One of the great delights of living or visiting Sydney is the dozen and dozens of pristine beaches to the north and south of Australia’s largest city.
So, when it comes to golden sand beaches located right on your front doorstep then Sydney has to be the envy of the world as there is close to 100 Pacific Ocean coastline beaches in a 100-kilometre stretch from Palm Beach in the north of the city to Garie Beach in the south.
Indeed the entire coastline of the state of New South Wales (NSW) boasts some 750 beaches from Point Danger and located at the northern border with the neighbouring state of Queensland and to the south at Cape Howe, and named by Captain Cook when he passed it on 20 April 1770, honouring Admiral Earl Howe who was Treasurer of the British Royal Navy at the time, and where NSW meets the state of Victoria.
My coastline golfing favourites in Sydney are, and in order from north of the city to south, Palm Beach, Mona Vale, Long Reef, St. Michaels and the famed Alister MacKenzie designed NSW Club that is laid out on the northern side of Botany Bay.
Outside of Sydney there is so many fabulous golf courses you can venture including a golf course located around a four-and-a-half hour drive north of Sydney, and just some 60 kilometres from Port Macquarie named Crescent Head Country Club. It’s a stunning six-hole course, yes only six holes, perched high and commanding wonderful views of the mighty blue Pacific.
The town of Crescent Head and with the Crescent Head Country Club reaching out into the stunning Pacific Ocean
Crescent Head boasting one of the best surfing ‘point’ breaks in the world.
In my younger and ‘not really too much into playing golf’ days’ any mention of Crescent Head dealt with surfing and included other surfing spots such as Hat Head, South West Rocks, Woolgoolga, Lennox Head, Ballina and Byron Bay. To those growing-up in the late ’60s and into ’70s and early ’80s the towns were sleepy, little known out-of-the-way hamlets that only those who had a surf boards strapped to the roof of their beloved Holden’s would passionately seek to visit.
As well, in those day’s there was, and there is, no 5-star resorts that now saturate the coastline but just your basic caravan park where you could choose to stay for a night while, like so many of us, you’d simply sleep in your car parked at the beach front.
The opening hole at Crescent Head Country Club. Image – GolfByTourMiss
Looking back on the first hole (centre of image) with the fifth green in the foreground. Image – GolfByTourMiss
Super overhead shot of Crescent Head CC
Byron Bay, and located some 370 kilometres of Crescent Head, is famed as the most easterly point of Australia but back in those growing-up days it was the definition of low-key and a sleepy town really only then known to surfers. Though that’s all changed as the town now is a haven for the multi-rich and helped when Paul Hogan, and star of Crocodile Dundee bought a oceanside mansion.
The main train line from Sydney to Brisbane still runs through Byron Bay though in writing this I’m not sure if the pub, and with its railway line footrest at the bar, and that formed part of the station buildings, is still present as it was in those days.
Fortunately, Crescent Head has not changed as dramatically as Byron Bay and, I guess, this has been helped as the main A1/M1 highway that runs from Sydney to the Queensland border runs some 20 kilometers inland of Crescent Head.
View from well behind the second tee at Crescent Head CC – Image GolfByTourMiss
The sight awaing you off the second tee with the green to the right of the water tanks and just right of centre is the 3rd hole tee
Another view off the second tee at Crescent Head CC and with its stunning backdrop
So while my fearless 20-something days of letting the locks grow and having protective white zinc cream plastered on the face while trying to simply ‘hang 5’ have long gone, there’s another reason I have now like to visit the northern NSW coastline and the Crescent Head Country Club is one of them.
But it’s only a six-hole golf course? I hear you say. Well, that’s three loops, so triple the enjoyment is my reply.
What makes Crescent Head Country Club so special is not just the enjoyment of half-a-dozen great golf holes but the view from the golf course looking to the north and the expanse of the 14 kilometre long pristine Killick Beach and a perfect postcard setting.
The second green flag and with the third tee in the background. Image – GolfByTourMiss
Just how much do you think you can you bite off? The stunning par-4 third hole at Crescent Head CC – Image GolfByTourMiss
Looking into the third green and with the 4th tee to the left of image.
The Caribbean or maybe the Hawaiian Isles? Super overhead snap of the 3rd green at Crescent Head CC.
And with Killick Beach being a nature reserve, there’s no multi-story hotels or any other building spoiling any portion of this truly stunning sandy shoreline, ideal for whale and dolphin watching and, if you’re a surfer, believed to offer one of the world’s longest point break rides.
Crescent Head was officially declared a village in 1894, though the first mention of Crescent Head had appeared in 1833 from the NSW Calendar and General Post Office Directory.
The excerpt from the General Post Office Directory 1833 reads: “From Port Macquarie northerly there is a beaten track and the country may present some obstructions to the formation of a road; travelling is not, however, difficult; the tracks follow the coast which is a succession of sandy beaches extending from Port Macquarie to Point Plomer, thence to Crescent Head and then to Trial Bay…”
The Crescent Head Country Club was officially founded in 1956 there’s a reference to the club appearing in the Macleay Chronicle on November 10, 1948 concerning difficulties due to rail transport restrictions the Committee of Crescent Head Golf Club at a special meeting found it necessary to postpone the Open Day arranged for Sunday, 14th November, to Sunday, 28th November. Those who attended last year’s Open Day remember what an excellent day it was and it is confidently anticipated this year’s event will prove even more satisfactory. It should provide an opportunity for players to bring their families who could enjoy sunbaking and surfing while they compete for the excellent trophies provided.
Future of Crescent Head Country Club …
In researching this long overdue article it also came to note the Crescent Head course has been in recent news, and particularly the future of the club.
The golf course at Crescent Head is laid out on Crown Land meaning that the New South Government own the land and in 2021 the Kempsey Shire Council that this region of the State it administers submitted a draft plan of management to the NSW Government for the whole section of crown land that includes the golf course.
Super overhead shot of Crescent Head CC. Image Coastal Reflections
That draft plan proposed that the land continues to be used as a golf course though there was very heated discussions within the community over unfounded suggestions the golf course would be closed for the building of a roadway.
Good news though in April this year (2024) with council releasing a statement that the future of Crescent Head golf course is clear after Kempsey Shire Council voted to enter into a new lease for the crown land it sits on and not to investigate a potential ring road.
Councillors reconsidered the decision made at the previous meeting to examine the positive and negative impacts of a new road on the crown land, in addition to the golf course, prior to negotiating the new lease with Crescent Head Country Club.
The Crescent Head CC clubhouse
In response to the strong community support for the renewal of the Cresent Head Country Club Golf Course lease on fair and reasonable terms, staff will now negotiate a new 21-year lease with the Country Club.
As mentioned above, the suggestion of looking into the road, an idea which came from the community, sparked heated debate in the community in the last month, with a strong community attendance at both the Public Forum and Council meetings.
Kempsey Shire Mayor, Leo Hauville, thanked the community for their passionate engagement with Council on the issue.
“This is a great result for democracy, with people engaging with their elected officials to help reach a great result and secure the future of the golf course,” said Cr Hauville.
“It’s important that the facts are clear on this matter. The community were justified in being upset based on the information they received. Despite speculation to the contrary, Council never intended to implement a road in place of the golf course.
“Councillors consistently voiced support for the iconic PGA-rated 6-hole golf course. In the interests of holistic planning, it was asked if a road might be possible in addition to the course, never in place of it. Had this report been developed by staff it would have been done with due diligence and objectivity.”
So the ancient club-and-ball game will continue at this wonderful location … well at least for another for a few more decades
Crescent Head Golf Club – Scorecard
Being just six holes does mean that to play 18 holes you naturally play three loops. If so, it plays to a par-63 measuring 3,852 yards for the men and 3,675 yards for the ladies.
The outward nine plays to a par 32 and that encompasses the first six holes and holes one to three while the inward nine plays to 31 and is holes four to six and the first six again.
