Blog 291 – Narooma

Nomadic_golfer : February 2024 – Narooma Golf Club, NSW review

Par72, 5776m, Slope 130 $80

4 par3s 119-184m, 10 par4s 295-419m, 4 par5s 426-462m

I had heard a lot about Narooma GC and the opening 6 holes routed around a cliff-top, high above the South Pacific Ocean, and in particular of the 2nd (a short, right to left par 4 of ~300m that plays along the clifftop for its entire length, with the green tucked in behind the abyss further left) and ‘Hogan’s Hole (the 137m par3 3rd that plays from one cliff-top to another with crashing waves and a large blowhole below). These 2 holes are spectacular and the design incorporating these natural features is superb too – particularly on 2 where bunkers out right test your nerve by making your approach easier, the closer your tee shot is to the cliff-edge.

The first is also a solid hole – 370 m to a sideways, downhill sloping fairway before a 2nd across a valley to a shallow, redan-shaped green, with a severe tier. The other 3 holes of those opening 6 are solid golf holes but don’t quite reach the level of 2 & 3 understandably. So, after having huge expectations, whilst not disappointed by the signature holes, I was a little flat as I headed to what I thought would be the more mundane part of the course. Alas, there was no need – and expectations for the remainder of the course were well and truly met.

Rather than two ‘different courses’ within Narooma’s 18, I reckon there are three. They are: 1. Seven holes adjacent to the beach/ cliff-side (1-6, 18); 2. Seven holes in The Forest (10-16); and 3. Four transitional (7-9, 17) which lay in between (both geographically and setting-wise) these 2 extremes.

So once you leave the cliff-top after the 6th, the first of the ‘transitional’ holes is the 7th, a quirky, but well designed, gentle left to righter of 380-400m with a blind tee shot, a row of trees and OB right, to a triangular fairway with plenty of room left. Tee shots taking on the right side get all the benefit of a steep downhill landing area, those out left don’t. The 2nd is steep downhill to a green that flattens out. A short pin is gold as anything running down the hill goes to the back – you must carry it on, with spin to get close. This gives you the hint that moving away from the beach isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s not spectacular but quite a strategic and well designed hole.

None of the seven ‘Forest’ holes are particularly long for their par; a 358m par4 and 161m par3 at the stretchy end, with a 440m par5 and 317/ 319m par4s at the short end. None of them have particularly narrow fairways either, but they all have big trouble out wide with natural bush on the ground below the towering trees. The short par5 11th (downhill 440m) is the most spectacular of the Forest holes – from a tee nestled in trees, elevated 30 or 40m above the landing zone, this right to lefter has a large bunker tight on the inside corner and a large water hole further left. Once you find the fairway, you get an ‘Augusta-like’ look at the approach, slightly downhill over a shallow gully, rising back up to the green, all surrounded by large gums and topped off by 3 large bunkers that instantly grab your attention. Interestingly, the 13th, a par4 of just 358m from the back, is index 1. A semi-blind teeshot over a crest must hug the right side to avoid water that juts out from the left (or lay-up short of 200m off the tee). The approach is then slightly uphill to a well protected green with a severe tier. Completing the forest stretch is 15, a 331m par4 with water cutting across in front of the tee, then accompanying you all the way down the left, with OB right. The fairway is wide and you are best served by flaunting with the OB to avoid a bunker-strewn line of approach from centre or left, while success on the 426m par5 16th is very dependent on hitting the cut stuff, which looks very wide off the tee but is deceiving, with perhaps only 25m between 2 fairway bunkers.

Surfaces consist of kikuyu tees, fairways and surrounds. Cover was good but a little soft. The bent/ poa greens were in very good nick, decent pace (they are fighting the fight to keep the kikuyu out) and are of various shapes and sizes – a lot of variety and clever use of shape to suit the hole. The 18th’s green is a great example of cool and appropriate green make-up. After a very unusual route to the green, as the hole is a J-shaped, left to righter around a huge ditch (you can play out from the bottom of the ditch) and a tree-clad clifftop, this readily reachable (at high risk) par5’s green slopes severely away from you, and has a super narrow opening, guarded by thin wedges of bunkers on both sides. Anything green-high that doesn’t find the putting surface is diabolical.

Overall, this is something different, and a treat – 3 courses in one, a great mix of hazards in the air (huge gums out the back) and on the ground (bunkers throughout, water hazards out the back, cliff-edges and OB early on). It is aesthetically magnificent and very varied. I struggled with an ‘identity’ for a course that has three distinct personalities, but that is its identity!!

It is not long, with 3 par5s under 440m and 6 par4s under 330m, so on a calm day good scores are imminently possible. Kikuyu surrounds mean your approaches are 1-dimensional but that is a small price to pay for a super experience on NSW’s South Coast.