The New South Wales South Coast offers a golf trip that’s as long as you care to make it. So we picked one course to play from each of its three main parts.
Exactly what constitutes the region of New South Wales known as the South Coast has always been difficult to define. Is it everything between Wollongong and the Victorian border? If so, where do the Shoalhaven, Eurobodalla and Sapphire coasts fall? In truth, the South Coast is a collection of regions, each one offering different environments and attractions.
The same holds true in golf. The entire South Coast is home to several can’t-miss gems, while each sub-region houses its own worthy selection of places to play. Accordingly, here are three ‘tent pole’ courses – one from each of the three primary regions within the greater South Coast – to use to prop up a long weekend of golf or midweek getaway along whichever section of this magnificent stretch of coastline you tackle next.
TOP: A LOUD GONG
The term ‘hidden gem’ is often overused in golf circles, but few courses are more qualified for this bracket than Gerringong Golf Club. Sitting flush against a majestic curve in the coastline with entire-course views, the Al Howard design is one of the best examples of amplifying a stunning seaside setting for golf that you’re likely to find. Play between May and November and you’re likely to have the bonus of spotting whales migrating just offshore.
Sydney golfers might spy hints of the Long Reef course, yet Gerringong features more undulating terrain than the northern Sydney course, as no hole is flat. Steep terrain isn’t easy to design great golf holes across, but it’s part of the course’s charm here. Watching Gerringong’s head pro Shane Cochrane flight drives against the slopes of the sharpest hillside fairways was enough to convince this writer that this is a place where shot-making shines.
The oceanside course is full of quirks. There’s the par-5 fourth hole, where the beach is firmly in play along the left side, but partially hidden water short of the green is arguably a far more imposing hazard. Later comes the J-shaped 10th hole, a par 4 where the fairway turns back on itself towards the tucked green. The next is a par 5 with water short and left of the green, but with such a heavily canted fairway, in a favourable breeze you might only be pitching on for your second shot.
The club is gradually replacing and upgrading its green complexes (the 12thh green is the latest to receive an upgrade), in a theme common along the South Coast at present.
Nearby courses to play: Kiama, Shoalhaven Heads, Worrigee Links
MIDDLE: GRADUAL GAINS
There’s currently a hive of activity in the middle section of the South Coast. In the new year, Catalina Club will embark on an extensive redesign led by Clayton, DeVries & Pont (CDP) along with Harley Kruse that will include a tech-driven driving range as part of the clubhouse precinct as well as improvements to the 27-hole golf course.
That’s still ahead, however. Right now, though, Mollymook Golf Club is already enjoying the benefits of its own staged course enhancement plan that will see three greens of the Hilltop course renovated annually between now and early next decade. Course designer Ryan Van Der Veen has already reconfigured the 13th and 14th greens, recontouring both complexes and converting the surfaces to Pure Distinction bentgrass on the greens and zoysia for the surrounds.
The 13th was a logical starting point for the project. The old green was reviled by many, achieving legend status on the notoriety front for its 6 percent slope in places, which led to innumerate putting mishaps. The new iteration is larger, more segmented, more interesting and much fairer. It’s also a solid indicator of what’s still to come on the Hilltop course.
The 13th green re-opened for play in April and the new-look 14th in August. It’s also larger and a better fit for an uphill par 4 where many approach shots will come in low and from long range.
In preparation for its course enhancement plan, the club cut its par-5 sixth hole in two – a par 3 to a new green on the outside of the dogleg left, then a short par 4 to the original target – to create a spare hole. It means 18 holes will always be in play throughout the multi-year journey.
“Each hole we’re finishing is better than the one before,” general manager Barry West says of the progressive alterations, “so the course is constantly improving.”
The forest-like environment of Mollymook makes it easy to forget while playing that you’re only a stone’s throw from the ocean, yet the Hilltop clubhouse precinct and ninth hole offer a healthy glimpse of the sea – something that won’t change during the renovation. And for something extra while in town, don’t forget about the club’s nine-hole Beachside course, which was renovated in 2021.
Nearby courses to play: Catalina, Moruya, Narooma
BOTTOM: BEACH LIFE
Merimbula has long been the golf hub of the Sapphire Coast, the southernmost portion of the NSW South Coast. The 27-hole Pambula Merimbula layout owns high appeal for golfers, but the better layout – and superior views – has always been across town at Tura Beach Country Club. The club even bills itself as “the club with million-dollar views”, and justifiably so.
The Peter Thomson/Mike Wolveridge design flows across a piece of sloping land that constantly points towards the Pacific Ocean, making the sea your constant companion. The terrain also lets golfers use their imagination (and the landforms). Yet within the course are pockets of flatter holes or secluded sections that offer neat points of difference. The three-hole run from the 15th to 17th occupies its own parcel across a road that is out of sight from the rest of the course. Earlier, the par-3 fifth hole – despite being one of the closest parts of the course to the ocean – sits upon flat land and is just out of sight of the Pacific, yet you can hear the waves calling. It’s why playing 18 holes at Tura Beach can feel like experiencing three courses in one.
Elevation changes are a constant, but with more descents than steep rises. A few well-cambered fairways ask golfers to favour one side over the other in a layout that constantly asks questions.
Nearby courses to play: Bega, Bermagui, Eden, Pambula Merimbula
