that I have mentioned will always be in excellent condition unless they are undergoing routine maintinence.

Australia is a very long way to come so plan your trip wisely, I would suggest maybe starting in Sydney then going to Melbourne and if time permits head over to Perth.

Perth is a much smaller city and much easier to get around hiring a vehicle and getting around should be no problem and stress free compared to Sydney and Melbourne and traffic is almost non existant in Perth which is a welcoming change to the other large cities around the world.

Feel free to PM me if I can be of assitance and best wishes for your trip!

Adam aka HISPL

Paradise Palms in Tropical North QLD . North of Cairns near Palm Cove. Most Port Douglas resort courses are good for stay and play . Also try Hamilton Island Golf Club on Dent Island.

These course choices are based on my holiday destinations. All very similar to Maui's and Cali's courses in America.

does anyone have information about getting to Barnbougle Dunes? I am planning a trip to New Zealand and would like to stop in at Barnbougle for a couple of nights....and it appears that Hobart is the main airport. Is the drive from Hobart to Barnbougle relatively simple?

That drive will take almost 3.5 hours.

You want to fly in to Launceston Airport and the drive will only take you 90 minutes or so. You can also fly in to Bridport itself I believe - check here for more info: http://www.barnbougledunes.com.au/accommodation/getting_here.html

+1 On Paradise Palms. Im a member there and the course is excellent! Come between May and October for optimum ccourse condition, gets very wet up here in wet season, course still playable but you will get very wet.

Best service of anywhere I have ever played!

This trip happened yet?

[quote name='maggot' timestamp='1209032853' post='1036831']
Cypress Lakes and the Vintage in the wine country just north of Sydney are good tracks.
[/quote]

While in Australia On Vacation I stayed at Cypress ALkes and played both of these courses in January. The Vintage was a great coursed that I loved playing and Cypress Lakes did not impress me as much as it was not in great condition and was very slow to play. The greens were also very bumpy there.
To the OP: If your going to the Whitsundays I highly reccomend playing Hamilton Island Golf CLub! This course was a nice track but the views from the club are the best part of it. You also are only able to get to the course by ferry!
-Devon

gee we got forgotten.
might i suggest you put the Barwon Heads Golf Club on your list.
one of the more original courses by the seaside.
nice memories of others mentioned,
Trevino, Norman at Metropolitan
Nicklaus and Norman at Royal Melbourne.

but really you should try the real real Aus golf experience.
a small town country course in bushland with sand greens, kangaroos, birds and wildflowers.
nothing like it anywhere else in the world.
[attachment=824358:Barwon_Heads_1131w.jpg]

Man, wish I could play out there.