1. Boubs | Rated | 14 Oct 2008 | Add A Review

Top course, great value for money and a good mix between difficulty and forgiveness. Good balance between length of hole and hazards throughout. Recommend a cart or a fit heart if going 18

PROS

• good exercise
• individuality, character
• quality greens and fairway

2. vucatricri | Rated | 03 Dec 2007 | Add A Review

Playing Charlestown regularly, I found it very challenging. The back nine is very different to the front nine, with some very long 400m Par 4 or 200m Par 3 from the back tee! There are some water hazards, but not too many, which makes this course a nice challenge: playing your handicap on the back nine is a good effort! At the moment the fairways are looking great, the course is in real good shape. This is a very hilly course so don’t play there for a relaxing walk, it is quite demanding, but you will appreciate even more the well derserved drink after the 18th hole.

3. jassony | Rated | 10 Mar 2006 | Add A Review

i play charlestown regularly and i'll tell you that it is in good shape. The course is fairly long at over 6000 metres and has its fair share of hills. The greens are some of the best in the area and the fairways have improved greatly. The first challenge of my round is the 2nd Par 3 138m. A fair shot over water to a narrow green. Club selection is important. The 5th par 4 at 372m dogleg is the second hardest hole on the course. A precise tee shot over water is needed but if you over hit the ball you'll have some trouble finding the green in two. The back nine is more challenging with some long holes. The longest par 4 on the course is the 11th. Big hitters will do better on this hole due to the fact that is is 414m. The 15th par 5 is the longest hole on the course. Getting on for three can be tricky. Trees to the left and severe slope to the right put a lot of pressure on the tee shot. Your second needs to be precise. A fairway wood is the go if you want to give yourself a chance of getting on for 3. Charlestown is definetly one of the better courses in Newcastle and is worth playing. Take advantage of the good prices.

4. surfrat | Rated | 17 Mar 2005 | Add A Review

Charlestown is undergoing some changes at the moment to the final two holes which will make it easily one of the better coures in the Hunter to play on that doesn't charge over the top fees. The holes take effect April 2005
The course is quite challenging (its produced the likes of James Nitties so that speaks for itself!) with a good range of holes, from tight watery twists to open tree lined quality fairways with challanging greens to compliment the layout. One of the better courses in the Hunter

5. hind0 | Rated | 05 Sep 2002 | Add A Review

This is the course I call home right now so I'm quite familiar with "The Royal" as I like to call it.

A lot of work has been done on Charlestown Golf Club in the last 18 months and much more is continuing right now. Later this year two new holes will be added to the course once their construction is completed. At that time the back 9 at Charlestown will be one of the best in the Newcastle area.

The front 9 is a little disappointing at first for visitors, and at times I am frustrated by it's sameness. None of the holes on the nine are particularly challenging and are quite short in comparison to some other courses.

The 135m 2nd is the first challenge of the day, as a precise tee shot is required to carry the water and stay on a fairly narrow green. Holes 3 and 4 are shortish Par 5s, while the dogleg, uphill 5th plays a lot longer than it's official distance.

The 8th is a driveable green for the longer hitters and 9 requires precision from the tee to avoid hazards and trees either side of the fairway. You should score well on the front 9 because you'll need to be under handicap before you step on the 10th tee in order to make a good score.

Hole 10 poses little problems if you're straight off the tee, if not the water hazard on the right and fairway bunkers either side can make it quite tricky.

The 11th and 12th are two of the hardest and longest holes on the course, especially when most of the time you are hitting into the wind on them. 13 sees water running down the left-hand side and most players opt to take an iron off the tee to ensure they remain in play as the landing area is very narrow.

Fairway bunkers on 14 can make this hole troublesome, and the current 15th sees a tee shot to an extremely narrow landing area, and in a lot of cases a long, blind approach shot to a postage stamp green.

The par 5 16th and 17th are pretty straight forward and the par 3 18th, while only 140m, has a severly sloping back-front green which can quite easily see 4-putt double bogies made if tee shot is above the pin.

In all, I'd say Charlestown is a good suburban golf course. It has it's challenging holes, it's relatively easy holes and some in between. At around $15 a round it is also very cheap.