On Par – All about golf in Australia

Eynesbury Golf Course is a new course that opened in 2007 near Melton, West of Melbourne. The layout winds through typical Australian countryside, centred around a magnificent 1870’s homestead. The Graham Marsh design makes the most of the previous sheep station, with old shearing sheds, drystone walls, creeks, lakes and gum trees adding to a very Australian landscape. The course has Graham Marsh written all over it, the wide fairways present a favourable driving target, though many holes require thought on club before bombing away, large bunkers, creeks and rough catch the wayward drive.

The greens are excellent for a course so young, quick and true, a number of greens have severe ridges to navigate over, around, across and down! Whilst the terrain is pretty flat, natural mounds have been added and multiplied, and many greens are raised to add to the difficulty.

The course is sensational. We teed off in excellent conditions with no wind at all, though I can imagine that the course would be a very tough test with a strong Southerly or Northerly. Four tee positions are offered, 6577 metres from the back, we played the Blues at 6329 metres (Scorecard). I was lucky enough to have taken the ‘A game’ along (which had been in hybernation for a while) and really enjoyed the course. Will definitely be back again soon.

There are no ‘average’ holes on this course, each hole requires thought off the tee and will punish the poor shot (just ask Rob!), the rough is also very dense and taking a lofted club is often the only option for escape. Some of my favourite holes include:

4th Hole – Par 4 460 metres The 4th hole is a brute, toughest hole on the course, the 4th stretches 460 metres from the back (443 from the blue). A well struck drive will still need a long iron or more to get to the elevated green. My reasonable drive and perfect hybrid second, still fell short! If this is playing into the wind, be prepared for some pain!

8th Hole – Par 3 160 metres A classic Graham Marsh short hole, only 160 metres however the small green is well protected by mounds and a couple of key bunkers. 10th Hole – Par 5 527 metres The back nine starts with a long par 5. From the tee its initially difficult to work out the best landing spot to setup the hole. The fairway narrows near the lefthand fairway bunker then the decision to layup in front of the creek or carry. There doesnt seem to be much advantage in taking the risk to carry the creek unless the green is in reach. A good thinking mans par 5.

18th Hole – Par 4 403 metres A great course finishes with a great final hole. A creek crosses the fairway needing a 200 – 230 metre carry depending on the tee. Successfully avoiding the creek and fairway bunker leaves a mid iron to the green, with the impressive Homestead standing behind the green.

Eynesbury Golf Course is Melbournes newest addition and one that will definitely grow in recognition and rankings. The condition of the course, customer service and layout is all excellent and the green fees are very reasonable for a course of this calibre. Give this one a try as soon as you can.

• NB: I usually use Google Maps to describe the golf holes, however the course is so new, that Googles satellite maps are yet to update the imagery for Eynesbury

• Hole layout images courtesy of the course tour on the Eynesbury Golf Course website: http://eyensbury.miclub.com.au/guests/course/hole1.mhtml