Blog 49 – Mullumbimby

Nomadic_golfer : July 2020

Par 70, 5681m, slope 126, green fee $40

5 par 3s from 129 – 194m, 10 par 4s from 274 – 378, 3 par 5s from 468 – 501m

From the mid-north coast, we spent a couple of hours towing the van to Stony Chute, and stayed at a gorgeous little property owned by my wife’s sister and her husband. It is a slopey 15 acres, sub-tropical and so peaceful, and it is 10 minutes out of Nimbin. My first round from this base was at the hipster capital of Australia, Mullumbimby (known locally as “Mullum”). It is promoted as the low-key little brother to Byron Bay.

While the course is on dead flat terrain, the actual surfaces are wrinkled, very similar to Lismore, with continuous small lumps and bumps across the whole course. In July 2020 it was quite wet and muddy. Fairways are a mixture of broad and thin leaf grasses including some kikuyu. They were quite well grassed without a heap of definition between fairway and rough. Greens look like the 328 Bermuda and dormant in winter. Whilst they have a bit of moisture in them, they play very firm, hardly taking any spin which keeps you on your toes.

Some water hazards present, which are used quite strategically, most notable in the fairways on the very strong par4s in 15 and 16, the risk at the short4 11th, and protecting the green at the par5 4th. The 160m par3 12th also has water short on both sides, yet not right up to the green edge. There are also a plethora of shallow ditches that run along, across and beside fairways. They look quite innocent, are sometimes very hard to see, and a lot of them don’t contain water per se (beware that some do too). But they give you all sorts of tricky lies and are best to be avoided. There are a number of bunkers, while medium sized tree lined fairways have little or no growth/ rough underneath so missing fairways doesn’t get overly punished on most holes.

5 par 3s and 3 par 5s gives a par of 70. The layout is quite varied, despite the dead flat terrain and uses most of the clubs in the bag. Most memorable holes for me were: 5 (130m to a very small green with bunkers right and 2 large trees just short and left, requiring a draw or at least holding one up. I’m generally not a fan of trees in the way on par3s but this one is short enough, has some real charm and a cool small green); 15 (very unusual right to left par 4 with a pond left at 250m, which extends forward and diagonally in the form of a stream, across the entire width of the fairway until about 280m down the right side (from the back blocks). The fairway opens way up on the right side so you can hit it way right to be ultra-safe but that makes for long 2nd shot. Shortest, and most dangerous route, is left-side); and 18 (very strong 380m finishing hole bending right to left with large trees on the inside of the dogleg).

The par 3s are an interesting study in themselves, and where some of the quirks here come to the fore. I mentioned the 5th (quirky, with tree encroaching and very small green) and 13th above. The 200m 8th is a beauty, picturesque with a large gum 25m behind the green giving it some pretty framing – but it has a bush-filled water hazard 5m over the back off just a small rise, then downhill to the hazard. Tough. The 180m 17th has a forgiving saucer-shape to the green which helps anything just missing the green either side or long – just don’t get on the other side of it’s banks, and the 160m 9th looks more like it should be an end to a par4, a little contrived to get back to the clubhouse, and features a narrow-ish opening between 2 bunkers.

As per Kempsey & SWR, this is not an overly tough track and is a very easy walk. This has also been the first course I have encountered on my trip with “tropical” signs, with the broad leaf grasses through the green.

And on this particular, still Sunday morning, I was joined by a number of air balloons. Quite a sight landing in the paddock next to me. Note that on my next trip here in 2024 at 630am on an early Spring morning, I was again greeted by hot air balloons.