Flashback to opening day, with Australian champion Kel Nagle about to hit off, with our locals, Tony Elliott and Evan Droop at left ready to follow. Evan, 16 years-of-age at the time and Tony played Kel, and Tocumwal professional Ken Dukes, finishing square after 18 holes. A deciding bunker shot closest to the pin resulted in Kel and Ken being declared the winners. Unable to partner Kel due to injury, Peter Thomson was commentator.
The decision in mid-1984 to create a second 18-hole golf course at Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort, which would become the Murray Course, was a courageous one, according to John Wilson, the club’s secretary/manager at the time of its opening on Saturday, November 29, 1986.
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“It was really gutsy, really intelligent and just so smart,” Mr Wilson said.
“It was a really big thing to go from 27 to 45 holes – a really gutsy, unanimous decision by the board to proceed with an extra 18 holes and also to have a nine-hole Executive Course.
“Quite a few courses are 36 holes, but to have the Executive Course for the flexibility to make a total of 45 was unique and meant becoming the biggest public golf course in Australia.”
Designed by Wolveridge Thomson Associates on 174 acres and officially opened by club president Alan Hyslop, the Murray Course included 15 brand-new holes and three existing holes (1, 17 and 18), which became holes 3, 4 and 2 respectively, from the original 18-hole course.
Kel Nagle, John Wilson, Alan Hyslop and Peter Thomson at the Murray Course official celebration dinner attended by about 100 people.
Today’s holes 2, 4 and 8 on the Executive Course were also created, becoming part of the Blue Nine-Hole Executive Course.
For the past 40 years, Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort has been the largest public-access golf course in the nation – and still is.
In fact, a 46th hole, a par 3 between the first and ninth holes on the Lake Course, was added in recent times as a practice hole or reserve hole should an existing hole be under renovation.
Costing $1.2 million at the time, the Murray Course remains one of the best along the Murray River, according to Mr Wilson.
“It would at least stand in the top three along the Murray,” he said.
“I remember Peter Thomson saying the course was designed as a challenge for a scratch golfer to make par on a number of holes and for the many other golfers to get bogey.
“He congratulated Ben Nowell (course superintendent) on his course preparation, describing him as ‘a genius at growing grass and installing automatic watering’.
“I also remember Kel Nagle saying it was a magnificent course.”
John Wilson, Evan Droop and two surviving board members from 1986 Bill Gorman and Shane Kelly at the site of the official opening plaque on the mighty Murray Course.
Photo by
Les_Garbutt
Having the nine-hole Executive Blue Course is a real key to the golf club, according to head professional Evan Droop, allowing women and men golfers the opportunity to play just nine holes or combine it with nine holes from the Lake Course.
All courses are well patronised throughout the week by adult and junior golfers, both male and female, for competition and social golf.
Just 16 years old at the time, Evan vividly remembers playing an exhibition round against Kel Nagle in front of an estimated crowd of 1500, as well as how the Murray Course looked on opening day.
“It was heavily treed, had a substantial amount of lagoons with water and was built on a lot of land,” he said.
“It has definitely improved over the years. The biggest improvement was going from the winter grass fairways to Santa Ana couch fairways a few years after it opened, making it an unbelievable course.”
Evan’s father, Phil Droop, was the club professional at the time.
“He said going from 27 to 45 holes was fantastic for the club and tourism,” Evan said.
