Mornington Golf Club is a true municipal course. I was first seen with a golf club in hand on the municipal golf course of Knightswood in Glasgow. These courses are – not country – not rustic – not local – not a community – but municipal. Probably council workmen will cut the grass – maybe with a little less passion than a local club. At Mornington Golf Club, you pay at a parking meter by the first tee – a long way from the picture on the website of a green fee custodian in the 1920’s taking green fees.

I didn’t know much about this course, never really felt the need to play here. It is a golf course for everyone and was born in 1915. This was the vision of Robert Cameron, a Scot and maybe the originator of the first public golf course in New Zealand. The history of the course has to commended by bringing golf to the common man. I am one of those, but who isn’t really?

I met one fella walking his dog, “ Lots of golfers out today!” he barked, the man, not the dog. It seemed like an odd thing to bring up, on a golf course.
Another man had a dog with him as part of the four-ball, actually a five-ball with the dog. He played a hole with his dog by his side, I watched him chunk a chip and then another one and then he barely made the green with his next chunk. The dog looked dismayed and wandered away, missing the blasted putt up the green. It gave him no chance of making a two-putt for his up up up and down down down.

I heard his partner ask what were you in for there? “Put me down for a 6” he announced, even the dog looked embarrassed.

There were Frisbie Throwers on the second fairway, throwing down towards me as I teed up. What’s going on? This place is just a big shared park. Then I recognized the metal Frisbee catcher on the fairway. It is actually a Frisbee golf destination shared with an actual golf course.

True community cross usage. If you are having a bad round bring a Frisbee and maybe a dog or a kite.

I puffed all the way around here, the course is a collection of greens, tee boxes and hills. Trees are added in because they grew here. But it is a fantastically irritating golf course.

Lots of short par 4’s from one side of a steep valley up to the other. Looking down the barrel of a 224-meter par 4 normally is a thrill. But the greens are up in the sky at the top of a hill. Tee off into the hillside in front of you, hit a blind approach and pump your legs up the hill to find out where it landed. REPEAT UNTIL you go home.

There is a treat of a 203-meter par 3, early in the round, making the walk to the elevated tee still enjoyable.

The ninth is a hoof of a hole off of the top of the course down into a valley and up to an elevated green. A par 5 that you’d like to think you’d reach in 2 at 409 metres.

This part of the course is shared by the inner city loop track as if dog walkers and Frisbee chuckers weren’t enough, ramblers were added.

I got attacked by a magpie on the 11th – the noise I made was something I was not proud of. I quickly tapped in my putt to get away from the little bugger. Play with your sunglasses on top of your hat like eyes in the sky that will keep them away. Apparently.

The greens were soft and large, easy to land on in the main. The putting surface was okay but it took a lot of concentration to focus on the “just get it in” mentality.

You whip across the busy Adelaide road to finish your round. The course has a long history from its inception and works well for a community alongside the bowls club and other rec areas.

But it is not a place for a leisurely day out. The hills were a nightmare and the set up was nothing short of annoying. You do get some great looks out across Wellington as you move up and down the course.
So take a moment to enjoy them before tackling another hill climb.