Sunday 2 September 2012

Tighten your Bra Straps at Nambour Golf Club

Nambour Golf Club has lots of kookaburras
The tip for playing this golf course, if you're using a cart, is: women, tighten up the shoulder straps on your bra. I swear that after playing this course, I'm drooping an extra inch. There are a lot of humps and hollows that are unavoidable in a cart.
This may help you decide whether or not to walk Nambour: are you more concerned with scoring well, or with droopy boobs?
I gave up on perkiness 30 years ago.
Guys, if you've ever told yourself, 'I've got a muscly chest, a wee bit flabby, but they are not man-boobs' ... well, after you've ridden a couple of holes, you'll know the truth.
1st green
Although the cart ride may be a little bumpy, your golfing experience will more than make up for this. Nambour oozes character and it's at the top of our list for 'must return and play again' courses.
I have never seen so many elevated tees and greens on one course. The course designer must have had great imagination to see the potential for a golf course amongst all these hills and valleys.
On Tuesdays at Nambour (par 70, 4719 metres) they offer two for one deals on green fees, and that includes a two for one voucher for drinks (per person). The round cost us $76 for two, including a cart. Green fees alone are $36.
And you will definitely enjoy the round more if you have a cart. There are some major climbs between tee and green. An unusual feature was the fact that they only used one set of tees. Rather than men's and women's tees, they have 'forward' and 'back'. Some of the tees are a bit rough, with a couple of tees being mats.
The first hole is a gentle start, a par 4 dogleg left of 285 metres, downhill all the way. A good drive will leave you with wedge or gentle 9 iron for your second.
The greens are small and the grass is more like what we're used to in New Zealand. However, they were probably the slowest greens we've played on, but true. As they were smaller than on other courses, with less undulations, they were easier to read.
3rd tee
The second hole is a simple par 3 of 135 metres. I got on with a rescue and then 3 putted (Fiona too).
We had trouble finding the 3rd tee, which is to the right and past the 11th tee marker. There is such serious elevation here that we disturbed a base jumper. Or maybe it was just a fit young guy carrying his clubs. (No man-boobs on this guy!) Elevated green also. Whatever club you’ve chosen for your approach to these elevated greens, put it back and take one more. Especially on this hole which has a long uphill green.
4. Par 5 of only 366 metres but none of it is level. The tee shot is fun, set back in amongst a tall stand of trees and palms.  Good drive and good second will leave you with a short iron on to the green, not quite straight up. Bunker on right. DON’T be short.
5th tee
What goes up, must come down. That saying is going to be your mantra by the end of the round. Another gloriously elevated tee for the 5th hole, par 5 of 405 metres, where the drive landing area is reasonably flat but your second is to a heavily sloping right to left fairway. And there’s a water hazard over there, too, if you’re prone to hooking. I watched Fiona come up short with a 9 iron from 85 metres. I was a little behind her and took a 7 iron, which ended up on the green just short of the pin.
On the 6th hole, a par 3 of 120 metres (they had us off the back tees) the view is fantastic. It's all carry over a ravine to the green. Don’t slice your tee shot or you’ll be in the hazard. The guy ahead of us went in there and it took him a considerable time to re-emerge. We wondered if the lush vegetation was due to blood and bone fertiliser from previous golfers. Our guy staggered out eventually but didn’t bother finishing the hole.
6th green, looking back to tee
I decided to err on the side of caution, not wanting to contribute to plant food, so took plenty of club. I went down the shaft of my rescue and finished just off the back of the green but had an easy 2 putt for par. As did Fiona.
The 7th is another par 5 (378 metres) and surprise, surprise, there’s that base-jumper again. I tugged my drive left so played my rescue to keep the 2nd shot straight and away from the water hazard on the right. From which I had 98 metres to a green which was so far above that I had to walk up about 50 metres to see where it was. There is an aiming post at the back, but it’s not much good when you’re way right.  My 6 iron rushed through the back and I 3 putted for bogey.
7th green

The 8th is a par 3 of 123 metres, uphill all the way. They were working on the tee so we had a 10 metre headstart. We both chose 5 iron, which we hit well, so managed a green in regulation. You could either say we had easy 2 putt pars or, if you're being honest, we wimped our birdie putts and scored par.
The 9th is a short par 4, 265 metres, but don't get too excited. You must keep your drive left if you want a simple short iron into the green, because the fairway falls to the right. I went right and had to negotiate trees and a greenside bunker. Hit my 8 iron off the toe so managed to clear the trees but not the bunker. Had an okay sand shot but missed the 8 ft putt for par.
Bugger. I shot 42, Fiona 41 (par 36).
I'm afraid this blog post is getting too long, so I'll leave the back nine for another day. The trouble is that every hole at Nambour is so interesting, I can't bear to leave any of them out. Or maybe I'm just too fond of the sound of my own voice, figuratively speaking.
Anyway, after the 9th you're back at the clubhouse so you can go to the locker room and tighten those bra straps for the back 9.

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