Technically just outside the Gold Coast area but close enough to be considered as local. It is to be found in Witheren (nothing to do with Harry Potter) and butting onto the Kokoda Army Barracks, this club has been recently upgraded by the new ownership and works appear to be continuing to the clubhouse and surrounding buildings.

During the early part of the week there is an honesty box system in operation for green fees. $15 for nine holes is on a Par (pun intended) with other similar courses that I have reviewed around the Gold Coast.

Don’t underestimate this course. It is a challenge as I will demonstrate through this story. Many of the holes play quite differently from the 1st nine tee boxes as they do from the 2nd nine positions. This differs from the approach of other courses in this category where one is merely longer or short than the other.

I don’t know the acreage of the Canungra Area club, but it seems quite large. If you are walking you will find the walk from the 1st green to the second tee gives a clue as to the Area in the title. It’s the length of a fairly long Par 4 and longer on the way back from the 7th green to the 8th tee. So what we have is two parts separated by a river. Nice view though.

The first is a Par 5, dog-legged at about the 280 metre distance with big trees on the inside of the corner. Maybe De Chambeau can carry that but for us mere mortals it requires a good drive and a shaped shot around the corner.

The 2nd, after the aforementioned hike, is a long Par 4 dog-legged left from the 11th tee and a straighter, considerably shorter Par 4 from the 2nd tee.

A couple of short Par 4s follow. The 3rd fairway is like a funnel which narrows down to about 20 metres wide as you get nearer to the hole, and this doesn’t account for the overhanging tree branches. The 4th is a dog-leg left. You need to hit around 190 metres to get a view of the green but you can quickly run out of fairway through the bend. Maybe a lay-up will prove a better option than the driver.

The 5th hole (or 14th) is one of those holes that presents like two entirely different holes except for the final 40 metres to the green. From the new 5th tee on top of a hill you face just over 150 metres down to green 20 or 30 metres below. From the 14th tee the distance is much the same but from a level tee position and quite a different angle of approach.

The 6th and 15th again are totally different shaped holes. From the 6th, 363metres, you require a long straight drive, ideally to the left of the fairway. But you can’t go too far left as there is a river along the edge of the fairway. From the 15th tee it plays only 326 metres but with a tree slap bang in the middle of your view to the fairway. A decent drive will clear it otherwise you need to steer around the left hand side to open up the view to the green.

The 7th and 8th are Par threes separated by the 500 metre walk back from the far side of the course.

The 9th is a Par 5 which is a straight, flat fairway leading to a steep rise to the green from about 120 metres out. However from the 18th tee some distance away to your right, it becomes a testing dog-leg with several tall trees guarding the out-of-bounds down the right hand side.

Fairways vary from generous to very narrow tree lined avenues which seem to taper to almost nothing. Commentators on the PGA Tour talk often about how a course sets up to a particular player’s eye. Does a single big tree prevent the player hitting their preferred shot shape and what effect can this have on their overall scoring potential. Personally, I liked it, even the tight holes seemed to allow a shape that suited me, therefore I drove the ball pretty well, finding good positions for my approach shots. However I realised I could, on a different day, have found myself in all sorts of difficulties with those mature trees lining most of the holes. The course is kept well and I would give it the thumbs-up for value. And while in Canungra don’t forget to visit the Outpost cafe: best pies in the district!

Don’t be thinking that Canungra is an easy country course. If you can hit the small greens then you are a better golfer than I am. I did a lot of chipping from 15 metres in. Overall I was happy to break 80 at first sight. I’m not 100% certain I would do better the next time around.

Canungra Area Golf Club

Call 0420 923 981