Be Brave on Tour

Yes, its CRAPP time again. Andrew and I took the opportunity to play in the Thursday Competition at Broken Hill. Unfortunately there were not too many members playing so we did our own thing. There is something about a green golf course on a desert that makes it inviting and that’s what Broken Hill does when you drive into the Carpark. Now for the ratings:

Design – The course was very flat and a number of bunkers had been sown over with grass, I guess to save on maintenance costs. The slope rating was very high at 132, which is up with the sand belt courses in Melbourne. With 4 par 5’s, two over 500 metres and two long par 3’s coupled with longish par 4’s, it was a challenge, particularly into the prevailing wind. The course structure was a bit confusing for 1st timers and a bit repetitive on the par 4’s. It was a good design but just needed something to get a higher rating. Rating was 12 out of 20

Condition – Generally the course was in good condition, plenty of grass on the fairways but what held it back were the very rough and slow greens. Whilst slow greens are not a killer if they run true, unfortunately there were very rough and the ball bobbled about, which made putting very difficult. Maybe that’s why the slope rating is so high. Rating was 12 out of 20.

Cost – No problems here the cost was very good, actually excellent. $24 for 18 holes, comp fee & Birdie comp was great. Rating was 18 out of 20.

Visual Appeal – Beautiful view of the 1st and 18 holes from the Carpark, you certainly would want to play this course if you just came for a look. Lost a little bit of appeal once out on the course, mainly because it was so flat but overall it was very good. Rating was 15 out of 20

Facilities – More than acceptable for a (very) country course. The driving range was very rough but still, there was a driving range. The practice green gave you a very close idea what the course greens would be like, so that also gets a plus and the clubhouse was quite substantial with a big upstairs veranda overlooking the course. I’m sure on the Outback Open days it gets plenty of use. Rating was 8 out of 10.

Ambience – Even though there were no members around when we finished you could tell it was a good club to be a member of. Sam in the pro shop tendered the bar and we had a great chat with him, he certainly made us welcome. I would be more than happy to be a member of this club. Rating was 9 out of 10.

So at the end of the day, Broken Hill Golf Club gets a CRAPP score of 74, which was a little lower than what we thought it would get when we first arrived. A fix on the greens and maybe a few tweaks on the course structure would have seen a much higher score. We really enjoyed BHGC and that’s all the matters in the end.

From Bunnerungee Bridge we travelled up to Broken Hill, the start of the Outback in Australia. We’re staying at the racecourse about 5 K’s out of the centre of Broken Hill for 3 days. We have 3 days in Broken Hill and the surrounding areas. Broken Hill is reputed to be the start of the Aussie outback and I can’t dispute that.

We visited pro Hart’s gallery and I for one enjoyed it immensely. He had a very distinctive style and highlighted the issues the miners had to face in many of his paintings, which I supposed is easy to understand as he was a miner for 10 years himself.

I expected Broken Hill to be very similar to Mt Isa but its very different, maybe because its been around for longer than Mt Isa. It’s unique in its own way but then again the “Big Australian” BHP started here from such humble beginnings over 140 years ago.

From Lake Benanee we travelled to Bunnerungee Bridge for a free camp and our first campfire for the trip. Whilst the sun was out it was still cold and once the sun started to go down it was time to warm up.

We stayed outside until it was well dark and viewed the amazing night sky, whilst the Milky Way wasn’t as brilliant, it was still very bright and we spotted the satellites as they flew over. It soon became to cold even with the fire roaring, so it was off into the vans for the night.

We travelled from Griffith today along the Sturt Hwy to Wentworth on our way to a free camp at Lake Benanee which means “Plenty food & water” in the local aboriginal language. The “Hay plains” are very flat and with a slight tailwind our fuel economy was excellent, the best I’ve ever had towing the van with the Cruiser.

Hay is about half way between Griffith and Wentworth and sits on the Murrumbidgee River which was very high at the moment from all the rains up north over the last few months. The farmers in the MIA (Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area) have nothing to worry about for awhile.

From Hay it was onto Wentworth were the Darling (Australia’s longest River) and the Murray River join. It was a quick stop for morning tea, fuel and a walk around town, before we headed off to our overnight stay at Lake Benanee.

Today is our last full day in Griffith as we’ve off tomorrow heading to Euston on our way to Broken Hill later in the week. Thankfully Griffith is missing all the rain that the eastern part of NSW is getting. So a few tourist visits today and if your in Griffith you have to go to the wineries. So after brunch in town, off we headed.

First port of call after having brunch in town was McWilliams Winery and the famous Hanwood Barrel. It’s 37 years since my first and only visit (to now) and my only memory of that visit was the Hanwood Barrel so I was keen to see it again. Unfortunately the winery, now owned by the Calabria Family Wines was closed so we could only look, not touch. It will be interesting to see what Calabria do with the facility as its a very big production plant and Calabria have their own production facility on the other side of town. So what did we do next, of course it was straight to Calabria Family Wines.

Having enjoyed the fruits of their labour (sorry Brown Bros.) I was keen to see the Calabria winery and I was very surprised at the size and the large offerings that Calabria have. Of course we had to have the odd taste or two, which resulted in a number of purchases, no need to worry amount lack of water when free camping, we have shit loads of wine now!

The lovely Calabria sales lady gave us a quick tour and the highlight was the old underground storage tanks which now serves as a fine function area and also cool storage for many wine varieties. Would be great to have a formal dinner here, although a bit cool. It was lovely to go to a winery and taste their wines without being charged a fee or feeling obligated to buy something. It’s obvious the Calabria family are confident their wine speaks for itself and happy to absorb the tasting costs. Unlike De Bortoli, who we visited next. They wanted $5 up front before we could taste. I know its not much but I have problems been charged to taste and then the wine on sale at the cellar door is more expensive than you can buy at a bottle shop. Sorry De Bortoli, you’ve lost me!

So tomorrow we really start the trip with a few days of feee camping before we get to Broken Hill. Griffith was a staging point to get our vans ready for the 15,000 k’s ahead. Thank you to Emily for hosting us the last 5 days, very much appreciated.

It’s Saturday and therefore its time for golf! Welcome to CRAPP 2 from the Griffith Golf Club. Andrew, Sue and their daughter Emily joined me for the July monthly medal. It rained most of the night but the rain cleared about an hour before our tee time. The course was damp but not wet, in fact it was in very good nick. Now for the ratings.

Design – The course is very flat, based on the nature of the area, also its right next to the airport and you don’t get hilly airports. The design was OK but it just lacked a bit of panache to overcome the “blandness” for want of a better word. Rating was 15 out of 20

Condition – It was tremendous, The fairways, green surrounds and greens were all in great condition. The fairways were superb, equal to the best fairways I’ve played on in the last few years, very much on par the the fairways on the Melbourne sand belt courses. It was one of the big surprises of this course. The other surprise was the pace of the greens, the quickest greens I have ever played on outside of Royal Melbourne West about 7 years ago. Very happy to play as a member on this course. Rating was 18 out of 20.

Cost – Very reasonable with a price of $35 for 18 holes which is comparable to other regional courses around OZ but with far better conditions. Rating 17 out of 20.

Visual Appeal – Unfortunately being very flat affects the visual aspect of the course and creates a bit of “blandness” which affects the rating. It was pleasant to look at and the lush green conditions certainly lifted the appeal. Rating – 15 out of 20.

Facilities – Whilst the golf facilities were very commendable, the clubhouse and pro shop were very dated and needed modernisation big time.It had a driving range, practice nets and a reasonable practice putting green but ordinary post game facilities, basically no food and just minimal selections at the bar. Rating – 5 out of 10.

Ambience – Once again the poor facilities had an effect re ambience. Whilst it was a good view from the clubhouse balcony there was not an overwhelming up feeling, maybe it being winter time but it was monthly medal and good weather so I would have expected a bit more “buzz” around the place. Rating 5 out of 10.

So the CRAPP rating for Griffith Golf Club was 75. Some modernisation of the facilities and some tweaking of the course structure, in my opinion would see this course become one of the gems in regional Australia.

We arrived in Griffith 2 days ago and have been busy getting the vans ready for the big trip. Unfortunately we’ve had some battery problems with the van and have been visiting auto electricians and caravan repair centres but we’re confident now that the van is ready for the next 15,000 k’s. We have a few days staying with Emily, Sue and Andrew’s daughter, whilst we sort out all our issues, we’ve both had battery problems with our vans but as I said hopefully all fixed now. Golf and wineries are on the agenda for the weekend, you bloody beauty!

So today we left Wodonga, heading to Griffith in the Riverina. Just to ensure we had everything serviceable for the 3+ months ahead, we stopped for a free camp in Lockhart at the Racecourse/Showgrounds. This was to ensure all our batteries and ancillary systems are working when we really hit the outback!

As we were staying at the racecourse, we did a lap around the track, about 2.5 K’s. It was the Lockhart Invitational for visitors, Andrew and I as the young colts with Susan and Sue as the old Nags. Susan threw a fetlock and retired after 2 furlongs, whilst Sue, Andrew and I lasted the distance, although Sue nearly retired because of all the bindis on her shows! Luckily I was there to remove them after the race, even the Queen does not get looked after as well!

We’ll it was good we stopped for a free camp, as we discovered our van batteries were basically “cactus”. No power overnight which meant no heating, so we froze until morning when I could get the generator going and get some power into the van. So new batteries are on the shopping list for the van when we get to Griffith, this is after getting a new 3rd battery for the Cruiser in Wodonga. A couple of days into the trip and we’ve had to replace 3 batteries, hopefully we are set now!

Due to overwhelming public demand, Ray’s CRAPP is back. For those new or have forgotten about how special my CRAPP is, CRAPP is the acronym for my golf course ratings and stands for Course Review and Personal Preference. As Andrew and I are travelling together we have combined our ratings, so it’s a joint rating.

My CRAPP rating is based on the following; Design – 20 pts, Condition – 20 pts, Cost – 20 pts, Visual Appeal – 20 pts, Facilities – 10 pts & Ambience – 10 pts. This totals 100 pts, a rating 90 and above is very good, 80 and above is good, 70 and above is satisfactory, 60 and above is average and 50 and above is poor, anything below 50 is give it a miss unless there is no alternative. So the first CRAPP for BBOT2 is Wodonga Golf Course.

Course Design: The course utilises the available land well and whilst reasonably flat it does have some challenging holes. At par of 72 and a slope rating of 124, its not an easy course but I’m sure the members know all the angles. The rating is 16 out of 20.

Condition: Unfortunately this is hard on the course but it’s winter time, on a clay based course, so it’s always going to be on the low side, particularly after a number of weeks of heavy rain. The fairways were heavy under foot but surprisingly most of the greens were reasonably quick, which made it difficult to read at times. Bunkers were out of play and preferred lies throughout the course were in play. The rating is 10 out of 20.

Cost: Pretty expensive to play compared to other similar courses, with $50 for 18 holes on a weekend. The comp fee was $15, which is the most expensive I have paid during my BBOT travels, over the last 3 years. The rating is 11 out of 20.

Visual Appeal: Not the most inviting looking course as you drive into the facility. The Clubhouse (privately run Bistro & Bar overwhelms the view on entry. The putting green, 9th green and 10th tee are visible from the pro shop but not a very attractive view. The rating is 11 out of 20.

Facilities: The golf facilities are fairly average but the Clubhouse was a good 19th hole, although expensive drinks took some gloss of it. Rating is a generous 7 out of 10.

Ambience: Some courses you play just have a comfortable feeling about them but I did not get that today at Wodonga. Maybe it was the weather and the small field, it turned out a nice day but I still didn’t get a “warm and fuzzy” feeling! Rating 6 out of 10.

So the final score is a rather disappointing 61 and a average rating. I know I will get to play Wodonga again many times so I look forward to playing in more advantageous conditions.

We’ll today is the 1st day of BBOT2 (Be Brave On Tour 2). We left Emerald this morning and travelled to Sue & Andrew Christie’s place in Wodonga, we’re we are staying for a few days before heading to Griffith. We’ve holidayed or traveled with Sue & Andrew for nearly 20 years and we’re both looking forward to this trip, we always have so much fun. Andrew and I give the girls a good thrashing in 500, so maybe they’ll find a game they can win!

For the next 3 1/2 months we will travel nearly 16,000 km’s thru NSW, SA, NT, WA and then back thru SA and home. We’ve left a cold and wet Emerald, hoping to hit some warmer weather once we get to central Australia. Stay safe and well everyone and I hope you enjoy our travels!