Grange (West) - South Australia - Australia

I am a bit surprised that this course has not been reviewed in recent times. It is a really good golf experience and, in my opinion, the third best in Adelaide after Kooyonga and Royal Adelaide and not by a long way either.

Grange members are lucky to have 2 very good tracks to choose from: both were designed by Vern Morcom initially. In more recent times they have both been given a [much needed] facelift, The East by Greg Norman and The West by Mike Clayton. More on the East in a later review.

Now it must be admitted that I am not always a fan of Clayton’s work but he has done a great job here, as has the club itself in trusting him because the improvements were pretty extreme but necessary. As a result trees were removed, huge amounts of overgrown shrubbery torn out, greens relaid and fairways opened up and reshaped. That The Handa Australian Women’s Open is played here is testament to the quality of ‘The West’ today.

So, to the course itself:

It is probably the closest of all of the Adelaide ‘Sandbelt’ courses to the sea and lies on, generally, flat ground apart from a small dune in the latter parts of the round but not a ‘Links’ course. As mentioned in the previous article, it plays long off the Championship tees, some 6,400 metres or 7,000 yards. The routing is good, fairways always in good condition and the greens are pure, often fast with some challenging reads.

My best holes are:

No.1. Shortish par 5. Great risk/reward hole - gentle dogleg L to R, sandy waste all along the right. Quite a small green. Excellent starter.

No.3. Longish par 4 again bends right. Often down wind but always a challenge.

No.7. Lovely short par 4. No need for driver from the tee, placement is everything.

No.8. Short, gorgeous par 3. Aren't well thought out and designed short holes a thing of beauty?

No.11. Medium length par 4 dogleg right. Plays slightly uphill then gently down to the green. Again placement of the drive is important.

No’s 15, 16, 17. All long and challenging par 4’s

The last 4 holes are hard! SI 9,1,3,7 just to give you an idea.

Whatever your favourite tipple, it will be well-earned afterwards.

The Clubhouse is big with some great views out over both courses and all of the staff are good.

In finishing a disclaimer. I am a proud member of Kooyonga so, perhaps, I am being a touch harsh. Grange West is a good and challenging course and it is a privilege to play it. It has a couple of weakish holes and just not quite the ‘wow’ factor of the previously mentioned clubs but don’t take my word for it. Come and play it [and The East] and judge for yourself.

4.5 brand new TP5’s

I played Grange West and East several times when living in Adelaide. The general opinion is that the West course is the better one, but to be honest I found the East to be just as good. Most of the holes on the west were good before Mike Clayton worked on them, but 2 or 3 looked a bit lost (no clear definition/shape to guide the golfer). The greens were very undulating and so can be really challenging in summer when the heat dries them out. I enjoyed playing there as much as at RA, but maybe that was my golfing buddies and the events we played.