Port Macquarie

The exact year of Port Macquarie’s formation is not known. Some think it dates as far back as 1906 but the first written evidence is given as 1911. The club’s first course was located close to the centre of the town but shortly after the end of World War II members made a 7-kilometre move to the current Tacking Point location adjacent to Lighthouse Beach – even the clubhouse was transported to the new site, along with turf from the old greens for the new tees!

Scottish professional James Scott, who set out the second nine at Elanora in 1930, was the man who designed the new 18-hole course for the club, but construction work took quite a while to reach a satisfactory conclusion. Six holes opened in July 1953, with another three following four months later. Unfortunately, the official opening of the 18-hole layout didn’t take place until February 1968, more than fourteen years later.

Today, the course measures just under 5,900 metres from the back markers, playing to a par of 71. Feature holes include the 166-metre 7th (regarded as the “signature hole on the card) which plays slightly downhill to a shallow green with bunkers and a couple of water hazards lurking nearby to punish a poor tee shot. On the back nine, the 366-metre 14th (rated stroke index 2) has trees and scrub down the entire right side of a fairway that leads to a bunkerless green with a slight back to front slope.