Blog 292 – Mollymook

Nomadic_golfer : February 2024 – Mollymook Hilltop Golf Club, NSW review

Par72, 6216m, Slope 137 $85

4 par3s 147-161m, 10 par4s 319-397m, 4 par5s 451-515m

Deep in holiday country on NSW’s South Coast, lies this 1970 Ken McKay design, which also bears some Ross Watson influence from 2006. The towering gums and spectacular elevation changes hit you in the face from the carpark, and the high expectations that are formed whilst taking in the scenery during your pre-round routine are absolutely founded.

The first hole is a super scene-setter and confirms your thoughts/ justifies those high expectations – 390m down a steep, consistent gradient with a blind tee shot from the back of the tee, generous width fairway, flanked both sides by those monstrous gums, bending slightly left in the last 100m where you are met by an uncluttered green complex with bunker right and drop-offs left and long, with a backdrop of deep green leaves.

It is an interesting routing that on my first attempt here, kept my emotions quite level through the front 9. The first 5 test your ball-striking early, with 4 par4s between 365 and 400m and a tricky 150m par3 that each demand you are striking them well to get your round off to a good start but apart from the eye opening first, there aren’t any extra-spectacular features. The 470m 6th is the first real risk/ reward hole and it does it both off the tee (right to lefter, where you can cheat some yardage over or around tall trees down the left side) and with your second (a reed-filled pond occupies the left hand side and juts out across the fairway. It does finish 70-80m short of the green so if you do pull off the tee-shot, it does not really pose a big risk for your 2nd. There are however, large trees and thick undergrowth down the left as you approach the narrow, redan-shaped green, so plenty of risk still exists).

The last 3 on the front retain that need to be striking them well, and I loved the super narrow, super long green at the end of the 352m right to left 7th. The 515m uphill 8th is a brute, with the soft kikuyu fairways on my visit ensuring it plays every one of those 515. You get back up to the top of the hill, puffing a little, and satisfied that that is a quality 9 holes of golf.

Then the real fun starts – and it is easy to describe 10-13 with reference to Augusta National GC. The 358m 10th is a mini-replica of Augusta’s 10th; a superb downhill right to lefter with a blind teeshot over a crest, those trees down both sides and continuing far enough down the left side that you can’t just lay-up into the fat of the fairway off the tee, you must knock it down there and/or steer it down the right side. Then we have amen corner in 11-13 (the same numbered holes as Augusta’s amen corner) with Mollymook Creek as the centrepiece for these 3 holes. 11 is a right to left 380m with a slight reverse camber, trees on the high-inside and the creek on the rightside, which sneaks up all the way to, and past a narrow green. 12 is a magical downhill 161m par3 off terraced teeing grounds across a little fern-filled tributary of the creek, with the creek on the right. The 500m 13th is a mirror-image of Augusta’s 13th. Mollymook’s 13th runs left to right, with the fairway sloping left to right and the further you can carry it, the more assistance you will get from a downhill landing area which starts at about 210m from the back blocks. The creek runs all the way down the right, then cuts across in front of a smallish, tilted green to ensure that if you did get your drive far enough down that hill to consider having a crack at it, your 2nd will also need to be a beauty.

14 through 17 are all also filled with features (I could write about each of them) before a relatively bland 451m par5 has you climbing that hill for the last time.

Condition was fine on my late-February visit but I was told it was nowhere near its peak with recent rains and a lot of holiday traffic taking its toll. Fairways are kikuyu, had good cover and were a touch soft after those recent rains. Some tees were kikuyu and it looks like they have planted a number of tees with something other than kikuyu (8 & 9 for eg) which are still yet to flourish. Bent/ poa greens had really good coverage but that softness caused by the recent rains had meant the foot traffic and plugmarks (especially on the greens taking the downhill approaches) had marked them up a bit. Attempts have also been made to keep the kikuyu from within a metre or so of the greens with a separate collar (perhaps of bent).

The green complexes themselves are very varied (in shape, size and surrounding features – generally medium in size without many big lumps and bumps, but quite a few with significant ’tilt’). Hazards are of all sorts – lots in the air with the large gums, but no real super-narrow chutes, which is a positive. Those on the ground are headed by water, which features on multiple holes, both subtle and in your face. Bunkering is prominent greenside but there aren’t any fairway bunkers (someone might pick me up on that and point one out!!).

Overall, this is an exhilarating golfing experience. The ambience of the place amongst the trees and birds, despite being surrounded by residential properties; the diversity, differentiation and memorability of each hole (particularly from 6 onward); and the opportunity to use all the different shots in the bag, if you have them, to gain an advantage are characteristics that have this a staple member of Australia’s Top 100 courses. Ooh, and it is a bloody good walk! Its a big yes from me – my favourite on the NSW South Coast!