The National Golf Club - Moonah Course

Course Data
Location Victoria, Australia
Yardage 7192 yards　Par 72
Course Rating 76.0
Playing Date 3 May 2006
Designer Greg Norman & Bob Harrison
Opened 2000
Caddy No
Golf Cart No
Rating
Overall Rating
5.15
Course Layout
5
Difficulty Level
6
Greens Condition
5
Fairways Condition
5
Landscaping & Views
5
 

The National Golf Club is 54-hole golf club, made up of the Old Course and the Ocean Course and the Moonah Course. It is set amongst rolling paddocks, with dramatic sand-dunes forming a strong series of ridges and hollows across the terrain. These the formation dictated the way this Moonah Course’s layout taking full advantage of the rolling terrain. The fairways shape a series of exhilarating drives through or across deep ridges.
The designer adopted many of the traditional elements of links golf but at the same time made innovations. The rough around the bunker edges has been curved in a way that breaks up the clean line of the lip, giving them a rugged, somewhat fearsome edge. The greens are large and deep and in many cases presented at such distinct angles to the fairway that the center of the fairway is not the ideal entry point. The fairways are fairly generous in width but you need to be pointing in the right direction in the first place. Plenty of good score opportunities exist in the first 13 holes while the finishing 5 holes can easily ruin an otherwise good score as they are very difficult. To play from the blue tees, which are the front tees, you still have the course rating of 73. Even a single-handicap golfers can easily hit around 100 from the back tees. When strong winds peculiar to seaside courses prevail on the course, the difficulty level increases still further.


A view from the clubhouse

A view
A view

 
3rd　Par 4　431 yards

3rd　Par 4　431 yards (2)

3rd　Par 4　431 yards (1)
A gently uphill, slight dogleg to the left. The tee shot is ideally played left of the center to get a favorable bounce from a high mound and to shorten the hole distance. The green is elevated and has complex undulations. The hole is not bunkered, which is rare on this course.
 
4th　Par 4　439 yards
A double dogleg hole with a dogleg to the right and then to the left. A view from the tee is superb on this hole, too. Two deep bunkers protecting the front side of the green come into play on the second shot.
 

4th　Par 4　439 yards (3)

6th　Par 4　398 yards (2)

6th　Par 4　398 yards (1)

 
6th　Par 4　398 yards
A relatively short but challenging par 4, almost straight. The second shot is over a hollow to the big green shared with 14th hole.
 

6th　Par 4　398 yards (3)

6th　Par 4　398 yards (2)

6th　Par 4　398 yards (1)
 
8th　Par 3　153 yards

8th　Par 3　153 yards (2)

8th　Par 3　153 yards (1)
A short par 3 with an elevated green. Any shots short of the green might find the intimidating 2 deep bunkers which block a recovery for par. The green is wide and slopes from left to right.
　
11th　Par 4　393 yards

11th green
A dogleg to the right, a great hole. The tee shot plays to a plateau of a rolling fairway. The approach shot is over a hollow toward a punchbowl green protected by bunkers. The green slopes sharply from left to right.

11th　Par 4　393 yards (3)

11th　Par 4　393 yards (2)

11th　Par 4　393 yards (1)
　
14th　Par 4　462 yards

14th　Par 4　462 yards (1)
A straight & long par 4. The long drive to a wide and down sloping fairway affords an improved angle for those who can place the tee shot left of center. The second shot offers great advantage for those capable of elevating the approach from the downhill lie. The green slopes from right to left and is shared with the 6th green.

14th green shared with the 6th

14th hole seen from the green

14th　Par 4　462 yards (2)
　
15th　Par 5　573 yards

A double dogleg first to the right and then to the left, a long par 5. An elevated tee offers clear views of the green but the large dune makes the green blind from where the second shot is played. The green is well-guarded left and right with deep pot bunkers.


15th　Par 5　573 yards (3)

15th　Par 5　573 yards (2)

15th　Par 5　573 yards (1)
 
16th　Par 4　489 yards

16th　Par 4　489 yards (2)

16th　Par 4　489 yards (1)
A very long & very difficult par 4 playing slightly downhill and slightly uphill. A shot short to the green will dribble into on of the four deep bunkers left of the green. A par on this hole is worth a birdie on the other holes.

17th　Par 3　223 yards

17th　Par 3　223 yards (2)

17th　Par 3　223 yards (1)
A slightly downhill, long par 3. The green is narrow & deep. The rear bunkers and a Moonah tree on the left are visually striking.
 
19th hole

Restaurant

It takes 1 hour and 40 minutesminutes from Melbourne City and 2 hours from the airport by car. You need to be accompanied by a member but opportunities exist for interstate and overseas golfers if they bring letters of recommendation from their own golf clubs. The distance sticks are in meters.. The distance markers are in meters. Anyone can play from back tees. Out of 3 courses, you are not allowed to use golf carts only on Moonah Course, so you need to carry your golf clubs by yourself or ask the club to arrange a caddy.

The course is ranked 8th in Australia by Golf Digest 2006. The other Greg Norman & Bob Harrison designed courses in Australia are Ellerston GC (ranked 8th), Brookwater GC (ranked 19th), The Glades GC (ranked 40th), Club Pelican (ranked 42nd), The Vintage GC (ranked 44th), The Grand (ranked 51st) and Sanctuary Lakes GC (ranked 87th), Settlers Run G&CC (ranked 65th in 2014), etc.