Mudgee Golf Course
Review of the Mudgee Golf Course in NSW, Australia
The main purpose of our NSW road trip, apart from travel golfing, was to attend a friend's 70th at his farm in Mudgee. Driving further inland we checked into a little cottage on a horse stud, and played the Mudgee Course on the Saturday morning before the party.
Our tee off time was 9:20 and we were paired with a couple of local lads - self-proclaimed high handicappers who seemed to love golf more than we do! And so us, dragging our push buggies along in the 30 degree heat (and the members, in their golf buggy called the "slice express") we began our adventure on "the best course in the west".
A bit of history
The Mudgee Golf Club was founded in 1906, and the current layout was designed by architect Arthur East in 1955. According to wikipedia, the name “Mudgee” has various translations, including "resting place", "contented", "nest in the hills" and "friend or mate" which the latter coincides with the Wiradjuri word "mudyi". When I lived in the Hunter ten years ago, we used to travel to this elegant little town on weekends with friends, well known for its wines, horses, and restaurants.
View coming in to the 18th green, clubhouse at the end.
“Would love a carrot, thanks” - a mare and her foal at Gorree Park.
Course Review
The Stats
Condition 10.5/20
We thought it was good condition for a country course, and for this time of year. The whole area is unusually green having had a bucketload of rain in the last couple of weeks. Not many bunkers (I actually didn’t see any!), but the greens were in really good condition. Michael's words to the locals: the fairways would be improved with a chainsaw, there were a lot of overgrown trees.
Biodiversity 10.5/20
Overgrown trees… of course, attract the birds - there were swarms of sulphur-crested cockatoos, galahs and corellas making a racket as we headed off on the first few holes. Mudgee being a historical colonial town there are different European trees lining the fairways making for what felt like a gamble on every tee when you didn’t hit straight!
Vistas 10/20
The course itself is relatively flat but every hole is beautiful especially on a warm sunny day. The town is surrounded by beautiful hills, a few of which can be seen on the golf course.
Organisation 12/20
The course pro was super welcoming and helpful with the check in and course advice, and we had fun playing with Ant and James, two young guys who play in the comp every Saturday. We didn’t see any practice fairway, and didn’t try the food or drink, but the clubhouse is new and apparently the Chinese restaurant is great! Even though it was a full field, it wasn’t slow and we got around in about four hours.
Design 10/20
There were a lot of doglegs, and the holes tended to be longish and narrow. Not many hazards, but the overgrown trees made it seriously challenging if you didn’t hit straight. You get a bit of déjà vu on some of the holes (not a lot of diversity). The greens were quite difficult to read. The aprons were hard to judge and difficult to chip out of.
Highlights & Hazards
One surprise: fairways were quite close together and you heard a lot of yelling "fore" - felt a bit dangerous to be honest. We were also surprised by how many people were hitting across fairways, and how many people were using buggies on a flat course!
One birdie: we heard the tawny frogmouth and pacific koel, and saw crested pigeons, red rumped parrot, eastern rosella, king parrots to name a few.
Biggest challenge: overgrown trees resulting in narrow fairways, and compounded by numerous dog leg holes.
One learning: take it slow on close putts - i missed two 2-footers because I was rushing.
Favourite hole: hole 17 par three down the hill, pretty views and surrounded by different trees - seen below.
Suggestions & Strategy
Some advice: make allowance for dog legs because of overhanging trees, keep wide on approach and consider less than a driver off the tees.
Psyc strategy you worked on? I focused on my physical balance during the round and not on the outcome of the shot.
Review Scorecard
Overall review
Our review of the course on this specific day.
