Blog 71 – Yamba

Nomadic_golfer : October 2020

Par 72, 5760m, slope 128, green fee $40

5 par 3s from 126-172m, 8 par 4s from 290-397m, 5 par 5s from 437-471m

Mid-October and we were on the road, staying in Iluka for a 3-course stretch. The first of these rounds was at Yamba, at the mouth of the Clarence River, population 6k and previously voted the no. 1 best town in Australia to live!

The golf course is very pretty, in a sub-tropical setting with a few water hazards thrown in. Excellent bent greens (though soft & medium speed), fairways a mix of kikuyu and couch, and in pretty good condition . Lots of paperbark trees and other trees of that 20-30m height rather than massive trees you can’t hit over, many areas of dense bush/ forest if you are wider than the typical 10m of rough and a light level of bunkering.

The layout has the 5 par 3s and 5 par 5s which I like but it’s not overly long, with 5 of the 8 par 4’s under 340m. It a driver’s course, softish conditions around greens makes getting up and down ok – if you hit fairways you will score well. All the par 5’s give you a chance. Best holes are the long par 4’s: 5 (358m dogleg left around a pond, which you can cut a piece off with a strong drive or hit 3 wood down the guts); 11 (397m no.1 on index, straight hole with water left on the drive and copse of trees right means you must hit a straight drive here, green protected by bunker right/ front; and 15 (376m left to right sweeper with fairway bunker left, hazard further left on the drive and jungle down both sides – my favourite hole).

In summary, this is a good golf course. It is aesthetically pleasing with some attractive green complexes and surrounds, the condition is good, layout is ok but it just lacks some teeth/ some mongrel!