North East Melbourne golf courses

[LeftyHoges]

I think you need to be an RACV member or guest of one to play there, but not 100% sure.

That really does feel like a super unsustainable business model, and yet here we are...

[AndyP]

Healesville is open to the public, but unfortunately they have a shotgun event that day. Now where? Growling Frog?

[ParkRoyal]

I reckon the Frog is pretty good, open but with plenty of very old gums around, some good holes (and some interesting). Its not super long like Eynesbury so should suit an irregular golfer. The roos should be around but the snakes shouldn't appear.


Healsville used to be only for RACV Club members, not roadside members.


Regarding Eastern, I heard over the past week that they have been churning members and a bunch of the original members who got the low fees from the move from Doncaster have left. Most Clay belt courses are back to pretty high membership rates.

[LeftyHoges]

Healesville is open to the public, but unfortunately they have a shotgun event that day. Now where? Growling Frog?

I haven't played the Frog, but anyone I've spoken to has only had positive things to say about it. It's a fair distance though?

[AndyP]

I haven't played the Frog, but anyone I've spoken to has only had positive things to say about it. It's a fair distance though?

I was looking at NE courses, because that is where my brother lives. I'll visit him for a couple of days after work finishes. He is across the road from Yarrambat GC, and not far from the Frog, which he has played before. He said there is a lot of sand.

[AndyP]

Healsville used to be only for RACV Club members, not roadside members.

When I contacted them, they said I could play as a member of the public. Not sure on the green fee rate though.

[Webster]

Growling Frog is similar to Eynesbury (same designer), and quite ordinary.

[ParkRoyal]

Damning praise, but frog is better than any public course in the greater northern region of Melbourne. (Healsville being more North East).


You still may be able to get on to one of the Claybelt privates depending on the day, most of them should be in top condition at this time of the year.

Midway could possibly be the worse private course in the country.
Northern is pretty decent, but the TWP holes stick out a bit.

[Sydney Hacker]

Any of them are better then the majority of Brisbane courses, play where you can.

[AndyP]

I'm obviously not fussy, considering the country tracks that I've been playing recently.

[AndyP]

Is denim a compulsory part of the dress code at the Airport course? We drove past a couple of times today and I've never seen so many jeans on a course.

[ParkRoyal]

Is denim a compulsory part of the dress code at the Airport course? We drove past a couple of times today and I've never seen so many jeans on a course.

I'd imagine high vis and pack of durries would also be compulsory.


Is there a major airport in Australia that doesn't have a course within 500 meters?

[AndyP]

Is there a major airport in Australia that doesn't have a course within 500 meters?

Brisbane doesn't.

[benno_r]

Brisbane doesn't.

#technicallycorrect

[AndyP]

#technicallycorrect

I've never spotted denim at RQ, or are you thinking of somewhere else.

[benno_r]

I've never spotted denim at RQ, or are you thinking of somewhere else.

You've never come on casual Friday.

[Benje]

I assume Nudgee doesn't count as being next to an airport?

[AndyP]

I played RACV Healesville on Monday. It was a fun, quirky course as others have said. It was $69 without the RACV membership.

Plenty of crazy slopes on those greens, some of which I had no idea how to play to. Back flag on 1, middle flag on 17, V-shaped multi-tier on 18, for starters.

Despite being told to make sure to go play downhill for fifth from the tee of 5/7, we didn't. However, I did figure it out once I got to where my drive was. I saw another group figure it out on the green a little later.

I don't know why they are calling 400m holes par 5s.

Condition was good albeit soft, particularly the greens. For a Queenslander, the greens were pure, where you could just trust the line, and I sunk a heap a putts that would normally be a testy distance. It reinforces the management of my expectations on my home course greens, where I'm going to miss putts because of the green and not me.

My least favourite hole was 1. I don't like the idea of hitting a hybrid to the corner of a dog leg and still having a mid-long approach in to a very difficult green. My favourite was 18, although birdieing it may have something to do with that.

The beer choices in the clubhouse weren't good enough for me, so I headed to the local brewery, Watts River Brewing, instead.


18th green in the foreground left, and 10th green in background right.

Photos don't really capture the course though.

[ParkRoyal]

Been a while since I've played it, agree on the 1st clearly a compromised 1st shot, but the green does give a big taste of whats to come.

A lot of the greens give so many and such different short game options, more than pretty much anything outside of the sandbelt.

The 2 short par 5's are a playing off one of Clayton favourite options in half holes (4 1/2 in this instance) they'd probably 4's on a bunch of other courses.

Pity you didn't have the pin on one of the wings on 18, it is possible to putt from one to the other!

[markTHEblake]

Is there a major airport in Australia that doesn't have a course within 500 meters?

Fairly common world wide I played somewhere the planes are so close above you we think you can hit them.

[AndyP]

Pity you didn't have the pin on one of the wings on 18, it is possible to putt from one to the other!

I was looking at the photo again today, and wondered if you could putt from one to the other, or if you would have to chip. Tricky putt!

[ParkRoyal]

Fairly common world wide I played somewhere the planes are so close above you we think you can hit them.

Did a quick google maps search. Perth appears to be the odd one out of the capitals, with everywhere else having a course pretty close.


I know it's a popular course here, I played Yering Meadows many moons ago with the firing range, model airplane and small planes running at the same time. There was a bunch of parachuters and even a stunt plane going at one stage, mate shat himself on the tee when model airplane appeared to be falling on us an bunch of firing went on.

[Sydney Hacker]

I was looking at the photo again today, and wondered if you could putt from one to the other, or if you would have to chip. Tricky putt!

I find the putt from the left side to the right a lot easier than vice versa (looking at the green from the tee).Playing there this Saturday if the rain holds off.

[AndyP]

I played Growling Frog last Friday. I'm not sure what the main grumbles are about the course, but I enjoyed playing it. Greens were super super fast compared to what I'm used to. The place is over bunkered, although the majority of them were full of water, with many of them out of play. My brother tells me that it has been like this for a while. Besides that, I thought the condition was good.

I played from the yellow tees, rather than the back markers, and that seemed suitable for my game, as it kept the bunkers in play for the majority of my tee shots; only a couple of times could I clear them. There's no way I would have made my brother play from the back tees anyway. The course didn't seem overly long, but there were some pretty decent length walks between some holes for walkers.

Here's some photos:

Outlook from the putting green with the 10th on the right, and 18th on the left.


One of the many wet bunkers.



I liked the openness of the course where I looked through a green and could see other holes in the background.


The 10th.


Par 5, 15th, I think.

[ParkRoyal]

Seeing those pictures I recall it being over bunkered for where it is and that the size of the bunkers/complexes are too big. The reduction of bunkers both amount & size would help it fit in to the landscape better.

I reckon I've played about 6 games there during spring, summer and autumn and have seen a snake there without fail, even on busy Saturdays. Mate has holed a put and found a baby brown curled up inside.