Meadow Park Golf Course, Tallebudgera
Today I played another of the southern Gold Coast courses, a near neighbour of the Tally Valley Golf Course that I have covered earlier this year. (latest update October 2022)
The large practice green fronts the clubhouse that features indoor and outdoor covered dining
Meadow Park is a flat 9 hole layout built over 25 years ago on part of the old Coplick’s Dairy farm, the main part of which is now the Tallebudgera course while this one was the overflow paddocks for the weiners. I know this because Russell, one of the family members who owned the course since the beginning, kindly gave me the history and showed me aerial photos before and after the course was built and compared them to how it is today. The Golf Course was sold more recently to a local company that has been investing heavily in drainage improvement during the La Nina event of 2021/22. This work has now been completed, just in time perhaps for another dose of La Nina expected during the summer of 2022/23. Thanks to the hard work of the grounds staff, the course remained open when most of the neighbouring venues were closed owing to the floods on 2022.
Recently a Black tee has been added to the mix of tee positions. Generally the Black tee is close to the Blue, somethimes the same distance while others are 10 to 20 metres shorter. New score cards show the Blue at Par 31, the White and Red at Par 29 and the Black at a challenging Par 27.
A view of the sloping 2nd green
The 2nd hole is a short Par 3, barely over 100 metres from the back tees. But watch out, as can be seen above from behind the green, there is a fierce slope from right to left as you play the hole, with the added interest of the water penalty area to catch the overhit shot. Three and more putts is common place on this green. Many regulars will tell how they have putted from on the green only to find their ball running 5 metres or more off the green on the other side.
The 3rd hole is a short testing par 4 where a tight drive from the Blue and Black Tee (O.B. all down the left side) needs to stay straight to finish in the narrow fairway. The White and Red tees are about 50 metres closer to the green.
A number of holes demand very straight tee shots if you are to make the fairway on the shortish Par 4’s or the longer par 3’s. I’ve been striking the ball well for the past month, so it seemed relatively straight forward to me though I can imagine if my game was off then it would be easy to rack up a heap of dropped shots.
A water hazard traverses a couple of the holes. Here on the 5th hole, many good shots end in the water, with a headwind not always obvious on the tree-sheltered tee.
Many of the higher handicappers lay up short of the water and are happy to walk away with a 4 for this hole.
The 6th is another tight driving hole to a short par 4 off the Blue while it plays as a medium length Par 3 off the White and Red
The greens are largely unguarded though are the pancake type, raised presumably at the design stage to assist with drainage during the wetter periods.
This presents you with two approach options if you have missed the green…either the bump and run which seems to be the option of choice of the local members, or the aerial route over the front lip onto the flat part of the green. The fairway lies are excellent (as good as you might expect to get at the more illustrious championship courses in the region). I was comfortable from these lies in choosing the lofted approach.
The greens are excellent though are firm as you might expect following our well below-average rainfall for this time of year. I was taken by surprise on the second where I four-putted, my first finishing 10 metres off the green! After under clubbing on the first and making bogey, I wasn’t having the start I had hoped for. In my defence I did come home from there in 1 under par so I don’t feel quite so bad about the second hole. I was a bit sheepish with my first putts on the next couple of greens though.
With the course waterlogged in 2022, I was hugely impressed by the quality of the greens. Many courses have been closed during this Autumn but not here. The course is totally navigable by concrete cart paths on all holes. This has been a big investment by the owners over the past couple of years, but has been paying back during this very wet time. Hats off to the ground staff who are constantly working on improvements to the drainage. They have managed to keep the course playable while their near neighbours have been closed for a couple of weeks.
The 8th hole continues a now familiar pattern of narrow exits from the tee
The 8th hole is a challenge from the back tees (a par 4 off the Blue) with a narrow passage between tall trees on either side, across a water penalty area at around 100 metres from the tee. From the white tee it playground 150 metres, safely beyond those tall trees but still a tricky par 3. The 9th hole (below) is a medium par 3 of just over 140 metres off the Blue and Black while a new tee has been made for the White and Red tees, now at just under 110 metres. The green is currently being widened to the left side. This is a deceptive hole where the majority of players end up short. I think there is a breeze blowing that is not felt on the tee causing under-clubbing in many instances.
The 9th hole is unchanged from the Blue and Black but now has a new shorter White and Red tee seen here in front of the intersecting cart path
On this course there is a always a clump of trees to catch the wayward shot but it still presents a good chance for a higher handicapper to finish their 9 holes with a nett par. It doesn’t seem to be the sort of course where you would normally lose many balls. There where no areas of long grass that I noticed which helps with the pace of play as well. At times the Out of Bounds fence is close to a green or a fairway though.
I would recommend this course to any player. It’s an enjoyable walk in a peaceful setting. Green fees are $20 for 9 holes and $24 for 18. Discounts apply for Seniors and junior players. Carts and clubs are available for hire. Competitions are organised every day. Put three cards in to get your “local” handicap. From there it is operated with the same computerised software used by bigger clubs, calculating your new handicap after each round. There are prizes for 1st to 3rd (depending on the numbers playing) with NTP’s (often closest approach with your second shot) and sometimes Least Putts. Most days the comps start around 9am but some, like weekends, start earlier around 7.30 or 8.00am. I’ve been playing in the comps now for a few months. I had some good results early when the course was playing longer and now find myself hovering around Scratch handicap. Now that the ground is firming up I am finding it more difficult to compete but it’s fun to try.