Course no. 24, Orbost, Vic
Solid country course, layout better than condition. Our dog’s approach did not get the seal of approval
Main photo is of the unusual par 3, 2nd hole from the tee
Nomadic_golfer : March 2020
Par 71, 5595m, slope 120 , green fee $20
4 par 3s from 119 – 165m, 11 par 4s from 248 – 403m, 3 par 5s from 435 – 465m
Day 6 of golf in Gippsland, and I am at the Orbost Golf Club. Orbost is 375km east of Melbourne, where the Princes Hwy meets the Snowy River and has a population of 2,500. It’s main industries are beef & dairy cattle, and sawmilling.
The course boasts a solid country layout, and in March the fairways were a little patchy. There are lots of different tree varieties (gums & pines predominant) and grasses vary also with bits of couch and kikuyu for fairways. Greens are small, roll well and are soft. The course plays longer than its yardage suggests, as there is not much run.
The front nine has some length; holes 3-7 are strong and long with 5 and 6 virtually back to back 400m 4’s. The stand out holes are: 3 (straight par 4 of 354m with trees overhanging down the left requiring the tee shot to be held up or shaped right to left. Fairway narrows down immensely at 220-230m where trees encroach from right. Unusual, interesting hole); 11 (328m dogleg right, flanked on the right by pine trees and ob, moving downhill for the tee shot then back up for the second); and 12 (170m, over water and a valley with a large tree on the left preventing a big fade and a bunker short right, heavily sloping green back to front).
While the course does have lots of variety, there are 4 dogleg lefts in a row from holes 13-16. Right handers need to bring their draw off the tee for this stretch!!
When I played at Orbost, we were camped at Corringle and whilst walking on the beach just south of Marlo, our dog encountered a seal taking a stroll on the sand. The dog was much more enthusiastic about playing with the seal than vice versa.
