1. soorie | Rated | 17 Aug 2008 | Add A Review

Oh my lord, played this course on friday and it took me about a week to clean all the mud off my clubs, shoes and bag. Apart from the fact that you need to pack gumboots, the course itself is very good located in a nice part of melbourne and worth a look if your after something different.

2. KIWI | Rated | 11 Jul 2008 | Add A Review

Mud mud & more mud, plus mega trackie pants galore. Try finding a level T box, we played this course for a change, my 2 partners/mates didn’t finish the round, bailed out, won’t ever go back. Free Way Golf and Yarra Bend absolutely shit on this course.

3. plusfour | Rated | 22 Jun 2008 | Add A Review

A bit soggy (and sometimes slippery) underfoot, this may have been exacerbated by recent rain.

Well grassed fairways, forgiving layout, Tees areas had taken a bit of a battering.

A good course for beginners who don’t have a booming drive, once the bucks party group in front let us play through, went round this course quite briskly (sat afternoon).

4. StewyGriffin | Rated | 27 May 2008 | Add A Review

The web site should read “Melb best goat track” cause this joint should close its doors in the winter. Very wet in the winter months, super short and unkept greens & fairways. Was told in the bar is alot better in the warmer months, so I will try again.

ALSO LIKED

• Spring Valley Golf Club
• The Dunes Golf Links (Dunes)
• Waterford Valley

5. Lowdown | Rated | 21 Jan 2008 | Add A Review

I know why the website still proclaims this as ‘Melbourne’s Best Public Course’ – but seriously, they should at least TRY and live up to this claim. This course is clearly, not a patch on the best public courses in Melbourne. It is one of the worst courses I’ve played in Metropolitan Melbourne. Yarra Bend, Freeway, Kingston Links, Albert Park are all well above this standard…easily. Ivanhoe need to face up, and either do something about being the best, or drop the expectation. Seriously.

PROS

• Reasonable Prices
• No bunkers...

Cons

• Condition of course
• Length of course
• Challenge of course
• No bunkers

6. dandeman | Rated | 03 Jan 2008 | Add A Review

“Melbournes best 18 hole public course” NOT!! that was written on there web site and an advert in a golf mag. with that hype a mate and myself travelled 45 mins to play “Melbournes best 18 hole public course”. after a 20 minute wait to tee off then 5 minute wait on every shot we had enough after 9 holes. the course wasn’t very challanging, short in length, slow greens, fairways were patchy etc. the positives… good weather, friendly pro shop staff, but it didnt live up to tag as “Melbournes best 18 hole public course”. it’s just an ordinary public track good for begineers and social golfers. just on par with the freeway course 5 mins away which has better greens. would rate it 3 stars but if they dont change that slogan “Melbournes best 18 hole public course” it gets 2 for now!

7. THEGREENMACHINE | Rated | 07 Sep 2007 | Add A Review

Ivanhoe: otherwise affectionately known as “the hoe”.

I’d heard the claims of “Melbournes best 18 hole public course” and was keen to give the greenmachine a run amongst some of Melbourne’s finest real estate and apparently it’s finest public track. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to the expectations that had been so audaciously set.

While being stuck behind a plethora of slow players (some not even sporting their own sticks) probably didn’t do much to enhance my perception, I felt there were far too many chippable par 3’s and unchallenging holes in general. That said, there were a few diamonds in the rough (so to speak), namely the par 4 8th, which plays as a fantastic hole if you’re talented enough to SMASH your ball down the middle, while the hackers are subject to ‘uh-oh’s’ both sides of the fairway.

The back nine is less inspiring than the front, with the course shortening suignificantly towards the end, making drawing in a lead all the more difficult, despite the leader suffering from Lazchoitis.

All in all, hide your wedge, keep your phone in the car and let your putter get back to nature (the greenmachine sure did!)

THEGREENMACHINE

8. LadyDaiwa_aka_josh | Rated | 07 Sep 2007 | Add A Review

Deciding to give the whore a half-hearted second chance after playing there in winter, which i must add, was an experience comparable to coming across public toliets in South east Asia, i was pleasantly suprised! The course was still as easy as i remember, and even Sergio would find it hard to choke due to the lack of greenside hazzards (little to no bunkers!) and driveable par 4’s. However the little things that add up to make an enjoyable golf experience such as courteous staff at the pro shop, friendly fellow golfers, warm toasty muffins and chilled self serve water breached my expectations of mere mediocracy.

Probably won’t be boasting that it’s ‘Melbourne’s best 18 hole public course’ but it’s definitely better than Brighton! and that’s good enough for lady daiwa

PROS

• Course in good touch
• Nice Italian food around the corner

9. fatrabbitbrain | Rated | 01 Oct 2006 | Add A Review

Quite a popular course with ppl from around town which means you are forced to deal with slow play. Course is well maintained though, but does get boggy in winter.

10. kpavey | Rated | 21 Mar 2006 | Add A Review

It's been probably five years since I last played this course and it has improved in several ways. General condition in March 2006 was very good both on fairways and greens which were quite fast and often having significant break. Would be good if a few more people used their pitch fork to repair plug marks though - I repaired more than I could remember on the day. Sadly this is pretty common on most public golf courses...

Hole layout uses the natural undulation of the land, with a number of raised tees and greens for interest. Some of the tees and greens are placed a little to close for my liking though, and safety is a concern. Also given the large number of beginners playing here you will often find stray players on your hole hitting to another (virtually all holes back onto another in this compact layout). There are some revised hole layouts since I last came here.

Overall my wife and I enjoyed the round, were let through by slower golfers and enjoyed the pro shop and 19th.

Don't expect 13th Beach kind of golf challenge and you'll find it OK. Close to the city is a bonus. I wondered if I would prefer playing Yarra Bend to Ivanhoe and I'm leaning more towards Yarra Bend because of the more memorable hole layouts and it is somewhat more challenging but both are good courses in very good condition presently.

11. cheyno | Rated | 05 Jan 2006 | Add A Review

Ivanhoe is a challenging golf course for beginners and fairly easy going for advanced golfers. Ivanhoe is a hilly golf course with flooded waters and lakes. They have very good dining at the top of the reception of the golf course called the 19th Hole. The reception is situated at the top of the golf course the course is down hill for the 1st and 10th and up hill for the 9th and 18th. A few challenging holes like the 1st, 16th, 17th and 18th. If you go to Ivanhoe leave curve of the ball behind. I found that a lot of my shots curved from left to right leaving my ball in the trees, rough or even out of bounds. The greens are usally fast but some to very slow because of raising water from the yarra. But in the end a very good course for intemidate players. Farly easy for advanced players and hard for beginners.

12. hitori | Rated | 25 Nov 2005 | Add A Review

Generally in reasonable condition for the huge amount of traffic that it gets across it. Accomplished golfers will not get a great deal of challenge and will likely become frustrated at the usual slow pace of play. However, for what it is, Ivanhoe is one of the better "learn to play" courses in Melbourne.

Golfers need to accept that slow play comes where a course attracts a lot of social/learner groups. Having said that - although the pro-shop runs a tight ship, they could do with a course marshall on weekends and public holidays where the rounds can extend into 5 hours in the better weather.

It is a good little course where a competent golfer can take lower ability friends for a game and they will not be monstered by a difficult course.

13. t0mgolf | Rated | 21 Sep 2005 | Add A Review

the shortness of the course is a positive for myself that cannot be bothered walking long distances but still enjoy an entertaining day of golf

this course is good for juniors and women looking to upgrade to 18 holes without tiring themselves.

the fairways are fairly good for an public golf course but the greens need work. they are often slow, soft and indented. on some holes the outer rim of the green is almost like a rough in itself.

other than this there is a practise green out the front that caters for different abilities and fun tee offs from the 14th and 17th holes.

14. peanuts_1 | Rated | 07 Jul 2004 | Add A Review

As public courses go this one's not too bad. The clubhouse sits atop a ridge surveying the course around it, which largely sits in the Yarra floodplain.

It's a fairly tight and short course, and tries to maximise the land it's on. Given the traffic it doesn't hold up too badly, but this is not a course for the keen or accomplished golfer.

The better holes are the par 4s 14 and 16, while 17 and the par 3 18th are interesting challenges. As such it's not a bad place to knock of work and play the last five. The first 13 leave a lot to be desired though in my opinion. The distance markers are often incorrect (eg par 3 12th) and the slow pace of play is quite frustrating.

I guess you get what you pay for...

15. ronrat | Rated | 13 Apr 2004 | Add A Review

Not long but has a few bunkers, lots of trees and a few water hazards. Gets longer as the hilly parts are on the back nine and the bar tempts you as travel up hill from the 14th to the 15th. This course does not require long hitting but strategic hitting or what looks an easy par 4 can quickly become a triple bogey if you go out of bounds. The 18th is an uphill par 3 that requires every inch of your club onto a 2 tired green. Next to the Yarra it provides bushwalks or cycle tracks for those whose family are not into golf. Well established pro shop and lovely clubhouse views. And good value. Caters for social groups, well established ones.