Course no. 65, Armidale, NSW
Premium on driving, greens were getting a facelift when I was there
Nomadic_golfer : September 2020
Par 72, 5991m, slope 127, green fee $25 (or $18 Mondays)
5 par 3s from 146-187m, 8 par 4s from 333-415m, 5 par 5s from 421-489m
I travelled an hour south from our Kaiiwi Estate base to this town of almost 25k people, the heart of the Northern Tablelands, located halfway between Sydney & Brisbane
We are still at altitude here, just under 1000m, so the ball is still flying and course does not play its full length. Condition of tees and fairways (kikuyu) were both ordinary with lots of patches and tufts. The bent greens had some major rennovation work and looked like they will be good when complete (next few weeks). Course has 5 par 3’s and 5 par 5’s which I like.
Overall layout is ok, without being eye-catching and gets repetitive in a couple of cases (4 left to right par 4s in the first 8 holes). It uses the undulations well with a couple of good, long downhill par 4s in 2 (385m) and 8 (415m) which place a premium on hitting the generous fairways to bound on down the hill. Lots of pines and gums but cleared to the ground so can often escape with a low punch. Soft green surrounds and flat bunkers so getting up and down is not so tough.
Other favourite holes were: 5 (straight 490m par 5 with OB all the way down the left and a water hazard on left from 210m to 250m off the tee with a creek running across the fairway about 50m out from green); and the very strong finish (17 is 363m right to left with reverse camber fairway, blind tee shot and great view across Armidale’s outskirts over the brow, and 18 is a 399m par 4 with OB all the way down the right and a quirky little turn left at the end, up to the bunkered green in front of the clubhouse).
Overall, it wasn’t at its best condition when I played but the layout was solid and it will be better for the reconstructed greens.
