Our plans to play golf at Gympie Golf Course have been a long time in the making. Probably close to a year and a half in fact! Long before we had ever heard of the golf course. Even long before we knew where Gympie was located!

If you follow Instagram golf accounts as we do, then you probably know Brendan from @agolfersjourney. Gympie is where Brendan grew up and Gympie Golf Course is his home course. So, when we decided to include Australia as one of our first stops on our world golf tour, we reached out to Brendan to let him know that we would love to play golf together. Sometime after the Presidents Cup was the only time that we knew.

Gympie Golf Course, known locally as “Pines” for the pine trees that were planted back in the 1930’s, plays 6080-yards, par 70 from the Blues, and 5596-yards par 72 from the Reds. Ian Baker-Finch, the 1991 Open Championship winner at Royal Birkdale, apprenticed here from 1976 to 1978. We admired all the Open victory photos that are signed and proudly on display in the Clubhouse.

Once we crossed the border into beautiful Queensland, we quickly reached out to Brendan to find out when we could join him for a round of golf. And after a year and a half, we finally made plans to play together!

Since it was Super Bowl Monday (yes, Monday- it has a slightly different ring to it doesn’t it!) we woke early so we could get a quick nine holes in and be back to watch the end of the game. 

Brendan’s good mate Harrison joined us. He and Harrison took an enviable golf trip in 2018 to Scotland and Ireland. While there, they went to The Open at Carnoustie and played the Old Course as well as many others. We all played 9 holes at Gunabul Golf Club, a short par 3 course the evening prior. I finished 1 under with a bogey on nine, which was the first time I had been under par for a long time. And Brendan was ready for me the following day!

I saw a lot of the 383-yard par 4 second hole, a whole lot more than my playing partners. I tend to move the ball from right to left, but with a narrow target off the tee, a straight ball is a must here. And with trees lining both sides of the fairway, I pulled my tee shot into the trees left. Without a clear shot to the green, I punched a 6 iron from 155 yards that stayed low but ran through the green and lead to a bogey.

Menekse played the second hole much better than I did. Finding the middle of the fairway off the tee, she plotted this methodical approach through the hole and tied me with a five.

With beautiful pine trees that reminded us of Central Oregon, Menekse took aim at a short pine down the right side on the 361-yard par 4 fourth.

Harrison took an aggressive swing on four, pulling it quite left of his target. But, we must say, he made a hell of a recovery and walked away with par on the hole! Meanwhile, Brendan found the left-center of the fairway and flushed his iron on his way to another par.

Since the fourth has a slight dogleg right bend to it, Brendan considered my draw and pointed out the same pine tree for me. I hit my best tee shot of the day and absolutely bombed it. With a nice draw, it ended up in the middle of the fairway.

With only 50 or so yards remaining to the flag, which was located up front and is a horrible distance, I flew it to the back of the green, well past the pin. Disappointed with my shot, I wasn’t able to put it out of my mind and proceed to three-putt for bogey.  There is nothing more frustrating in golf than following up a great tee shot with four poorly executed shots.

With gum trees that frame a cathedral green, we really liked the look of the 151-yard par 3 sixth hole. Menekse’s tee shot landed short of the right-side bunker and bounced over finishing on the middle of the green. Her 2 putt to the back right pin placement gave her a great three!

Menekse fired another great tee shot down the right-side fairway of the uphill 358-yard par 4 eighth hole. Unfortunately, she pulled her next shot left into the greenside bunker short and was left with an impossible lie!

The front nine finishes with a great uphill 151-yard par 3. Between clubs, Brendan advised that the hole plays long, which made club selection easier. He then proceeded to hit a great 8 iron to a difficult right pin placement. Brendan is a real solid ball striker, and both Menekse and I enjoyed watching his game. Inspired, I also hit an 8 iron. Unfortunately, it jumped off the back of the green long and I couldn’t get up and down to save par.

Menekse had one of her better rounds and shot a beautiful 47. With a couple of three-putts and a nearly impossible lie on eight, she easily could have shaved a couple of strokes off her score. Brendan finished even for the round with 1 birdie and 1 bogey, the definition of consistency. We enjoyed listening to that sound that a good ball striker makes. Harrison and I had a much more eventful round, and let’s just say we got our money’s worth!

Even though we only played the front nine, Gympie Golf Course had a great mixture of short and long holes. The Bermuda grass greens weren’t the fastest, but they were perfectly consistent in speed. And, at only 30 dollars for the two of us, Gympie was a steal!

We made our way back to Brendan’s just in time to watch Kansas City score 21 unanswered points to win the Super Bowl! After the game, we spent the afternoon in awe looking at his impressive collection of scorecards and yardage books from his multiple trips playing golf throughout Scotland and Ireland. Passionate about his golf, it was an envious collection of golf travels. And full of courses that we hope to play!

Thank you, Brendan! Some things are truly worth the wait!