Westlawn Golf Course

For the love of the game, Bogey travels back to his roots annually and plays on the course where it all started for him. Daylight savings afforded Bogey the chance to play 9 holes against (the competition was fierce) his best mate straight after school. He now takes his 4 year old nephew onto the course in the hope his passion is ignited.

Course Architect - N/A

Length - 2,591m / Par 35

Signature Hole - The Par 5, 9th when the crowd is full in the adjacent Race Course stands.

Course Highlight - Playing 9 holes with a can in hand, watching from the inside as the thoroughbreds gallop around the elliptical Grafton Race Course.

There are 5 or 6 options in Grafton, on the North Coast of NSW, where a golfer can chose to play. The easiest and most convenient of them is the local 9 hole track, situated within the Grafton Race Track (home to the July Racing Carnival and a young Bogey Golfer). Upon arrival, you are greeted not  by a human, but by two letter boxes. One contains your scorecards and receipt of purchases, the other is the honesty box you place your spare change into. As a junior, Bogey played 9 holes for $1.50. It has since risen to $5…but that won’t break the bank. The course is flat and has minimum foliage (it has to be so the thoroughbred callers can see the races) and contains just the one par 5 (that mirrors the length of the home straight for the race track) along with a few dams at various levels of fullness. Don’t expect great things from this little course in the heart of this NSW regional city. Sentimentality aside, the course is flat and featureless with small shrubs defending doglegs with little success. Maintained by the Grafton District Services Club, they do a relatively good job at keeping the course at an enjoyable (but not outstanding) level. This is the perfect place for a casual (casual in every sense of the word) round of golf with friends and family of all ages. It is common to see the locals, barefoot, beer in hand, enjoying the last hours of daylight playing this great game. It is also common to see the youth, wheeling their father’s clubs around the course and learning the game with their mates. You will rarely be held up and rarely have someone on the same side of the course as you, so you can take the time, hit multiple balls at greens and really iron out that chink in your swing. So if you are passing through, perhaps making that road trip from Sydney, via Bonville and on to the Gold Coast and you need a break, somewhere to stretch those weary legs and perhaps work on that controlled fade that you are too nervous to unleash at your local links, then keep the Westlawn Golf Course in mind and take on Bogey’s challenge and play the course to par with nothing more than a 5 iron!

Bogey's Rating

Greens - 4/10 - Average greens that are flat, small and round but roll true and are in decent condition.

Fairways - 3/10 - Patchy and not designed - exactly what you expect from a social course.

Bunkers - 3/10 - A real lack of bunkers but the existing ones are kept in reasonable condition. This course would benefit from a greater number of well positioned bunkers.

Customer Service - 0/10 - You will rarely see a staff member. Honesty box system for payment enforces casualness at all cost.

Value - 6/10 - At $5 for as many holes as you can handle, this course has great value which is ideal for the after work, after dinner or summer holiday social round with some mates or the kids.

Overall Rating - 3.2/10 flags