It’s CRAPP time again, as I played the Mallacoota Golf Course today. I have to say I did so knowing I would have to do my review and as I’ve said all thru my CRAPP reports I can only rate the course on what was offered to me on the day. It was very hard to rate the course objectionably, as most of you would know Mallacoota was wiped out by bushfires in January this year.

I played the course about 15 years ago and it was a average country course then but even I can see the fire has ravaged the course tremendously. The golf club has 20 female members and 30 male members and its a totally volunteer club, so the fire has really hit them hard. Golf clubs around Australia have donated money to the club and they are working hard to bring it back. Fortunately the greens were not scorched but the trees encompassing course were completely burnt and I’m sure the costs to clean up this has swallowed up much of the donated money.

Surprisingly the fire has now created areas were you can see the ocean whereas previously the trees inhibited the view but its turned what was a parkland course into a links course and it does remind me very much of Port Fairy. Unfortunately the population and $’s are not there to turn what’s a solid foundation into a good links style course. Most of its revenue comes from the tourists and its good to know that the town is booked out for the Christmas holidays, so hopefully all the visitors will play golf.

So here are my ratings for Mallcoota:

Design – 17 out of 20 (I really liked the design, they have used the land to make some unique holes and the walk between holes is quite acceptable, not long like other courses I’ve played. It will be interesting in the coming years as to the changes, with a lot of dead trees having to be cleared. I really think the foundation is there for a really good links course on the water, unfortunately the money is not there for it to be brought to fruition)

Condition – 10 out of 20 (Whilst the greens were in reasonable nick, although the slowest I’ve encountered on my trip (ironic after Narooma last week being the quickest) The rest of the course was pretty average but then you have volunteers doing all the work)

Cost – 18 out of 20 (whilst the course condition was not good, I thought $25 for 18 holes was very good value, in fact I think they charged too low, more like $35 to $40 would have been fairer)

Visual Appeal – 8 out of 20 (Unfortunately a burnt out golf course does not give you good vibes when you come to the course and it continues whilst your playing it. The photos below do show foliage on the trees but its a bit fake. All those trees are basically dead and the new growth is taking all the water leaving the tree itself nothing , which will result in the roots dying and the tree falling. As I said earlier there is a lot of work to be done and unfortunately there is not the money to do it.)

Facilities – 5 out 10 (There was not much in the way of facilities at the course prior to the fires so this rating is pretty fair I would say)

Ambience – 8 out of 10 (Despite the the negatives, I really enjoyed the course and the 3 ladies I played with today made it even more enjoyable. The club has battled for years and will do so for many years to come but it has a community feel about in and it gives you a good feeling.

So after all that the score comes in at 66, not a bad score and maybe a few points higher than it should be but the members are working hard to lift it up. There is something to say about country courses operated by volunteers, the atmosphere is different, you can feel the care and passion the locals have for their golf club and I think it would be good to be part of that “clan”.

With one week to go before we are home, I have one more course to play, being Bairnsdale this Saturday. I’m sure you’re all looking forward to my final CRAPP report, for various reasons!