Gold Coast Country Club, Queensland

17th tee, Gold Coast Country Club

We found a great deal on iseekgolf.com.au (a golf booking system in Australia) which offered green fees and a cart at the Gold Coast Country Club for $19.50 per person. Iseekgolf lists available tee times at a number of courses and the price depends on which are the most popular times to tee off. You must be a member to take advantage of the deals but membership is easy and free. And you can save as much as 50% on fees, especially after midday.

Gold Coast Country Club reminded me of a public course. It looked well used.

A lot of the ‘well used’ look was probably due to the high rainfall over winter and the fact that they still let people use carts on a course that didn’t have complete cart paths. So the sides of some fairways had what looked like wombat wallows. Local rules included a club-length preferred lie through the greens, which I found I needed for bare lies rather than muddy patches.

But over here a ‘wet’ course is different to New Zealand. At home you tend to get mud all over your shoes and trousers - we walked off today’s course with mudless shoes.

Of course, the cart might have had something to do with that.

Some of the bunkers were GUR. They were easy to pick out as they were the bunkers with ducks swimming in them.

I thought the course was fine. It helped to hit the ball straight, which we both managed today. This was probably helped by hitting 30 or 40 balls at the practice range before we played. (70 balls for $10)

The Gold Coast course measures 5526 metres so our fairway woods got more work than at Gainsborough Greens. It had some large greens but the undulations weren’t as severe as Gainsborough Greens so the putting was a little easier.

Greens or browns?

I think I’m starting to get used to the stringy grass they have on their greens. I suppose it has to be tough to survive in this heat, but I’m finding it difficult to judge speed and to read break. When you fix pitchmarks, it feels like a brillo on grit.

Only two of the par 4s were under 300 metres and the greens are well protected by bunkers, so you really need to hit your fairway woods strong and straight to score well here. The first eight holes were interesting enough but the 9th really grabbed our attention.

It’s a dogleg par 5 of 485 metres, uphill for your last shot over water. Fairway bunkers to avoid off the tee and you’ve got to place your second shot far enough up to reach the green, but not too far or you’ll be in water, which is both sides of where your ball ends up.

For your third shot you look up to a green and if you’re not far enough left, you not only have to carry a swamp, but you also have to carry two large bunkers. And forget about bailing out left of the green, because there’s another bunker there.

I carried the swamp ... but not the bunker. Which left me with a long bunker shot to a long double-green (the 9th and 18th). I used my pitching wedge, for a little extra length, and pitched my ball ... into the next bunker. Finally got on the green and managed to 2-putt from 40 feet.

That gave me my first double bogey for a 43 (par 36). Fiona was 42.

I could hear the car keys jangling.

The back nine of this course is where things really get interesting because along with plenty of bunkers, you’ve got water.

By the time we got to the 12th (par 3, 115 metres over water) our scores were even. I teed off first and my 6-iron found the green. Fiona’s ball soared over the water and landed just on the other side, almost stopped, and then trickled back into the pond.

I offered sympathy (it was a brand new ball) but was told... Well, I daren’t repeat it here because this is not an R18 blog.

Two-shot swing.

Fiona made up one of the shots on the next hole with a good up-and-down where we were both short on a par 5 with a long uphill green, pin at the back.

The 15th is a 345 metre par 4 with a bunker across most of the front of the green. I hit two good woods and still had 40 metres left, over the bunker. Fiona was about 10 metres closer. I played my gap wedge to 6 feet. Fiona played her sand wedge like a driver and the ball skidded over the green and into water, which we hadn’t realised was there.

I sympathised. Another new ball. Only a two-shot swing as I missed my putt.

The 16th is a wonderful dogleg par 4, only 287 metres but a very narrow landing area for your drive. There’s water up the right from about 130 metres off the tee, cutting into the fairway the further to the hole you go, and trees left. We both drove well and had 97 metres left, 50 metres over water which had cut in front of the green.

It was a two-tiered green so I took an extra club, figuring that the hill behind the hole would stop my ball going too far. The plan worked perfectly.

Fiona’s ball cleared the water, but not the bank.

Splash went the ball.

A new ball.

I kept my mouth shut.

“I’ll drive,” said Fiona.

Parred the last 3 holes to shoot 39 (par 35) and a total of 82, so things are looking up.