Course no. 23, Kings Cove GC, Metung, Vic
Nice 9 hole course, marketed as ‘resort style’. Well thought out layout and condition ok. Looks under-used.
Nomadic_golfer : March 2020
Par 72, 6085m, slope 126 , green fee $30 9 hole course with 2 sets of tees
4 par 3s from 147 – 167m, 10 par 4s from 291 – 401m, 4 par 5s from 441 – 563m
Day 5 of golf in Gippsland, and a familiar figure, in the sweet swinging @johneknackers (pictured) joined me in a round where we had no idea what to expect. This relatively new course, opened in the mid noughties, designed by Ted Parslow (who designed Murray Downs), on the doorstep of the Gippsland Lakes, was a bit of an unkown. The fact that it was on a Sunday morning of a long weekend and there was no-one around (playing or in the clubhouse), added to the mystery. It’s a good track, condition is sound and looks heavily under-used. In terms of location, it’s in the town of Metung, population 1,500, which is located on a small peninsula, south-east of Bairnsdale and 315km east of Melbourne. That size may just be the key to the mystery.
It’s an interesting course, a 9 hole course marketed as 2 distinct different tees of “resort style” golf. The course is surrounded by 1 acre house blocks and features high quality homes. The course and environs have an unusual feel. The infrastructure looks good; clubhouse, practice facilities, grass coverage etc, the only issue was that the fairways were in good need of a cut. The course itself is pretty good; predominantly couch fairways but kikuyu is present and the green surrounds are soft. Greens are good, medium size and smooth, if a little soft. The flora is mixed, mostly medium sized trees and areas of bush; some holes more harshly penalised than others.
It is a good test of golf; containing a par 5 of 563m, and uphill to boot. This is a monster, in the top 20 longest holes in Australia and I think the 3rd longest I’ve played. My favourite hole is the par 3 5th/ 14th of 170/ 150m respectively (main photo below). Significantly downhill with trees on the right encouraging a fade in, with a large drop away for anything left or long. The hole that is the base for the 2nd (par 5 of 441m) and the 11th (par 4 of 392m) makes up a couple of strong holes, also bending left to right, narrowing as the hole progresses, fairway sloping down to a hazard on the left and has hazards on the right also.
Don’t discount this track if you are in the area.
