1. SeptemberSquall | Rated | 04 Dec 2011 | Add A Review

Played here today.

Previous posters are correct in that the course is really a ’tale of two cities’. It is said that the original nine holes, adjacent to the highway, were the first laid out all those years ago. These nine holes are relatively open, straight and flat, however are beautified by a combination of natural and introduced trees, some use of natural creek settings and developed ponds as water hazards.

On the front nine, highlights include:

• the par-five 1st hole with reedy water hazard hard left of the first green;
• the tight short par-four 2nd hole with picturesque water-carry drive and small green with angled ridge short of the putting surface to direct poorly struck approaches away;
• par-five 3rd hole with the demand of a controlled fade off the tee for best position to attack a small elevated green situated at an angle to the line of approach;
• drivable par-four 7th hole with natural pond encircling the small green, which is split by a ridge making for a difficult right hand side flag position
• picturesque long par-four 8th hole accompanied by burbling creek and established natural timber aside and behind fairway and teeing ground

Some time after the development of the front nine, some capital-raising by the existing membership was undertaken and additional land was obtained on the west and south of the existing 9 hole course. This more mountainous and dramatic land is the site of Marysville’s longer, more challenging back nine.

Here, shotmaking challenges are more specific and include:

• placement of a drive off the tee at the par-five 12th hole, ideally with a chasing right-to-left shape, to allow best access to a small green tucked high above the fairway level in a nook in the adjacent hill with fall-away short and left punishing any ball not adequately flighted in search of the putting surface;
• accurate delivery of the tee ball from an elevated teeing ground at the following par-four 13th hole to find a narrow ribbon of fairway between wooded embankment and burbling brook, from which a hard-to-judge approach to another elevated green is required
• restrained positioning of one’s tee ball from the far-four 15th teeing ground with fairway wood or long iron, to allow access to a narrow corridor through which a long iron may be flighted over a substantially flowing creek towards another minute Marysville green set in a truly idyllic little dell among native scrub and ferns.

Frankly, a lot of these back nine holes are just flat-out good fun.

Course condition was a bit heavy, as can be expected after such a period of heavy rains. Heavy conditions were most pronounced on the greens, where even a Top Flite rock I found was backing up hard, by legacy of the fact it was practially embedding to its equator in the green surface whenever I delivered it there with any club shorter than an 8i. While the greens were mainly surfaced with bent grass, the effect of the heavy soil and longer grass length was very similar to putting on average couch greens. Hopefully, in firmer conditions, the greens will improve.

Turfgrass management tee-to-green was very much a matter of "mow what naturally grows there" like most country courses. A cacophany of cool weather grasses made up most fairways, a patchwork of variously tight or spongy lies on offer depending on what variety of grass you found and how much it had been permitted to grow since last mown.

All in all, though, turf cover was good and playing surfaces were more than OK. Suffice it to say, everything was green and lush and I don’t expect Marysville to have any trouble with turf cover any time soon!
I did notice that most fairways were fully irrugated (and sprinkler heads marked with distances to BOTH front AND centre of greens, which was a pleasant surprise!)

If you get out there, don’t fail to appreciate the picturesque drive each way, and make sure to stop at the bakery cafe for an apple cake or vanilla slice with espresso coffee – the place doesn’t look like much, but the food and coffee is great!

If you find the time, don’t hesitate, just go. For $26 on the weekend, it’s cheap as chips, a great day out and worthwhile if only to support the wonderful work the club is doing providing for their local community’s need for a social outlet while rebuilding and recovery in this recently devastated part of Victoria continues.

See you there!

PROS

• Challenging shotmaking examination on the back nine
• Picturesque location with natural bush and creek settings
• Great way to support the local area's recovery
• Lovely 'day out' from Melbourne including lunch and drive

Cons

• Bit soft recently about the greens
• Not a significant challenge for low markers
• Conditioning in the 'lush but random' category

2. Eng | Rated | 09 Jan 2011 | Add A Review

Played here today. Challenging course and quite enjoyable. Greens are excellent but fairways need some work as its patchy. For $24 on the weekend its competitive and will support the local economy.

3. Shreksm | Rated | 29 Dec 2010 | Add A Review

Decided after 20 years since I last played this course to head back there today. Perfect weather and the course was in great condition. What a beautiful part of the world this is. Obviously they lost a lot of large trees in the Bushfires but I couldn’t believe the regrowth in the vegitation and how good the course was. There are many massive trees still standing.

Front nine is how I remember it, up and back and quite flat, with a couple of testing holes like 5, 8 and 9. Overall, fairly straight forward.

Back nine is how I remembered it, tough. What a great nine holes this is. Plenty of elevations and some great strategic holes. Standouts for me were 12, 13, 15, 16 and 17. I played off the back tees and the course is not overly long, even from there. Its all about positioning your drive and avoiding the massive trees and not blocking yourself out for your approach to the green.

The fairways and greens were in great nick, the rough was short, but thick.

The staff were very friendly and whilst there were a few players out, the course was far from busy. At $20 for 18 holes it is a bargain and well worth the drive. If you haven’t played Marysville, do yourself a favour and at least experience it – at least you will be supporting the community up there. It is a nice drive also and a beautiful place.

The town appears to be recovering well, with plenty of tourists and lots of construction going on. The regrowth of the bush around this area is quite amazing, considering the devastation from less than 2 years ago.

4. mrsafe | Rated | 28 Aug 2005 | Add A Review

A few kilometres outside of Marysville is this scenic and challenging course. The front nine is fairly standard bush course with the odd bit of water next to the green or in front of the tee. The back nine features a number of meetings with the river and one hole which will long live in my memory. The par 4 15th at 374 metres is not particularly long on paper, however most players will hit a mid to long iron to reach the dog leg. The second shot will require a longish iron to negotiate the narrowish entry and carry the creek which guards the green. Worth it for the scenery and the back nine.