Blog 315 – Narrandera

Nomadic_golfer : December 2025 – Narrandera, NSW, review

Par 70 5752m Slope 119 $36

5 par3s 113-198m, 10 par4s 283-410m, 3 par5s 480-519m

Situated a couple of km out of this charming town on the busy Newell Hwy, 3 hrs inland of Canberra, the Narrandera Golf Club possesses one of the better bush-set country golf courses you will find in Oz. The defining characteristics are: the frequently appearing remnants from a pine plantation that previously occupied the site; the sandy base with a reddish tinge; the constant elevation changes through rolling undulations; and the strategic design, centred around a penchant for a straight hole with a green tucked away to one side. They may well have overdone one of these variants, with 4 (322m), 9 (338m) and 11 (342m) all uphill par4s which start off straight and tuck a green away to the right.

The bent greens were in pretty good condition at the start of summer. The Course Superintendent was bemoaning the lack of water, and there were a few signs to show for this, but they have done a great job with firmish, smooth surfaces covering their generally small to medium sized greens. I observed greenside bunkers on 7 holes and they are particularly prominent.

Fairways and tees are predominantly kikuyu and were in sound summer nick – tees of very good cover and fairways a lovely Aussie light green base with a hint of summer straw, light brown. The contrast against the colours of the outlying sandy soils, deep blue sky and deep green putting surfaces tickled my fancy. Throw in the multiple areas of thickish pine growth and many nice gums around the place and its an attractive place to chase a ball around.

The fairways are typically of generous width but the ever-present tilt of the ground makes them play a little narrower, with most fairways having a camber favouring one side or the other. This is a good starting point for strategically designed holes and there are plenty of examples where the best line to approach from is either the more difficult place to get to (high side of the camber), or the more risky line to chase (low side with adjacent ‘trouble’).

Most memorable holes for me are: 1 (350m par4 with wide fairway, slightly uphill off the tee, turning left and a little steeper uphill to the green which flattens out on a plateau, in front of a stunning gum); 3 (480m par5, sweeps right to left and cambers with that turn for the entire length of the hole. It is a little roller coaster-like, down off the tee, then up slightly through the middle, then down to a very small green guarded by a bunker short left which makes centre-right the best angle to approach from. Don’t miss right with your second though, as a large gum guards the 45 degree front right entry}; 11 (my pick of those uphill, straight par4s with green tucked to the right. This one has a particularly narrow green with a very narrow entrance, guarded by pines right and a gum on the left front corner. Line off the tee is particularly important here to give you access to this green); 12 (a straightaway 520m par5, that starts off gradually downhill for the first 300m on a wide fairway, with sandy ‘rough’ giving you an extra 10-15m of leeway before thick pines on both sides. From that 300m mark, which is far as you can see from the tee, it then goes steeply downhill for the next 150-170m before the trees stop on both sides, revealing a green sitting in the open with drop-offs, right, left and long. It’s all about the second shot here); and 13 (a steep uphill 130m running parallel to the approach to 12. Again, framed by pines on both sides, it plays to a long (in context of Narrandera) and narrow, redan-shaped green with parallel hollows short and long. Distance control the absolute key here.)

While this is very good country golf, variety might well be it’s achilles heel, and they may have missed a chance to add a ‘half-par’ hole or two (a regular wish of mine) with the heavily tree-lined 283m dogleg left 15th, which doesn’t really offer any sizeable reward for the hero tee-shot. It plays a little uphill, so if it was 40m shorter, it would be excellent. The downhill 340m 16th also presents that opportunity. If it was 40m shorter, with a narrow green, it would also be enough to dangle a carrot at an aggressive golfer chasing birdies at the end of their round, and risk a dropped shot or two.

Enough of that, the positives far outweigh the negatives at Narrandera which must be vying for the title of best course in the Riverina. The 5 par3, 3 par5 layout of 5750m has more nuance than you think from your views at the tee-blocks alone (I can’t remember another course where the photos from behind the green tell you more about the hole than those from the tee), and also has enough smarts to make sure it won’t be overpowered.