Aussie Golf -- Mornington Peninsula and West April 18, 2003
This is our third trip to Australia, but we'd only played one round of golf on prior visits. Hot weather in Queensland made swimming in local creeks more inviting than playing the links, and on our trip to Sydney and the Blue Mountains, daily doses of rain forced us to find other amusements.
Now we're in Victoria, finally getting a true taste of
Aussie golf. We drove about 90 miles southeast of Melbourne onto the Mornington Peninsula and
stayed several nights. Considering its proximity to the city of 4 million, the area
is surprisingly undeveloped. There are a half dozen one-street towns dotting the
western coast of the peninsula. 
Most are 2 to 4 blocks long, bordered by
small homes, undeveloped foreshore,
farms, vineyards, and golf courses -- the sandy terrain seems to be perfect for
golf. The flora suggests an environment that's a mix of Scotland and Monterey,
CA, two areas well-known to golfers.
The Mornington Peninsula is a golfing Mecca for Aussies, visitors coming from afar to play here. The owner of the motel we stayed in (The Boathouse, in Blairgowrie) said there were 30 golf courses within 30 Km (18 miles), some of them quite famous (in Australia, anyway).
We purchased an Australian Golf Course Guide that provided small discounts on greens fee and information on course locations and rankings. There are so many "must play" courses in Mornington that we "forced" ourselves to play three days in a row, even though hilly terrain made walking and carrying our clubs a challenge (motorized carts are available).
The Dunes Golf Links was our first. Playing the Dunes is like playing a Scottish links course (the wind can also be similar), although the ocean is not visible -- it's 4 miles away, either north or south. The Dunes is one of Victoria's/Australia's top-rated public courses, usually ranked a well-deserved No. 1 or 2. This course is well-maintained with fast greens. It's long and challenging, with several blind shots and plenty of hikes on the rolling hills. It only costs US$ 23 to play, mid-week; it would cost 5 to 10 times as much if it were in the U.S. Come in April, after the tourist season, and you'll find the course nearly deserted.
Next we played a round at Moonah Links (cost: $US 45), where the 2003 Australian Open will be played . Moonah Links is another long, difficult course with high-lipped, deep bunkers lurking everywhere. This is not surprising with the underlying soil: dig a hole and you have a bunker. Forget about "running" the ball into these greens. Even when you might think you've got an opening, you'll probably find a false front with severe low-mown edges. (I had two almost-perfect chips that came right back to me.) Walking this course is also tough -- lots of hills to climb.
Not wanting to miss the third highly-ranked course in the area, we played Portsea Golf Club, near the tip of the Mornington Peninsula. Portsea has a bit more wind protection than the Dunes or Moonah Links; there are some stunted (Monterey?) pines and other tree-like vegetation about the course. But the fairways and greens have the same sort of grass as the other courses, well-mown and fast. Portsea is probably the hilliest course I've ever walked; I was pretty darn tired when we finished. Dick, on the other hand, finished birdie, birdie. He was ready to go around again.
It would be easy to spend a week's holiday on the Mornington Peninsula golfing. We missed playing Rosebud, Cape Shank, Eagle Ridge, Sorrento, and Flinders -- all in Victoria's top 25. Off the course, you'll find lots of deserted sandy beaches in the several National Parks and plenty of good restaurants in the many small towns. Just one recommendation: get fit before you come, or be prepared to take a (motorized) cart every other day.
To escape the peninsula without retracing our path from Melbourne and to access more excellent golf and scenic country to the west, we took the 45 min. car ferry ride from Sorrento to the attractive little town of Queenscliff on the other side of Port Phillip Bay. After our morning round of golf and the ferry ride, it was almost 3 pm when we started driving west. So, although the Queenscliff Golf Club was recommended, we were ready to begin our drive on the famous (in Oz) Great Ocean Road and take a break from golf. We also missed playing Anglesea, where kangaroos apparently provide a gallery for your late afternoon rounds.
After a couple of days of enjoying ocean scenery, we made our way to Port Fairy, whose golf club is ranked about 10th in Victoria. This links course has some wonderful holes along and atop the ocean dunes and is a real bargain at US$ 12. We played twice, the second round a real struggle through howling wind and rain squalls. Don't miss this one if you get a chance.
Our last golf adventure in Australia was in Horsham, just north of the scenic Grampian Mountains. We drove to Horsham especially to play their No. 5 (in Victoria) ranked golf course. Unfortunately, the course was in poor condition, perhaps due to the drought and also because the greens had recently been sanded. Still, I don't know how it could be ranked this high. Moreover, the course played incredibly slowly as they squeezed us into the middle of one of their competitions. Definitely not worth the trip.
Instead, I suggest you stay on the coast, sample some of the other courses and enjoy the ocean views from the reverse perspective.