A short stop off in Cervantes, to do some sighting and a round at the local course. Cervantes is not a bad layout, tight dog-leg holes, a couple of decent length Par 5's and a few elevated tee blocks, built on rolling sand dune land give the course some interest.
However the condition of the heavily tree lined fairways is very ordinary. Bare sandy ground, weeds, leaf matter and the occasion spot of grass, constitute the fairway. The course is 18 holes with sand greens, that are a bit different to play than the scrapes of SA.
Drove into Jurien Bay and probably should of played there, sand greens but much better quality fairways.
Moving onto Geraldton in the coming days, so some better quality courses there.
Cervantes GC
Par 72 Slope 108 Scratch 68 5697m
Green Fee $15
Last edited by MAZA68; 8th May 2021 at 10:41 PM.
Round at Geraldton GC, that could be the last course for a while with grass fairways and grass greens. Geraldton GC is one of the two courses in the town, Spalding being the other course.
Geraldton was a good solid course, heavily tree lined where around the middle of the fairway will avoid clashing with the trees that lean out across the fairways. The majority of the course is flat, with only the 1st (downhill) and 9th (uphill) and the 11th and the last three holes that add slope to the course.
The course condition was excellent and although the greens rolled well, they needed a good nudge. Well placed greenside bunkers and slopes will catch the stray shot into the greens.
The 6th 393m and 11th 405m were strong Par 4's, into the wind the 6th is tough and a long drive is required on the 11th to get some roll off the down slope to shorten the approach. The Par 5 's have good length, the 10th @ 484m has a S bend on the approach into the green and the 16th @ 505m needs a long drive to the corner and then an uphill second where only the flag is visible. The 18th is one of the tight tee shots, that has trees leaning out on the left and then an uphill shot into the green. The Par 3's have good variety and some long ones as well, 5th @ 190m and the 8th @ 180m are good tests.
Not really any spectacular holes, but a good solid layout.
Geraldton GC
Par 71 Slope 125 Scratch 71 5832m
Green Fee $25
Boolbardie Country Club is a unique course - 9 Holes, Sand Greens and fairways that are 80% sand!
The course has some magical views out over Shark Bay and Little Lagoon, from the elevated 1st tee block.
It would have to be one of the best views I've come across on a first hole, the countryside is amazing.
Tee-up is optional on your own fairway and missing the wide fairways is greeted with either a sandy lie on another fairway (no tee-up) or lots of nasty bushes that eat golf balls.
The course is built on a moderate hillside so is an interesting layout. Uphill and downhill shots, a few subtle doglegs, throw a bit of wind into the mix and the testy fairways, provide plenty of challenge.
Managed to meet 5 of the 8 members in the Saturday 9 hole Comp.
The course is deemed the most "Westerly Golf Course In Australia"
Boolbardie CC Par 72 5346m Slope 108 Scratch 68
Green Fee $5
Last edited by MAZA68; 18th May 2021 at 08:05 PM.
Another round at a sand green course in Carnarvon, which is a full eighteen hole course and has one fully grassed fairway - the 1st. They are in the process of getting funding to have two more fairways fully grassed.
Carnarvon has had recent rain, so the course was looking quite green with the combination of weeds and rouge grasses giving a good appearance. On closer inspection the fairways have lots of bare patches.
The course is set in low lying salt marsh and holds the water, the back nine was only opened this week from rain two weeks ago and was still a bit boggy in places.
The sand greens are raised and have a bit slope with them, that makes them interesting to play.
Some decent length holes that play long due to the lack of run on the sandy fairways, plus being open it gets windy. One advantage is tee-up, so the fairway shots on the longer holes can be gobbled up with woods.
Although flat it was one of the more interesting sand green courses.
Carnarvon GC Par 72 6053m Scratch 70 Slope 110
Green Fee $10
Last edited by MAZA68; 18th May 2021 at 09:48 PM.
I can't see in the pics what the Sand Greens might be made from?
A majority of Sand Greens are made from the by product of metal smelting (Slag). Then you have coarse Sand ones if the district has a suitable course Sand. I've seen (Played on) one other that is completely different to Slag and Course Sand that was made from small polished pebbles sourced from creek beds in the area. These were located at Marabel and didn't require any oiling maintenance like Slag and Coarse Sand.
Environmental laws have changed with what these Sand Greens Courses are allowed to do re: Oiling Maintenance. They are supposed to substitute Sump Oils and Diesel with more Enviro friendly options. I remember a family member who is still heavily involved talking about the failure of using Vegetable Oils when this Enviro push came in. The ants loved it but the result was worse surface to play on and required a lot more frequent Oiling for small volunteer clubs. I can still remember helping my Dad Oil the Scrapes with a Watering Can then sitting on the big rake for weight while he towed me around the Scrape at Swan Reach when I was just starting out.
I got a bit off topic there. Good to see your having a go on courses seeing how the some have to play the game. There's a lot more Scrapes courses that only have natural grass fairways when the winter rains come than have irrigated grass fairways. I'm keen to see if you come across any in your travels that have a single wire 2 foot off the ground surrounding the scrape to keep the 4 legged gang mowers (sheep) off that run loose on the course doing the mowing . There's a spring loaded latch at either 1 or 2 points so you can let the wire lay on the ground when on or near the scrape to play a shot. It's an optional replay shot if the ball hits the wire or the upright support posts.
What I've found is the sand greens vary. Cervantes were quite hard and only had a sprinkling of fine gravel, where the one's at Boobardie were soft and the ball stopped very quickly. The ones at Carnarvon where in between the two, but had a lot more shape and slope to the greens.
The blokes I spoke to at both Boolbardie and Carnarvon said they still oil the greens with old sumo oil.
Haven't come across the fenced greens yet, but played a few course many years ago in NZ that had a fully fenced greens.... can be there for a while if you keep hitting the fence!
Last edited by MAZA68; 23rd May 2021 at 09:46 PM.
Looks great Maza.
That Boolbardie course looks like fun.
Green fee prices are great.
Kalbarri boasts an 18 Hole course with grass greens and fairways that is fully irrigated using recycled water - one of the first to do so in WA.
As a lot would know Kalbarri was impacted by cyclone Seroja, that caused significant damaged around the township of 1500, including the golf course.
The damaged around the course and township is very evident with numerous trees snapped off and buildings damaged. However the course and the township has been cleared up and is now welcoming people back to the tourist town.
The Kalbarri golf course is set on a elevated site behind the township and has great views of the surrounding countryside, ocean and river. The rolling countryside the course is built on provides plenty of challenge with elevation changes, doglegs that entice taking short cuts and tight fairways. Missing a fairway will bring a sandy lie and the trees (that are left) into play. Water hazards and bunkers provide interest on approach into the greens. The greens are firm with subtle slopes and are a superb putting surface.
For a small township of 1500 (in holiday time it swells significantly) the course is an excellent asset to the town and well worth the excursion off the highway.
Kalbarri GC
Par 72 5762m Slope 117 Scratch 71
Green Fee $30
Last edited by MAZA68; 28th May 2021 at 04:59 PM.
That looks like a great spot for a round.
yes its a great spot, aside from golf there is fishing, boating, surfing a great coastal walk and a national park to explore.
Kalbarri Skywalk | Explore Parks WA | Parks and Wildlife Service (dpaw.wa.gov.au)
Great track Kalbarri. The locals are great if you play in their comp. very welcoming.
A tour of a few sand greens courses travelling up the north west coast of WA, included Exmouth, Karratha and Port Hedland. Exmouth and Karratha are both oceanside course and Port Hedland an inland course. The sand greens at the three courses present different options, with Exmouth and Port Hedland both soft sand, where you can lob the ball up to the hole and it stops quick. Karratha's were a bit firmer and had a bit more run to them.
Port Hedland and Karratha had the best grassed fairways by far and would match most fully grassed course around. Exmouth's were patchy in places but improved on the back nine. Both Port Hedland and Exmouth were flat layouts and Karratha had a rolling low dune layout with great views over the Nickol Bay and to the Burrup Peninsula. Missing the fairways at all the courses was costly as you either got sandy lies (Exmouth and Karratha) or the thick dense rough at Port Hedland. Anything further wider usually resulted in a lost ball as it disappeared into the thick bush and scrub on all the courses.
Interesting Karratha are in the process of converting the sand greens on the back nine to grass, apparently funded by the local council. So it will have sand greens on the front and grass on the back nine.
Exmouth GC
Par 72
Scratch 70 Slope 109
6108m
Green Fee $15
Karratha GC
Par 72
Scratch 69 Slope 112
5891m
Green Fee $35
Port Hedland GC
Par 72
Scratch 71 Slope 117
5992m
Green Fee $30
Last edited by MAZA68; 20th July 2021 at 07:58 PM.
Wazza did you realise Gowfer69 did the design work at Karratha?
he spent a fair bit of time up there recently.
A return to grass greens find me at the Broome Golf Course, with a brand new clubhouse (funded by federal grants) that has a spectacular views of Roebuck Bay. The course itself sits below the clubhouse on a flat piece of land set around the native bushland. The course condition was very good, lush fairways and firm greens. Interesting layout in that there is no return to the clubhouse until the 18th and the 9th sits out in the middle of the course. The majority of the greens were raised above the natural lay of the land and had no bunkers, subtle swales around the greens can make for some tricky chips. First couple of holes are short par 4's that can be risk reward on cutting the corners. Good length Par 5's, the 8th has a very undulating green and then back to back Par 5's - 16/17 and the 18th Par 3 at 180m finish off the course. Broome was a well conditioned course but nothing spectacular, I thought the Green Fee at $45 was a little steep for what the course is and was surprised the rating the course had.
Broome Golf Club
Par 72
5926m
Scratch 72 Slope 124
Enjoying the tour, keep it coming.
Another full grass course in the North of WA is Derby or The Boabs Course as they call it. The Derby course is built in and around the local racetrack and has a few holes that cross over the race track and some that play inside it.
The course has 11 holes, the 3rd and 12th are individual Par 3's, the second and eleventh share the same fairway, with the second being a Par 5 and the eleventh turns into a dogleg halfway down the second fairway for a Par 4 to a another green. The rest of the holes are played twice. Derby is a fairly flat, open course, tree lined, no bunkers and Boab trees dotted are the course. Condition of the course was pretty, the fairways were well grassed and greens played ok although a little bumpy, not sure what the grass is but it was quite coarse. Couple of interesting holes in the 6th/15th and 7th/16th where large Boab trees sit in the middle of the fairway, right in the landing area.
For a small town it was surprising to find that they had a reasonable course.
Derby GC
Par 72
6136m
Slope 112 Scratch 71
Green Fee $30
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