Blog 204 – Gundagai

Nomadic_golfer : April 2022

Par 70, 5438m, slope 113 $25

5 par3s 111-176m, 10 par4s 270-416m, 3 par5s 432-446m

18 hole track in this iconic Aussie town with lots of unusual holes; some rippers and some ordinary, but its definitely not boring. I’ve played here quite a bit since 2020 and really enjoy it. Very flat, set on the banks of the Murumidgee in natural floodplain and has 2 creeks running through the course which come into play on almost half of the holes. No bunkers, plenty of trees (gums, poplars line a couple of fairways), in varied thickness and heights.

The kikuyu fairways were pretty good in April 2022 and the bentgrass greens had good cover but were very soft.

The quality holes in my book are: 3 (the signature hole, 330m with water all the way down the left. Hold your mettle here and stay close to the muck on the left for the best approach in to this moat-bounded green); 5 (438m par5 with the river guarding the right side for it’s entire length. If you can resist the left bail-out and hug the right side, the hole opens up and is a definite birdie chance. The green is set with an old railway bridge in the background, a nice touch); 11 (302m tee shot over a creek, then your 2nd crosses it again. The tee shot is required`to be precise in distance to avoid a large gum in the middle of the fairway, from where you fire your 2nd 60 degrees left from either side of that tree); and 15 (one of my favourite par4s anywhere, 390m turning slightly right with water down the right which increasingly encroaches, the further you hit your drive. The 2nd shot carries this water). Oh, and the 110m 2nd is Gundagai’s answer to TPC Sawgrass with an island green (well, almost).

Some good, lots of quirks and a little unique feature in the requirement to hit a number of approaches over effluent ponds!