VIC - 13th Beach

We spent the week around the new year in Anglesea, a beach town situated along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. Keen for a round or two of golf, we booked in to play at Thirteenth Beach Golf Links, a club with two 18 hole courses and a par-3 nine. The Beach course is designed by Tony Cashmore, and the Creek Course designed by Sir Nick Faldo and Tony Cashmore. You may recognise the course as the annual host of the Victorian Open.

Arriving, you are greeted by a long driveway of flowering gums…

On the way out the door ln the Tuesday, we checked the BOM - it was only supposed to rain at 6pm, and our tee of time was 1:27pm so we thought we'd be safe. We kept our eye on the radar - and the great big grey storm clouds coming from the south west… just getting in nine before it started pouring!

 So quiet… just you and the ball. Oh, and the birdies of course!

We returned two days later to play the final nine in sunny conditions, wind changed to a strong south easterly. How different the experience when the sun is shining, and having to adjust your game accordingly. Being out there with the wind, the trees, wetlands and ocean waves crashing behind the dunes - there is nowhere else in the world you'd rather be.

We also managed to get a game on the Creek course on the weekend. Yes, ok, we might be a little golf crazy and wanted to get the new year off to a good start!

Condition, Beach 14.5, Creek 14 /20

Course is in great condition and benefitting from the wet summer. In our view the beach course was in slightly better condition, and more of a "links-y" feel than the creek course. Greens were also quite slow which made putting slightly easier (in Sarah's opinion), but still felt like the pins were smaller than usual (mmm)…

Biodiversity, both 13/20

The sound of (real) birdies surrounds you on every hole, in particular the very vocal yellow tailed black cockatoos (a favourite) who love the casuarina trees in particular. Didn’t see any animals, and trees / shrubs and flowers consistent with an Australian links course.

Vistas, Beach 15, Creek 14/ /20

Stunning views of Lake Connewarre on the Beach course and walking it feels like a bushwalking adventure in the sand dunes, every hole changing landscape and vistas. The creek course is different, more of a parkland feel, and vistas of the creek on 7th and 8th holes are beautiful. You can also see Barwon Heads golf club in the distance.

Australasian Swamphens overlooking Lake Connewarre

Organisation, both 13/20

Easy to find time to play and very helpful staff who helped us check in. Didn’t try the practice facilities but they seem good, food was great but arrived a little late (we had to take it away), pace of play could have been faster, but no complaints given it was peak season and we were a two ball. Whilst the course is really good, the clubhouse doesn’t seem to match the experience.

Challenge, both 15/20

Good variety of holes and diversity of challenges - particularly under different weather conditions that we experienced. The course changes according to the wind direction - and each hole challenges you to consider the wind, location of hazards and whether to direction from which to approach the pin. Felt it was a good challenge but not too hard.

One surprise: water left on the 7th hole, Creek course. And bunkers have quite deep sand and feel different from sandbelt courses. (Sarah found them easier to hit out of!)

One birdie: yellow tailed black cockatoos - and a wedgie on the way out! And a birdie on the 7th, Beach course

Biggest challenge: negotiating the wind on Beach course coming off the water. And how different the course plays in wet / sunny conditions and wind direction.

Something the course taught you: I was working on my "memory box" - a concept I've read about in Lynn Marriot and Pia Nilsson's book "to be a player". Being conscious of how I'm responding to each shot (I'm going to write a blog article on it, watch this space).

Favourite hole: Sarah: 7th par three on beach course. Waves behind you, stunning view down over the rest of the course. And of course a 7 iron tee birdie helped this one too. Michael: 8th on Creek course - interesting positioning of ball into wind on left hand side, small green keeping clear of water on right.

Some advice: Michael: try and find a reliable weather forecast (still fun to play in the rain though). Sarah: play both courses if you can - they are different and both with interesting challenges. The Vic Open is super fun too, we've had a few friends attend and say it's a great event, will try and make it if we can.