Blog 40 – Mt Broughton

Nomadic_golfer : June 2020

Par 72, 6299m, slope 122, green fee $50

5 par 3s from 146 – 197m, 8 par 4s from 329 – 404m, 5 par 5s from 430 – 539m

Second up in the NSW Southern Highlands, we are camped in Moss Vale and I headed about 5km out of town for a links experience at Mt Broughton, opened in 1994. There is a wee bit of Scottish about it from the moment you set eyes on the clubhouse and this continues throughout the course, which utilises a railway line as a boundary on a number of holes. The plentiful kangaroos remind you where you are though. It would be remiss of me not to mention ‘ The Don’ in this part of the world; Bradman having spent his childhood here in neighbouring Bowral, which now houses the ‘Bradman Museum & International Cricket Hall of Fame’. A cricket-lover could easily lose a day in that place!

The course is long from the back (6619) and 6300m from the blues, it is a fantastic layout with lots of thinking put into hole shape and strategy. The railway line running on the south-east perimeter of the course has been used really well on a number of holes where the tight line to this side leads to shorter, easier approaches to greens whereas a left-side bail out is the easier tee shot but gives longer, more difficult approaches. There is a winter rye-grass/ kentucky blue grass mix on the fairways, and large bent greens. Fairways (and first short cut) are very generous, but if you stray wider the rough is 2 foot high. It does appear that there is a lack of access to money currently as the condition is not as good as the foundations of the course would allow.

There are a number of excellent holes. My favourites are: 2 (227m/ 197m downhill par 3 over 2 snakes of a creek that also borders the left, and ob right, bottom left photo); 7 (538m/ 520m par 5 with railway on right and plenty of room out left, 3 bunkers off the tee and 1 on either side to keep 2nd shot honest, with creek and railway line narrowing near green); 9 (506/ 495m par 5 with massive risk/ reward that turns sharply left for 2nd shot and requires a creek carry). The back 9 is spectacular and uses the railway line and prevailing winds beautifully. 11 is a similar proposition to 7 but runs in a different direction but my favourite was 13 (422/ 359m to the far north-east corner of the course – starts wide and narrows up at the green with fence on left and railway on right + 2 large trees on right of green to entice you to take on the left side.) I found this track fun (wide fairways helped), interesting (lots of strategic lines to take) and challenging (length plus exposure to wind). Loved it and I will be back.