Blog 325 – Gunnedah

Nomadic_golfer : March 2026 – Gunnedah, NSW, review

Par 70 5899m Slope 123 $37

4 par3s 121-167m, 12 par4s 284-410m, 2 par5s 435-465m

Gunnedah is a busy rural hub of approx 10k people in north-central NSW, that looks to be well catered for in terms of sporting infrastructure. The 18-hole, par70 golf course is set on a small, flat parcel of land, within the town limits. The routing roughly consists of 2 separate, clockwise 9 hole loops, that return to a very family-oriented clubhouse.

Fairways, surrounds and tees (except for 1 or 2) are kikuyu and were ok for early autumn. Green surfaces are bent and although a touch soft, had excellent cover and rolled truly. The green make-ups are quite conservative; small in area; typically hazard-free and elevated on 3 or 4 sides; not many tiers or lumps/ bumps; and no savage tilts.

My take is that this is a tough course to score on. 12 par 4s, of which only 2 are under 350m, and three tough par3s of 160 and over, only tells part of the story. Both par5s are short but there is a lot of pressure to make birdies there, as they are by far the best chances. With those par 5s at holes 4 & 6, and short offerings at 2 (121m) & 3 (321m), you’d better get off to a good start through 6, or you are likely in for a long day. There is no let up until you get to the 284m last.

The real difficulty lies in the combination that those long 4s have with the narrowing fairways, large gums, and (most importantly) small elevated greens. While banging into trees off the tee would be a regular occurence, problems on the ground are limited to a few OB fences, a couple of dams and 3 or 4 bunkers. Most fairway misses would result in a full swing and a route to the green, but the issue is trying to find that green from distance with soft kikuyu surrounds, running up banks to small targets. That’s a tough game. You’ll want to know how to chip/ pitch from those sticky kikuyu lies if you are to score well around Gunnedah.

The other defining characteristic here is how much the layout favours a right to left ball shape; I lost count of how many holes favour this shape off the tee. Holes are typically bordered by medium to large gums, with landing areas narrowing the further you progress. On a number of the 4s with OB left, the tee points well right of the fence, while the fence on the left side is protected by the large gums, starting close to the teeing ground. This leaves little to no room to shape a cut into, even on the straight holes.

The 371m par4 5th was clearly my favourite hole. There is a lot going on with 5, all the way down the hole. It plays slightly right to left with large gums inside an OB fence left, then 2 gums encroach on the fairway from the right side at about 200 – 210m off the tee – one is now just a 15m high stump but the next is huge and reaches out past the middle of the fairway. After negotiating them, there is a dam starting at about 240m that also cuts into the fairway from the right. A large rising bank sits 10m right of the green for the last 30-40m to help keep any strays in the ball-park. A small green with drop-off at the back and large tree front left add to the picture, which would be completed with a large sigh of relief if you were able to scribble down 4 on your card here.

I also like the quirky, sporty par5 4th. It is accessible, very gettable (only 435m), unusual (the tee is on the edge of a sizeable dam but you would need to heel one along the ground to bring it into play), clever (the standard elevated green has quite a steep elevation at the front, and being of kikuyu, would take a bit of running up, so you need to carry it on to the small green, tricky with a long iron or fairway wood, but fair enough for a 5 of this length), and pretty (that green is set in a beautiful ampitheatre of browntop stringybarks).

The next most memorable facet was the toughness of the stretch of 4 par4s from 8 through 11 (390, 410, 400 & 365), all requiring something strong and straight off the tee (preferably with some degree of right-to-left shape) and precision into the green, as they are still small and raised. 10 sticks in my mind as it would be a very difficult start if you play that 9 first – 400m with large gum on left preventing a fade with a driver, bends a little left to right for your second, with small trees jutting out resulting in a narrow neck 50m short of the standard small, elevated green.

Overall, this feels like a little oasis in the town, but it is no pleasure cruise. It’s a tough examination of your ability to hit straight or right to left flighted, long shots and chip crisply from kikuyu. Bring your A game here.