Blog 31 – Cootamundra

Nomadic_golfer : April 2020

Par 71, 5608m, slope 120 , green fee $30

5 par 3s from 125 – 195m, 9 par 4s from 272 – 376m, 4 par 5s from 461 – 488m

Cootamundra….birthplace of The Don and birthplace of golf in country NSW, is a town of just under 7,000 people, 390km south west of Sydney and 160km from Canberra. The town was originally populated by those seeking gold in the 1860’s and transformed into a successful agricultural community once the prospectors finished up.

The town claims ownership of the oldest country golf club in NSW, established in 1895. It’s an undulating track, with soft bent greens that were small and slow but ok in early April. Gums and medium sized pines line the fairways, and I would characterise the course as quite open, with bunkering on about 50% of greens. The kikuyu fairways were very patchy and missing fairways is penalised by the bare lies just off the mown surfaces.

The only memorable par 4 was the very tough 376m 14th with a downhill tee shot and steep uphill 2nd turning right to an elevated green. The highlights for me are 4 of the 5 par 3s, and the pinpoint accuracy that they require: 3 (125m with trees and bunkers on both sides, with a very skinny, elevated green); 5 (140m steep down hill with bunkers covering the front); 12 (pictured, my favourite – 152m across the top of a ridge, almost blind through a narrow chute to a skinny green with a steep drop on the left); and 16 (195m downhill through a chute with bunkers on both sides – 3 is a very good score here). However, the most memorable hole is the 488m par 5 ‘big dipper’ 13th (tee view pictured) with a steep downhill drive right to left then even steeper uphill to a narrowing fairway/ green with thick trees and a railway line to the right.

Overall, it’s your average country track, but worth a hit if you are in the area for the spectacle of the par 3s and the challenge of 13 and 14.

Brightly fades the drive at Cootamundra CC