I had the chance to play nine holes on North Turramurra Golf Course the other day. I should declare that I’m not a regular golfer, I’m not a member of a golf club and I don’t have a golf handicap, but I do like a hit every now and then, especially when it’s sunny.
Living locally, I have played on Turramurra many times and I’ve seen its fairways come and go and I’ve seen the greens on bad days and on good. Today, they were good remarkably good. They were smooth and green and had just been mown and seeded. They looked perfect. Shame my golfing capabilities couldn’t do them justice! There was a senior’s competition on at the same time, but we managed to fit in between a couple of groups without any bother.
If you have been near North Turramurra Golf Course recently, you might not have heard that it is undergoing a major refurbishment. At the moment, it is pretty much a nine hole golf course and a building site. At the end of the substantial works that are well progressed, it will be 1,000metres longer than before with better and more interesting holes. There will also be a new clubhouse and three floodlit sports fields to accommodate rugby, soccer, cricket, baseball and netball, plus children’s playground, BBQ facilities and new walking tracks. So it will transform from purely golf in to a multi-purpose spots destination.
Works should be complete by early 2015.
Anyway, back to golf. During the week, green fees are $13.00 for nine holes if you start two hours before sunset, which is great value. Otherwise, nine holes will cost $17.00 during the week, $20.00 on weekends and $30.00 to play 18 holes.
If you are a student, green fees are only $5.00 for nine or eighteen holes which is exceptional value and means there is a constant stream of youths playing a decent game of golf most weekends.
I can hit a ball pretty hard, just not very straight. Thankfully, the fairways are wide and the grass at the edge (the second cut) is short but rough with sticks and leaves due to the large gum trees that line the fairways. Par 5 holes are long for me and I always need an extra shot or two to reach the greens. But the greens are excellent at the moment and make the whole experience so much nicer. Even if I need quite a few shots to sink my putt!
The current configuration of the course has players starting off from the old 16th hole followed by four of the longest holes on the course. I managed to land on a couple of the fairways, but spent the majority of my game playing out from under the trees! Then it all changes and there are a series of shorter holes as you play around the small lake on the course. The seventh hole, which was the old fourth hole, is my favourite as it is a short par 3 in a wide valley with a large, forgiving green. I was lucky enough to hit the green from the tea, whereas my playing partner came up a little short, landing in front of the single bunker on the hole. A simple chip from him and he was on the magnificent green, playing for par.
I’d like to conclude by giving you my score, but in reality my golfing capability is so dodgy that I didn’t even bother recording it. But then again, that’s the beauty of a course like North Turramurra; so long as you keep up with the group playing in front of you, you can play it seriously or you can play as a novice, either way you’ll have a good round.
