Golf
Improve your handicap at designer golf courses and public fairways tucked amid the wineries and fern gullies of the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges.
Food, wine and scenery, plus top golfing
Tuck yourself away in the Yarra Valley for a weekend of boutique accommodation, wine tasting, fabulous food, spectacular scenery and great golfing in the growing cluster of new courses.
Tee off at The Heritage, with its Jack Nicklaus-designed course ranked in the top 50 courses in Australia. Test your skill at the Henley companion course.
Head across the mountains to the foothills of the Great Dividing Range for a game at the RACV Healesville Country Club, or go back along the highway to Yering Meadows and its modern 27-hole facility.
A game in the ranges
Take your clubs if you're making your way into the Dandenongs and stop at some of the small public courses to practice your swing.
The Heritage Golf and Country Club
Corner of Hughes and Yarraview roads, Wonga Park
Ph 03 9760 3300
St John course length: 6670 metres, par: 72
Henley course length: 6353 metres, par: 72
The original parkland 18 holes have the signature of Jack Nicklaus all over them. Plenty of room from the tee with a premium applied on approach shots to the green. Getting at the flag usually means driving the ball down a preferred side of the fairway. The par-three 11th is quite demanding, with a pond all the way along the right and a mountain of rock guarding the left side of the green. Henley, the new companion course, covers a generous area of land with considerable changes in direction and altitude. Undulating fairways are set among wild grasses and wetlands. Few trees, rather copses of bushland, to frame to doglegs and green settings.
RACV Country Club
Yarra Glen Road, Healesville
Ph 03 5962 4899
Course length: 4872 metres, par: 68
For its size packs a big punch. Greens have lots of variety with ridges, dips, rolls, tiers and plateaus featuring prominently. These bold contours demand correct positioning from the tee in order to attack the flag. Green run-offs allow for plenty of interpretation in the short game. Fairways have been extensively widened and streams incorporated into the re-design plan to create split fairways on some of the longer holes. A boomerang-shaped green combined with a unique pattern of fairway bunkering makes a memorable statement on the final hole. A separate par-3 course at the bottom of the property sets new benchmarks in modified golf.
Yering Meadows
Victoria Road, Yering
Ph 03 9738 9001
Homestead course length: 6366 metres, par: 72
Valley course length: 6336 metres, par: 72
Nursery course length: 6408 metres, par: 72
Considered a meadow-style design with water hazards dominating much of the valley floor. This system of creeks and lakes influences the strategy on many holes. Club selection is a constant challenge, as many tee shots require lay-ups. The site incorporates 27 holes (forming three separate courses), walnut groves and a contemporary clubhouse catering to all needs. Sweeping views of the Yarra Valley are an inspiring backdrop both during the round and from the terrace bar.