Blog 276 – Horsham

Nomadic_golfer : December 2023 – Horsham Golf Club, Vic review

Par 71, 5919m slope 124 (Blue) $50

4 par3s 142-167m, 11 par4s 272-391m, 3 par5s 437-509m

I had been looking forward to playing this highly rated and much loved country course for the first time since the mid 2000’s. A devastating fire swept through the course in 2009 and destroyed the clubhouse and the majority of the mature trees, and I had not played here since before that event.

As the 1940’s Sam Berriman design (he also designed Cranbourne and Southern GCs in Melbourne) relied heavily on ‘hazards in the air’ I was intrigued to find out how they had compensated for the loss of these critical hazards and to check out what it looked like these days. To be honest, as it must have been about 20 years since I played it and I had only played it 2 or 3 times, my memory of the pre-fire layout is pretty sketchy. However, Horsham management have done a good job in resurrecting, or more accurately ‘recreating’ a fine country golf course, that is both challenging and fun. On reflection, I would describe the outcome as ‘nice but not a real attention grabber’.

I believe Crafter & Mogford have worked on the layout and as the course has transitioned to more of a ‘hazards on the ground’ layout, it has also assisted in keeping with the famous mantra of MacKenzie ‘more playable to the bogey golfer’ while continuing to challenge those who strive to make birdies. There aren’t too many scary, tight tee shots that the large trees once caused but there is plenty of sand and a few water hazards around creative green complexes, with plenty of pin options, to ensure those seeking the pin on championship-type occasions will pay a price for poor execution.

Condition of the playing surfaces in mid December was very good, with excellent cover on fairways and greens, albeit (understandably) a little soft due to some recent unseasonal rain, combined with the need to keep water up during summer in the mallee/ wimmera.

Large fairway bunkers are a very noticeable feature and you encounter them on a number of inside corners (eg. 3 & 5) if you are trying to shorten the length of these doglegs.

Most memorable holes for me were: 3 (365m par4 that bends left to right with that large bunker on the inside corner and a narrow grassy track just to the right of it, to increase the temptation. Further right is some dense bush!); 4 (385m par 4 – large fairway bunker left before a mid iron to an elevated green with bunkers on each side and an old gum smack-behind the green); 7 (my favourite of the short 4s – an innocent looking 290m from the back that has a dense little forest to the right and a tricky, tiered green complex which would be much easier to handle with a spinning full wedge than a 30 metre chip); 14 (mid-length par4 of 362m with large fairway bunker right, to a beautiful, elevated green with sprawling bunker cutting across from the left and water short left which comes into play if you bail out and shy away from that fairway bunker and need to invent something from the trees).

The par 3s are a definite strength; from the more-bland but lengthy 192m 3rd, to a sand-rich 153m 8th which reminds me a little of 7 at Royal Adelaide with the amount of sand that meets the eye, to the elevated, well protected green with lots of subtle breaks on the 167m 11th, to the redan-like 142m 13th. They are vastly different and all challenging.

The opening & closing short par4s are probably the weakness – (1&18) in that the risk/ reward equation doesn’t provide quite enough risk for poor execution, but the index 1 par4, right to left 17th at 404m to a well-protected, elevated, 2-tier green, makes sure you have to finish with some solid strikes to close out a good round.

Overall, despite forced change meaning it isn’t quite the challenge it once was, Horsham GC looks to have been really pro-active in attempting to maintain the quality of golf experience here to ensure it remains one of the premier country courses in Victoria