King Island

The unpretentious little links layout at King Island Golf & Bowling Club dates back to 1938 and it’s the perfect down-to-earth accompaniment to the island’s two new 18-hole opportunists. The course comprises eighteen holes, with seventeen alternate tees and twelve greens on ten fairways, configured as three par threes, twelve par fours and three par fives over a distance of 5476 metres.

“The nine-hole 'townie' course on King Island reminds me of the Pacific Grove muni on the Monterey Peninsula,” remarked Tom Doak in The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses, “a must-play venue to acclimate to the windy conditions you’ll encounter on the more famous courses you’re here for. However the King Island nine has much more topography than Pacific Grove.

The 1st, 2nd and 8th are all good par-4s, all of them better from the alternate 'back nine' tees. The par-3 3rd, played from a high tee with the Southern Ocean crashing on the rocks behind the green, is undoubtedly the great moment of the course, but the holes in the middle third lack distinction.”