Elanora - New South Wales - Australia
Elanora Heights,
NSW 2101,
Australia
+ 61 2 9913 7330
17 miles NE of Sydney central business district
Contact in advance
Cathy Neagle
Dan Soutar, James Herd Scott, James Wilcher
Brett Parker
The name Elanora comes from the Aboriginal word meaning “home by the water” and the Country Club certainly satisfies this geographical description as it is located on a hill overlooking Narrabeen Lagoon and the Tasman Sea.
Situated close to the Ku-ring-gai Chase and Garigal National Parks, Elanora is laid out within the residential suburb of Elanora Heights on land originally purchased by members of Royal Sydney Golf Club back in the early 1920s.
Dan Soutar carved nine fairways through classic bushland terrain from where there are majestic views of nearby Northern Beaches. For golfers who are keen to spot specimens of native wildlife, there are plenty of bandicoots, lizards, possums and wallabies to be seen.
An article on Dan Soutar by John Scarth and Neil Crafter in Golf Architecture
mentions he designed the first nine holes: “Soutar’s fee for designing and
supervising the construction of these nine holes at Elanora was £250, a
significant increase over his £25 Kingston Heath fee of some 5 years earlier. The
Elanora history records that Soutar ‘test-drove’ some of his holes before they
were built – a member came upon Dan driving balls from on top of a large rock
outcrop at the 9th hole, hitting off a mat down into the scrub-filled valley
below. Soutar had some local lads attaching red flags to saplings where his
balls landed and this rock eventually became the medal tee of today’s 9th hole.”
James Herd Scott, who travelled to Australia with Soutar when they emigrated from Scotland, added another nine to the original layout and he became the club’s first professional, a position he held for three decades.
At the start of the new millennium, James Wilcher redesigned the entire course with substantial realignment of some holes and significant changes to others.
Reviews for Elanora
Elanora embodies the idea of an Australian Country Club. A pleasant escape from the inner city lifestyle can be enjoyed in 2020 as it would of been for locals back in 1930. The course itself shows a good amount of sensibility given its difficult terrain and rewards golfers with some stunning views (9, 14 and 17).
You cannot fault the courses conditioning as the course is maintained with such a high standard.
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See other reviews from Nicklaus Mills
Played this course recently and it was an absolute beauty of a course.
Elanora is very private course on Sydney's northern beaches, with great views from it's highest point on this very hilly course down to the ocean and surrounding national park and towards Narrabean beach.
Great design amongst the natural bushland, wonderful flora and fauna make sure it sits perfectly in tune, rolling immaculate fairways, great bunkers with fluffy white Augusta like/ looking sand, tough (average sized) greens to read, even though its Winter.
Once all their upgrades / clearings are complete, their next ranking will be higher.
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Elanora is a hidden gem in Sydney - a private members course which is maintained to an extremely high standard. Although not long, it presents its own challenges when the greens are prepared to their slickest speed. Wonderful views over the ocean from high up on the escarpment above Narrabeen Lake - when the westerlies blow, the course comes alive. The more normal gentle sou-easters make it a pleasant though slightly hilly walk with fantastic flora and fauna in abundance. Good practice facilities. Whenever you get the chance to play with a member, do not pass it up.
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See other reviews from Tom Walsh