Healesville

The fantastic par three 4th, which required a punched 18* hybrid for me, the ridge running lengthways through the green demanding accuracy and creating some interesting recovery shots

The long two-shotter at the 8th (labelled a par five, but driver, 6i from the tips for me) was the perfect length for the approach you need to hit. The green is cut in two distinct portions by a central ridge (reminded me a bit of the 5th green at The Lakes in that sense), with the hillside allowing you to work the ball in from the left to a front pin. The first great use of this creek, with it also utilised really well at the 15th and 16th

Gorgeous bunkering and a treacherous green on the par three 10th

One creek, three great uses: This meandering stream plays a strong role along the length of the 15th, before snaking over to spoon with the 16th green

Course name: Healesville
Location: Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia
Four Word Course Review: No automatic two-putts

Healesville is just far enough out of Melbourne to feel like you've gone somewhere, but near enough that Melbournians can make a day-trip to enjoy one of the most brilliant new courses in Australia.

The course is really different to anything else I have played and has a strong character of its own.

It's owned by the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria and part of the club's Yarra Valley resort, but don't expect resort conditioning. It is unashamedly a country course, the rustic bunkering matching well with the "this is a playing field, not a formal lawn" conditioning.

The thought-provoking nature of such good golf at such modest length needs to be experienced.

Like the value of immense width, the fact that such a short course can be THIS good has to be experienced to be genuinely understood.

I couldn't help but think of so many cramped Sydney courses on similarly steep land and heavy soil whose members would be far better off with a 4800m (5300-yard) course like Healesville - full of shots and greens that put a smile on your face and which take a lot less time to play.

It's the greens that set Healesville apart: a set full of variety that regularly tiptoes up to the line of too zany, but never jumps over. They not only make approach shots, recoveries and putting all the more fun, they provide the teeth necessary to make the course challenging for all standards of golfer.

On the front side, I loved the long par three 4th, its green intersected by a steep ridge running from front to back, and the par-five-but-really-a-long-par-four 8th, which uses water and sand spectacularly and has a wild two-tier green.

The back side starts with an outstanding mid-iron par three with artistic bunkering that drips down the hillside on top of which the green is set, while the short par four 12th uses more brilliant terrain to create a puzzle to which the answer off the tee depends on the positioning of the hole.

Another angled creek adds value to the second-and-final par five on the course, where approaching the creekside green is made much easier by hugging the same narrow stream off the tee. The same waterway then cuts across to make your short iron to the 16th green one where distance control is at a premium.

The 17th's blindness from the tee is another case of the quirkiness that makes Healesville so beguiling, before the split fairway and ski-run green on the 18th finish this wild ride in appropriate style.

I can't recommend Healesville enough for anyone who wants to see something unique and doesn't view a tw-putt green as a birthright.