Portsea golf club is at the farthest end of the Mornington Peninsula. Home to the famous Pro-Am in January, the course is a favourite of many Australian GCA'ers. Played over some of the wildest dunesland imaginable, there are plenty of blind drives and uphill approach shots to the smallest greens I've collectively ever seen on a golf course. They're generally fairly flat contour wise, but have enough slope to get super fast.
The other thing one has to consider are the slopes in the fairways, which can be used to kick a tee shot into favourable positions., although some of them can be a bit inequitable, as a well-hit drive and a scuzzled one can end up in a similar position.
First hole is about 370 metres. The yardage book only had the right greenside bunker, but someone has added the other one, presumably to stop balls rolling well off the green.
From the top of the ridge. this is one hole where drives tend to gather in a similar place no matter how they are hit.
The second is where the course gets interesting. A blind 266 metre par four, with a green angled from left to right over the ridge up ahead. The carry over the left is reasonably easy in any but the strongest wind, but there's plenty of trouble off to the side.
Spraying the ball right leaves an unpalatable approach over this bunker, possibly from the hollow, to a green with a big slope off the trap.
Left is the best line in, but is fraught with danger.
The fifth, "Twice Blind", is a 401 metre par four with another blind drive. Heading right over the ridge gets a bigger kick off the fairway slope than hitting left. This is taken from around 40 metres forward of the back tee.
The bunkers are shared with the sixth hole. From here a faded iron can take the downslope off the greenside bunkers out of play.
Six is a 446 metre par five played from the very back tee. From the whites, it's a rather more uninteresting 360 or so, down and to the right off the back tee.
They've used the most severe land for the par threes. This is the 151 metre 7th.
Eight is another shortish par five just over the yardage limit for a four. The bunkers are around 270 to carry.
Even with a good drive, the second still has a semi-blind second to a green angled slightly toward the inside of the dogleg.
From short right of the green. One of the quickest greens. My playing partner last week was two feet above a back middle pin, barely touched the ball and saw it roll almost onto the 9th tee.
Nine is another strong four that may unfortunately become a victim of the new development.
Eleven is another blind, severely downhill then up four, 319 metres. Doglegs left to right.
From around where the average player will hit their second. The bunker on the right is about 260 to carry.
Alongside the bunker, it's still quite steeply uphill. Another green where to be above the pin would be unwise, as the ball could almost end up back here. Although with the winds common here, such severe green speeds are silly, as it is nigh on impossible to address the ball without it quivering, especially at this point of the course.
Thirteen is Portsea's best hole. A driveable right to left and right to left sloping par four of 244 metres, there's little room to lay up, so you might as well go for it.
The fairway has a lot of nice rolls which add to the problem.
Missing right into this bunker can be difficult depending on the pin. A shallow ridge on the front right third of the green complicates matters if the pin is directly behind it as you would need to hit past it to avoid rolling off the front.
Fourteen is a bit of a been there done that affair. Similar in the length to the eighth, it's another right to lefter bunkered on the outside, but more exposed to the wind.
Again in a similar fashion to eight, a drive in the ideal position still leaves a semi-blind second. It's 245 or so to carry the bunker, and this is from another 30-40 metres further up.
Further down, some nice rolls in the fairway lead to a well-protected green.
Fifteen is a mid-length straight par four about 375 off the back. It's yet another drive where hitting over the ridge kicks the ball some 30-40 metres forward. Second is uphill to an angled green with a very well done slight tier. It's a bigger green than nearly all others, so I presume it's a Mike Clayton job.
Sixteen is the best par three. Around 160 metres. Very similar to the 11th at Ranfurlie, it needs a well judged iron to a slippery green with trouble all around.
Seventeen is a longish four around 407 metres from the back, but runs sharply downhill, to one of the most startlingly small greens in existence. I know real estate in Portsea is astronomical, but still... It makes the 8th green at my former home course seem positively Old Course-ian.
Eighteen is a terrific par five to finish. 481 metres from the back, the long hitter can use the huge dune to get a kick into the perfect position.
This excellent bunker scheme some 65 metres from the green complicates second and third shots to a green angled from right to left.
Long isn't much fun either.
All in all, Portsea's a pretty decent track. Three of the threes are a little ordinary, and the number of similar drives can get a little wearying, but at less than 6000 metres, and with greens that would be smaller than a Wall Street banker's IQ, there's plenty of challenge even without the wind. For fifty bucks, it's a bargain, especially compared to it's expensively priced neighbours some 15 k's away.