Hi everyone - after all your great advice, I thought I’d report back on September’s trip. The Mornington Peninsula is truly a special and beautiful corner of the world, and the abundance of quality public-access golf seems almost unparalleled outside of GB&I. We played six courses, not created equal but all with their virtues. I’ve included below a short review of each, along with a question intended to prompt discussion. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
—-Growling Frog: I’m not sure I fully remember a single hole in detail. And I’m not sure I’ve ever had a better wildlife viewing experience on a golf course. Between the dozens of kangaroos hanging out on 17/18, the odd fox ambling across the fairways, and a dazzling variety of colorful parrots and other birds, the pain of each double bogey was short-lived.
Question: how high can non-golf elements raise a golf course? Is there a bad golf course that you love to play because of the scenery/wildlife/clubhouse/food, etc.?
—-The Dunes: Thrilling! A tour de force off the tee and from the fairway, on fantastic land that really feels comfortingly ancient. If #17 weren’t so blah, this would be one of the best sets of short holes I’ve ever played. And #4 should get more press as a world-class short par-4. It’s a shame the greens aren’t as epic as the rest of the course!
Question: What’s a course you would nominate to have its greens renovated, without doing much to the rest of the course?
—-Flinders: Plucky and charming and simple. Unforgettable as a whole experience, even if many of the holes blend together and fade away in my mind. Of the same breed as a few beloved courses here in California - Pacific Grove and Northwood.
Question: Hole #4, Coffin, gets the press, but is the pair of #11 and #12 actually the high point of the round?
—-Moonah Links (Legends): For an unknown reason this wonderful golf course failed to stir much emotion in me. I can’t find much of anything to criticize, but perhaps the holes and/or the accompanying long views were a little too homogenous?
Question: what is a course that you gladly respect but can’t bring yourself to love?
—-St. Andrew’s Beach: Wow. Engaging and challenging and decidedly uncomfortable the first time around, especially in a strong afternoon wind. This would be a fantastic members course, or a place to play weekly if you lived in the neighborhood. Were I a local, I think the challenge of making a par or better on #13 would become a “white whale” experience that could keep me coming back to this course for decades. #1 to #4 is an excellent opening stretch, with #3 being my favorite hole on the course.
Question: Seriously, I know “par” is a construct….but can you name a harder par for the amateur golfer than #13 at SAB?
—-The National (Gunnamatta): A golf course of pure fun, beauty, and strategic joy. From the tee ball on #1 to putting out on #18, time passed in the blink of an eye. Gunnamatta goes straight into my lifetime top-10, preliminarily at #7 just above Sand Hollow and just below Portmarnock. Like The Dunes, I think the perfectly paced par-3’s are one of the great strengths of the course. I wonder if anyone has ever packed so much variety and fun into a set of just three short holes. #5 is friendly and accommodating early in the round- a short or mid-iron played downhill over a well-positioned bunker onto some delightful right-to-left helping contours. #11 is heroic and awesome in the heat of battle, a hole where all four members of our group used driver to hit probably the most exciting shot of the day. And right when I started to feel sad that we were running out of holes, #16 refreshed me with its epic ocean view and kept me engaged with its ask of a long iron struck boldly into the wind in order to catch a piece of the relatively benign putting surface. And as high as I rate the start of SAB, I think the opening stretch at Gunnamatta is even better. Hole #2 was probably my favorite of all.
Question: What is the best course in the combined areas of the Mornington/Bellarine peninsulas?