Not very often do you walk off a golf course with 21 points and say “ wow, I really enjoyed that”
Located 2 hours north of Sydney in the Port Stephens region, Pacific Dunes has recently been ranked #54 in the 2016 Australian Golf Digest Rankings.
We were lucky enough to be invited to the opening of the new clubhouse at Pacific Dunes recently, and I thought why not kill 2 birds with the one golf ball and have a hit as well. Before we get to the golf let’s talk briefly about the new club house…. ITS ABOUT TIME!
For too long members and their guests have had “ok” clubhouse facilities but 10 years later the golf course has great clubhouse and facilities to match what I think is the one of the best courses in the Hunter region .
The Green House at Pacific Dunes is a great facility and as its name suggests is environmentally friendly including a herb garden on site to serve the restaurant. The Green House gives you the option to sit down and have a great dinner with their extensive “restaurant style menu” or you can grab a pub like meal from the bar (I would recommend the Pork Sliders!!). The new clubhouse now gives you the chance to grab an ice cold beer after your round and enjoy the indoor and outdoor dining areas.
The Golf Course
I’m in love with this golf course. Not very often do you walk off a golf course with 21 points and say “ wow, I really enjoyed that”. I played terribly, hit 2 fairways, 3 green in regs and lost about 1000 golf balls and still had a great time!
Designed by James Wilcher the front 9 and the back 9 are very different with the front weaving through the large Mahogany Trees with very very tight fairways and the back 9 surrounded by the natural lakes and wetlands. The bent greens are pretty damn good and rolled very true however the greens are super soft and I found myself leaving large moonlike craters in the greens when on the rare occasion I did actually hit one!
We played off the blue tees and the course measures just under 6000m from the men’s and about 6401m from the championship tees. I love golf courses when position off the tee is key and driver is not necessarily the play on most holes, and that is definitely the case at Pacific Dunes. If I were to give you 1 tip it would be sacrifice distance on the front 9 and keep the ball on the bloody fairway! The opening 3 holes aren’t long with a long iron or worst case a hybrid needed to get you into a good position. Keep the big dog in the bag! I would say you don’t need driver until maybe the 7th but I was hitting driver so poorly I hit 3 wood on the 386m par 4 and made 1 of my only 3 pars of the day.
The last 3 holes are really good and will test your nerve on the homeward stretch. If you are a couple up on your handicap with 3 to play, a couple wipes can be easily had if you miss the fairway to the wrong side.
The great thing about this course is that it is designed well which will appeal to the golfing purist, but the condition and beautiful surrounds will also appeal to the “once a month” golfer. This place just caters for everyone!
Summary: Great fairways, true greens, LOVE THE LAYOUT
Our score? 8 / 10.
- Pacific Dunes is a must play. To book your next holiday to the Port Stephens are get in contact with us today