Course no.12 for 2025 and 403 all-up: RACV Healesville, Vic
Chasms in front of the 3rd green, guarded by some locals
Nomadic_golfer : July 2025 – RACV Healesville Vic, review
Par 68 4864m Slope ? $70
6 par3s 125-175m, 10 par4s 265-351m, 2 par5s 420-423m
Clayts’ and Mike Cocking’s revamping of this par68 course on the outskirts of the Yarra Valley in 2008, on undulating and moderately hilly terrain, has resulted in a somewhat magical outcome. The routing, largely unchanged from the original layout, consists of 6 par 3s and 2 par5s, but the headline acts are the brilliant green complexes & bunkering from the Clayton & Cocking team. A couple of narrow meandering streams that dominate 2 or 3 holes, plays a pretty enthralling support role. Those greens have some tilt, but are more about lumps and bumps and wild swails.
The green complexes and slopes were a handful in the middle of winter with the course at its softest; they would be downright awesome when firm and fast. There are many words to describe them, but one of them is not ‘understated’. There are so many opportunities to use your imagination around the greens and use a backstop/ aim away from the hole – love working out those angles (add confused emoji). Also loved the outlook standing on the tees of those 2 short downhill par5s (8 & 15, both of which are under 430m, represent a huge scoring opportunity but a fair chance to get your ball wet), which you find yourself working out backwards from the green and trying to plot your way around the bunkers and streams.
We use the ‘fun’ descriptor often when talking about golf courses that have a number of half-par holes and unique shaped greens, but its hard to think of a layout which fits that bill more than this one. There are so many holes that give you multiple options off the tee, and wave that risk/ reward flag right in your face. Those extraverted greens then add an extra dimension to those options and you wouldn’t want to miss on the wrong side when the turf was firm.
It is short, as the numbers suggest, but it is not overly tight, with bunkers (that you can recover from) and angles representing the course’s defences rather than heavily tree-lined fairways. With the longest par4 at 351m and those 2 short par5s, a good day here could translate to a very good score, but there are many features to trip you up with one bad decision or wonky strike. Surfaces were pretty good for a mid-winter visit.
It currently has the vote as my favourite par68 golf course (UK trip pending).
