Blog 227 – Woodburn Evans Head

Nomadic_golfer : November 2022

Par 70, 5527m, slope 116 $20

6 par3s 141-187m, 8 par4s 296-367m, 4 par5s 480-505m

This is a a flat 9-hole track, set in a pretty bush location, 1/2 way betweem Woodburn and Evans Head, framed by sugar-cane fields to the West, with forest to the South & East just inside the Evans River. There are lots of trees here, the obvious main defence of the course, which also has bunkers surrounding a few of the greens and a little bit of H2O.

Fairways are ok, and consist of some Kikuyu and Buffalo, while the Tifgreen 328 greens had only been cored a couple of weeks prior, and look like they are still recovering from the Feb/ Mar floods. The different sets of tees for the front v back nines have been well thought out and do offer really different angles, particularly the ~310m par 4 4th/ 13th with 4 needing a left to right shaped tee shot and 13 right to left, and par 3 5th/ 14th with 5 being 141 over some mounds and creek beds , while 14 is 161m through a tight chute of mature trees. The par5 1st has an alternate green for the 10th and it is very interesting, fronted by a small pond which makes the approach deadly. Cane fields all the way down the right of that 1st give it a real North Aussie feel to start off.

While there are a couple of wide, generous targets for tee shots, there are also a couple of really tight chutes, with the par4 7th probably the tightest, not so much a chute off the tee, but you need to hit that tee shot into a corridor that is only about 10m wide to get a shot at the green between two large trees.

My favourite holes and the obvious strength of the course are the par 3s. All 3 (6) are strong holes, 5 of the 6 over 150m and all require well struck mid-long irons. The 2nd/ 11th at ~185m and 18 at 171m are really tough. The 5s are quite strong too, but there’s not many teeth on the par 4s. Overall, it is a beautiful setting and quite a varied layout – condition is not its strength at the moment