Newcastle Golf Course
Review of the Newcastle Golf Course in Hunter Valley NSW, Australia
Road trip: Sydney - Blue Mountains - Mudgee - Upper Hunter - Lower Hunter - Newcastle
The final stop on our NSW golf trip - Newcastle!
One of my favourite cities in Australia, and we always stay at Noah's right on the beach (picture below). After a delicious dinner at Bocados in the city, we had an early start and joined the comp on a Thursday morning at 8:30.
It was 30 degrees when we started, and got to a steamy 39 by the time we reached the 14th hole. By this stage we were both exhausted and over-heating, and caught the rest of the field in golf carts. So we decided to have a swim at nearby Stockton beach to cool down, and returned for a shower and a sandwich at the newly renovated clubhouse.
Newcastle Golf Club was established in 1905, legend has it by Celtic miners - although course records were destroyed in a fire in 1969 making this an estimate.
The Review
The Stats
Condition 17/20
Fantastic condition - the best we've seen in NSW. Schmick greens, generous fairways, and deep rough.
Biodiversity 17.5/20
Walking this course is like having walking in NSW before colonisation. The flora and fauna are just beautiful, and you are surrounded by native vegetation on every hole. A few wallabies, kangaroos and plenty of birdlife and cicadas.
Vistas 16/20
Gorgeous internal vistas and walks between holes through natural bushland. No buildings or houses - so even though you can't see beyond the course, it's still very natural, and you can even hear the ocean with onshore winds.
Organisation 15/20
Easy to book and get on in advance, the clubhouse has had a refresh since we were here last - the change rooms look lovely and we had a couple of sandwiches after the game. A large selection of sweets too which was something different, we had a large piece of carrot cake and a coffee before heading to the airport.
Design 18/20
Excellent variety of holes and challenges, probably the biggest one for us being the heat. 5 stars for natural environment, and we really did have to think as there were quite a few doglegs so you needed to rely on your intuition.
Suggestions & Strategy
Highlights & Hazards
Something the course taught you: a good idea to take notes on courses for future use - so that you don't have to guess next time you play (if you don't have the memory of an elephant)
Some advice: always lots of water. And your swimming togs for a swim at Stockton afterwards.
Psyc strategy you worked on? I generated a feeling of quiet excitement before hitting my five wood. Thinking about the feeling of hitting it cleanly, hearing the "ping", seeing it going straight off the clubhead into the air, rise and fall where I wanted it to go. Such a lovely feeling! My body knew exactly what it needed to do.
One surprise: the amount of sweets in the restaurant - cakes and slices and delicious delights
One birdie: Michael had one on the 13th and I had one on the 12th - great feeling!
Biggest challenge: the heat! Definitely the heat. The locals looked at us like we were crazy when heading out with push buggies, and now we know why. Would go back and play on a cooler day or in a cart.
Favourite hole: my favourite hole was number 5 par 4 down the hill, dogleg left, green guarded by bunkers at the end and then you walk through forest to get to the next hole.
