Course 34 for 2023 – Bidgee Banks GC, Gundagai, NSW
One of the more memorable quirks, approaching the 3rd green across the effluent ponds
A really entertaining track, lots of quirks and most of it works
Nomadic_golfer : October 2023
Par 70, 5438m, slope 113 $32
5 par3s 111-176m, 10 par4s 270-416m, 3 par5s 432-446m
This 18 hole track in the iconic Aussie town of Gundagai, with lots of unusual holes, has become my second home-track in recent years after we established a base just down the road (Coolac) at the height of 2020’s covid restrictions. We now call in each time we traverse the Hume Highway. It contains some super holes, and some head-scratchers, but it’s definitely not boring.
I’ve played here in each year since 2020 and really enjoy it. The course is set on the banks of the Murumidgee in natural floodplain, is very flat 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.
Condition was pretty good in Spring 2023 – the kikuyu fairways were as good as I’d seen them in the 4 years I’ve been coming here, as were the bentgrass greens, which were firmer than I’d previously experienced.
Memorable holes for me 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) – the par5 17th is a mirror-image of this with the water down the left instead of right, but applies the exact same principles, opening up the green if you take on that dangerous left side; 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!
For more photos and reports, refer previous blogs 29, 101 & 204
