BEAUFORT
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Holes: 18
Course Length: 5435m
Par: 70
ACR: 66.8
Greens: Grass
Bunkers: Yes
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"Overhead bunkers."
That's what three-time club champion John Roxburgh describes as the centrepiece of Beaufort Golf Course.
No, there is not a revolutionary contraption that only exists half an hour down the Western Highway.
Rather, it is a heavy lining of trees that is more likely to cause grief than any traditional sand traps.
A traditional country club in every sense of the world, accuracy is key around the tight Beaufort fairways.
Boasting six par threes, eight par fours and four par fives, it is conservative and tactical play, rather than powerful blasting, that will lead to shooting low scores.
Being a small club run mostly by volunteers, Beaufort does not have the luxury of being able to upkeep a lot of sand bunkers around the course, so it is left to the environment to test out golfers.
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Roxburgh said small greens and tight fairways made the course harder than it seemed on first impression.
"We get a lot of players out here who are in the low handicap range and even they don't seem to carve the course up so maybe that explains something about the course itself," he said.
"We don't have many sand bunkers but we do have a lot of overhead bunkers, being the trees. They can cause a bit of grief for golfers."
Like all country courses in the Ballarat District Golf Association, summer can be a difficult time at Beaufort as minimal water forces sees the course dry out.
Generally, there is only enough water to maintain the greens and two adjoining bowls greens.
However, the course is still very much playable during the hotter months.
"We could do with a lot of rain here at Beaufort, we've only got enough to maintain our greens and our two bowling greens," Roxburgh said.
With the bowls club run out of the same location on Park Road, the clubhouse becomes quite the social scene, especially during summer.
"I think it's great, unfortunately bowls is only about six months of the year but that livens up the clubhouse and there are benefits to the club by having both," Roxburgh said.
If you are looking for a quaint getaway course within the BDGA that still presents its fair share of challenges, you need to look no further than Beaufort Golf Club.