Golf in the City of Ballarat

Victoria's largest inland city keeps its golf simple and public, with three 18-hole courses spread across the old goldfields. Midlands Golf Club began as Ballarat North in 1919 and took its present name in 1936; its par-72 parkland course at Invermay Park pairs wide, sweeping fairways with lakes, doglegs and large, undulating, well-defended greens, a championship-style test that still suits social days. Buninyong dates from 1926 and winds through tree-lined fairways and bushland, opening with a reachable par 5 before a creek comes into play on the early holes; its true-rolling greens are a highlight. Mt Xavier in Ballarat East, which started in 1948, shares its grounds with a lawn bowls club and plays short but hilly, with narrow fairways and well-guarded greens for a friendly, affordable round.