Seeking your advice - Mornington Peninsula

[Jordan Beasley]

Hi all,


I'm making plans for my first visit to Australia (as part of a longer trip), to visit a good friend who lives in Victoria. We are probably going to have time for about 5 rounds, and he has offered the names below as potential options. Before you ask - from what I understand the big-name sandbelt courses are not an option due to lack of access for non-member residents (I am the only non-local).


I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you'd split 5 rounds:


-Thirteenth Beach (2 courses)
-Barwon Heads
-The National (3 courses)
-St. Andrews Beach
-Moonah Links (2 courses)
-The Dunes
-Flinders
-Lonsdale Links


Thanks in advance!


Jordan

[Scott Warren]

Jordan,

At the risk of getting bodied for self-promotion, I think the below episodes of the podcast fellow GCAer Matt Mollica and I host will be useful in you deciding which ones sound like they appeal to you the most.

The National GC
https://spotify.link/D5ZjeNaAYyb

The Rest of the Mornington Peninsula
https://spotify.link/xqSv6znAYyb

13th Beach and Lonsdale Links
https://spotify.link/dA7HUkrAYyb

Sleepy Hollow pros Todd Ogborn and Joe Kass reflecting on their recent trip to Aus
https://spotify.link/vt53zTvAYyb

[Tom_Doak]

At the risk of self-promotion, I built two of those courses, and they are both worth playing.


St. Andrews Beach is one of the great bargains of golf.  It is only in mediocre condition, but that's why it is a great bargain.  The Gunnamatta Course at The National, on the contrary, is one of the best-conditioned courses you will ever play, as is the Moonah course next door.

[Daryl David]

Barwon Heads is great fun. If you can get on, definitely do it. Lonsdale Links was a real surprise. Not sure what was there before, but the remodel by Ogilvy, Cocking and Mead is great. It’s become very popular since the reopening. Courses at The National are good, especially The Gunnamata. So my five if I only had five with no repeats would be:


St. Andrews Beach
Barwon Heads
Lonsdale Links
The National Gunnamata
13th Beach Ocean Course

[Tim_Weiman]

Hi all,


I'm making plans for my first visit to Australia (as part of a longer trip), to visit a good friend who lives in Victoria. We are probably going to have time for about 5 rounds, and he has offered the names below as potential options. Before you ask - from what I understand the big-name sandbelt courses are not an option due to lack of access for non-member residents (I am the only non-local).


I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you'd split 5 rounds:


-Thirteenth Beach (2 courses)
-Barwon Heads
-The National (3 courses)
-St. Andrews Beach
-Moonah Links (2 courses)
-The Dunes
-Flinders
-Lonsdale Links


Thanks in advance!


Jordan

Jordan,


St Andrews Beach is probably my favorite course that Tom Doak has done. It has struggled financially and apparently this has impacted conditioning, but I felt there were many shots that were just fun to play. That was the appeal for me.

[Anthony Butler]

Hi all,



-Thirteenth Beach (2 courses)
-Barwon Heads - Both Barwon Heads and Lonsdale Links are on the Bellarine Peninsula - which is a 40 min Ferry ride from Sorrento on the Mornington to Queenscliffe.
-The National (3 courses) - Moonah and Gunnamatta the pick of the two courses. I was surprised by how similar many of the holes they feel. Moonah may have got the slightly more dramatic land, but Gunnamatta has some really interesting holes.
-St. Andrews Beach - all comments here apply although it was in acceptable condition when I played there a month or two ago. Not hard to get a tee time other than peak weekend hours. 
-Moonah Links (2 courses) - The Open course is OK. Legends is utterly be utterly confusing in terms of lines off the tee etc for a first-time player.
-The Dunes
-Flinders - More of locals' course quite close to the town-some nice distant ocean views but not remarkable golf. 
-Lonsdale Links - Just gets the nod over Barwon Heads.


Thanks in advance!


Jordan

Comments above in bold. Hope that helps!

[Mark Pearce]

I really enjoyed St Andrews Beach.  I played the Old course at National and wasn't blown away (though I'm told by a member that I'm wrong in my assessment). 


I didn't play Barwon Heads but did look round, and wished I had time for a game.....

[Niall C]

That's all very interesting stuff but would anyone like to rank the courses based on likelihood of encountering a highly venomous snake ? 


Niall

[Mike_Clayton]

I live a mile down the road from St Andrews Beach and play it most weeks. The condition is of no concern.

[Ben Stephens]

I live a mile down the road from St Andrews Beach and play it most weeks. The condition is of no concern.

St Andrews Beach condition when i played in 2011 was better than most courses in the UK. Boy the fairways are really wide and some of the greens were more challenging to hit to.


Only played the front nine of the Dunes as it rained really heavily. Its my understanding that Tony Cashmore has made further changes to holes on the back nine and one wonders how it has blended in now.

[Mark Pearce]

That's all very interesting stuff but would anyone like to rank the courses based on likelihood of encountering a highly venomous snake ? 


Niall

Of the two I played, the one with the Brown snake on the path to the first tee was National.  I stood back and let it make its way......

[Clyde Johnson]

The snake quotient was pretty high on the Gunamatta course at the National when we were working on it a couple of years back!!

[Tom_Doak]

Also worth noting:  if you're an American, playing St. Andrews Beach late in the day will probably give you a great chance of kangaroos.  I rented a house by the 14th tee a few years ago and the kangaroos were out there in force morning and evening . . . like twenty of them.  I've seen one or two at The National but not in numbers.


As for snakes, I've seen them on nearly all of the Mornington Peninsula courses, not so across the bay at Barwon Heads, but I don't doubt they are there, too.

[Charles Lund]

I just got back from my 19th trip to Australia, with all trips beginning in 2007 involving part or all of my trip on the Mornington Peninsula, in late March.


After my fifth trip, I became an overseas member at The National.


On the first trip, I played The Dunes as my first course in Australia.  The next day I played The Moonah Course on the National, followed by The Ocean Course the same day.  The Ocean was renovated before Covid and became Gunnamatta.  The Ocean was the least played course among the three courses then.  Gunnamatta became the busiest course after the renovation.


The Old is the favorite of some members, largely due to the beauty of the views from part of virtually every hole.  That being said, I generally prefer Moonah and Gunnamatta over The Old.  But I never worry about which of the three courses I'd play on a given day.


The Dunes and St. Andrews Beach are the two highest ranked public courses in the area.  Green fee is about $100 AUD.


Of the Moonah Links courses, I prefer The Legends course.  The Open has bunkering features that seemed like what one of the issues with The Ocean - too many and in the wrong place.


I played Barwon Heads and Thirteenth Beach, Beach Course, on one trip many years ago.    The proximity of The National and the other courses made it seem like work getting to Barwon Heads and Thirteenth Beach.


I generally anticipate seeing one snake per trip.  I usually see them at a distance.  By late fall and early winter, they won't be out that much.  They are all venomous, which removes ambiguity about what to do.


Best wishes for a great trip.  I'm returning in November.


Charles Lund

[Ben Stephens]

Also worth noting:  if you're an American, playing St. Andrews Beach late in the day will probably give you a great chance of kangaroos.  I rented a house by the 14th tee a few years ago and the kangaroos were out there in force morning and evening . . . like twenty of them.  I've seen one or two at The National but not in numbers.


As for snakes, I've seen them on nearly all of the Mornington Peninsula courses, not so across the bay at Barwon Heads, but I don't doubt they are there, too.

There were loads of kangaroos when I played the 7th and 8th which has a large shared fairway. Boy they are bigger than you think when you are that close to them. Plus there were also a few wallabies and spiders which are bigger than you see in UK.


Tom/Clayts what's the situation with the second course at St Andrews Beach? still stuck on the drawing board?

[Charles Lund]

Ben Stephens

"Only played the front nine of the Dunes as it rained really heavily. Its my understanding that Tony Cashmore has made further changes to holes on the back nine and one wonders how it has blended in now."


The old #15 was a mediocre par five and the old #16 a brutal par four.  The new 15 is now a par four that's aestherically very attractive, challenging, and fun.  The new 16 is a very good par five, which includes extensive bunkering on one side of the fairway.  Both holes set up from the tee with an invitation to hit a great tee shot.  As many times as I played the old 15 and 16, I have only a vague memory how they looked from the tee, which tells me they were less than memorable.  Since the changes, I've never played golf with anyone who spoke about missing the old holes.


Charles Lund

[Matthew Rose]

I'm an American who lives here and have been slowly building up a list of favorites (or favourites if you like) - there really is quite an embarrassment of riches all around Melbourne and on the respective peninsula areas on both sides.

I have played:
St. Andrews Beach - must play
Moonah Links (Open) - good but maybe a little overhyped back when it opened
Cape Schanck - maybe a little more American style as it is RTJ Jr but it was fun - quite hilly
Lonsdale Links - lots of cool short holes and funky greens. Fun!
Curlewis - I took a chance on it sight unseen, and was pleasantly surprised. A good sleeper.

I've not been able to get on Barwon Heads yet, but it can be difficult during the southern summer; you may have better luck this time of year.

I looked at playing 13th Beach the last time I was down that way (the Geelong / Bellarine side), but it was a little more expensive than the others and I was trying to keep the expense down. The last couple of family vacations we have stayed near Geelong and then drove out to the peninsula for various activities; it is fairly easy to get from one end to the other there.

I have yet to see a snake playing golf in Australia, though I am also generally one who will not venture too far off the beaten path to look for a ball.

Oddly enough most of the places I've seen kangaroos on a golf course were a lot closer to Melbourne.

[Tom_Doak]

Tom/Clayts what's the situation with the second course at St Andrews Beach? still stuck on the drawing board?

The original project would have stretched over three pieces of property, and when it went bankrupt, much of the land for the second 18 was sold off separately.  Ross Perrett looked at doing a private course on that property 4-5 years ago -- I only know because they approached the owner of St Andrews Beach about changing one of our holes.  But that course never got off the ground, for the same reason that the original project failed . . . expensive memberships are a tough sell in Melbourne!


It's a shame, because it is beautiful land for a golf course, but the current owner of St Andrews Beach has no interest in expanding to 27 or 36.

[Mike_Clayton]

They did build two holes of the Perrett course in front of the appartments. It's the best practice fairway in the country and I'm pretty much the only one who uses it!
It's a pity the second course was never built but the current owner still owns most of it. (They sold the house and the hole along the road) Hopefully someone decides to build some golf out there - it's way too good to be increasingly smothered in ti-tree.

[Ben Stephens]

They did build two holes of the Perrett course in front of the appartments. It's the best practice fairway in the country and I'm pretty much the only one who uses it!
It's a pity the second course was never built but the current owner still owns most of it. (They sold the house and the hole along the road) Hopefully someone decides to build some golf out there - it's way too good to be increasingly smothered in ti-tree.

Tom and Mike


Could it have been a shorter 9 hole like La Valiere at Morfontaine - that could have been an opportunity to make the holes or greens even wilder and fun - If GCA members had a consortium or crowd funding 9 holes would be more possible than 18.


Cheers
Ben

[Matthew Delahunty]

Jordan,


If you can get on at The National as an unaccompanied guest, then 36 holes in a day playing the Moonah and the Gunnamatta would be the way to go.


Otherwise, I'd recommend playing the trio of St Andrews Beach, The Dunes and Portsea.


You can probably arrange to get on some of the Sandbelt courses as a manager-introduced guest in the $250-$450 range.  If you're interested in having a sandbelt experience without the huge price tag, have a look at Spring Valley and send me a message to help arrange a game for you and your friends.

[Tom_Doak]

Could it have been a shorter 9 hole like La Valiere at Morfontaine - that could have been an opportunity to make the holes or greens even wilder and fun - If GCA members had a consortium or crowd funding 9 holes would be more possible than 18.

That was kind of the idea when David Inglis approached me about the project in 1999 . . . he wanted an 18-hole course and a dedicated 9-hole course, plus some housing.  But the town wouldn't approve single family housing on the property because they didn't want to expand their schools, and David was convinced the club wouldn't make it without the housing offsetting the land cost.  [He was correct, and that would be the problem to this day . . . the land cost is very high relative to the cost of building a course.]

[Jaeger Kovich]

Jordan,

At the risk of getting bodied for self-promotion, I think the below episodes of the podcast fellow GCAer Matt Mollica and I host will be useful in you deciding which ones sound like they appeal to you the most.

The National GC
https://spotify.link/D5ZjeNaAYyb

The Rest of the Mornington Peninsula
https://spotify.link/xqSv6znAYyb

13th Beach and Lonsdale Links
https://spotify.link/dA7HUkrAYyb

Sleepy Hollow pros Todd Ogborn and Joe Kass reflecting on their recent trip to Aus
https://spotify.link/vt53zTvAYyb

Great Pod - I've never been but hopefully will head down under in the next year-2. Definitely using it as a pre-planning guide. Keep up the good work.

[Ben Stephens]

Could it have been a shorter 9 hole like La Valiere at Morfontaine - that could have been an opportunity to make the holes or greens even wilder and fun - If GCA members had a consortium or crowd funding 9 holes would be more possible than 18.

That was kind of the idea when David Inglis approached me about the project in 1999 . . . he wanted an 18-hole course and a dedicated 9-hole course, plus some housing.  But the town wouldn't approve single family housing on the property because they didn't want to expand their schools, and David was convinced the club wouldn't make it without the housing offsetting the land cost.  [He was correct, and that would be the problem to this day . . . the land cost is very high relative to the cost of building a course.]

I had sort of similar experience with a client around the same time. Client had chance to buy a parcel of land he asked how many holes would it add - I said 4 holes and other holes will be modified to make the course longer - client said its not worth it as the return in investment is nil. One wonders how many what ifs are out there.

[Scott Warren]

Great Pod - I've never been but hopefully will head down under in the next year-2. Definitely using it as a pre-planning guide. Keep up the good work.

Thank you very much! Really appreciate it.