Kangaroo’s and impossibly difficult greens, is how I would describe my trip to Yarrambat Golf Club. This course was recommended to me in the comments on my previous videos and also by a few playing partners. As you know I am playing every golf course in Melbourne Australia, so if you have a course recommendation, comment it below and I will go play the most liked one.
Having just moved from Ireland, Kangaroos are real novelty to me, however I am no stranger to bad putting days. And I walked away from this course feeling like I played well, but at the end of the day my score tells a different story. So if you fancy your short game, I challenge you to play here and post a lower score than me.
Yarrambat is an hour from the city and it is a beautiful setting. I was paired with two local Aussies today and we started with a Par 4 326m. I’m still not over the social awkwardness of filming my rounds with other people, so a good drive is essential to start the day well. I’m just off the fairway and have an easy pitch to the green. It rolls into the sand and hit a decent chip out. I’m thinking a standard two putt from here should do the job, but the greens as fast, and slow at the same time. What should have been a bogey, end up in a double.
Hole 2 is a Par 5 448m. This course has a massive boom sound to scare birds and it put me off during my back swing. I push my drive into trees, I hit a provisional which I didn’t record. I don’t find my first drive so this is shot three. It’s short of the green and I pitch it close and leave myself with a chance to save par. Again, my putt slows at the hole, and I take and bogey.
Hole 3 is a Par 4 342m. I hit a decent drive to the right of the fairway which leaves me with 140m to the green. I hit a 7-iron and it comes up short of the green. My chip runs over the back of the green and I have to chip it back where it came from. I hit what is probably my only good putt of the day, and I sinks for a bogey.
Hole 4 is a Par 4 320m. My drive finds the fairway and I have a pitching wedge 100m to the green. I hit the green and have a 10m putt to the green. I manage to two putt here and get my first par of the day.
Hole 5 is a Par 3 171m. My 6-iron hits the green and I have a 15m putt for birdie. I was getting increasingly flustered with the greens, because I literally tapped this and it ran 10m beyond where I was aiming. So, I ended up tapping it back, and this time it came up short. And I ended up taking a bogey.
Hole 6 is a Par 4 315m. I hit a perfect drive which rolled into the centre of the fairway. I hit a sand wedge from 85m. It made the green and left me with a 20m putt for birdie. I was the ultimate thee-putt-merchant and that’s what it took here, to get a bogey from a promising position.
Hole 7 is a Par 5 445m. I hit a low drive and it worked out well. There was water to the left so I decided to tap a 5-iron up the right side of the fairway. It clipped a tree branch and lost some distance. So I was still about 130ish from the green on shot 3. I didn’t catch it well and nearly ended up in the water after all my thinking about it. I hit a perfect pitch shot, but it plugged in a wet part of the fringe and didn’t roll onto the green. My pitch rolled 5 meters past the hole and I ended up two-putting for a double-bogey 7 at 7.
Hole 8 is a par 3 118m. I hit a 9-iron at the flag and have a good chance at a birdie. I’m so nervous about these greens, so I politely tap it but it doesn’t come close and I take a par.
Hole 9 is a Par 4 377m. I hit a really good drive to the middle of the fairway. I have a pitching wedge 100m to the green and it comes up just short. I chip it towards the hole. It goes close but not close enough and I have a 5m putt to save par. Agonizingly, it veers right and take a bogey to close out the front 9.
That was a tough front nine for me. I thought I drove well and my approaches were good. But I couldn’t read the greens so my putting and chipping left a lot to be desired. Par was 36 and I shot 45 which is nine over par. Two double bogeys, 5 bogeys, and 2 pars.