Murray River golf courses, while attractive to tour and fun to play, do tend to follow a certain design script. When Black Bull Golf Course opened 10 years ago, it broke the rules and moved away from narrow, treelined runways and instead used its lakeside location to cultivate a larger, links-style course where the breezes off Lake Mulwala are an ever-present factor.
Designers Peter Thomson and Ross Perrett replicated many of the best attributes of their considerable portfolio of links-like layouts throughout what turned out to be Thomson’s final design.
The layout meanders between a series of small lakes before reaching a crescendo at the treacherous par-5 18th where the green hugs Lake Mulwala. “We’ve got 14 holes which actually have water,” says director of golf James McCully. “Out of those 14 there’s probably only two you’ve actually got to hit over [the water].”
Earlier, golfers walk or drive through a ranch-style entrance at the fourth hole to mark the start of a demanding three-hole stretch in the south-eastern corner of the course dubbed the ‘Bull Ring’. The par-3 fourth stretches to 179 metres and calls for one of those two forced carries over water, while the par-4 sixth plays almost 400 metres from the back tees and into a prevailing westerly wind, making it the most difficult hole overall.
“Off the black markers, that’s where Black Bull really bares its teeth,” McCully says. “It’s 6,300 metres long from the tips, and that really does change the course.”
THE DETAILS
Black Bull Golf Course
Ranking for 2024-2025: 75th
Prior rankings: 73rd (2022), 68th (2020), 76th (2018)
Where: Silverwoods Boulevard, Yarrawonga VIC 3730
Phone: (03) 5744 0044
Web: blackbullgolfcourse.com.au
