Russell Vale Golf Club

Location: Russell Vale, South Coast, New South Wales
Address: Hicks St, Russell Vale NSW 2517, Australia
Course: 18 holes · Par 59
Visitors: Visitors welcome
Weekday green fee: $29.50 (18) · $25 (9)
Phone: +61 2 4283 5322

About the course

The Vale is a public golf course on Hicks Street, Russell Vale, in Wollongong's northern suburbs, run by Wollongong City Council. Russell Vale Golf Club, the members' club known as The Vale, holds its competitions on it. Council began planning a public course for the northern suburbs in the 1960s and chose this site in 1978. The land had been a brickworks and then a waste depot, and was filled with coal wash from the nearby South Bulli Colliery before construction began in 1984. The first nine holes opened on 31 October 1986 and the second nine on 14 February 1990.

The course has 18 holes, par 59, over 3,480 metres, in the foothills of the Illawarra escarpment with views to the Pacific Ocean. Most holes are par 3s, with three par 4s and one par 5. Each hole is named after an Illawarra coal mine, and signs on the course tell the story behind each name. The 1st, Albert, is a 149-metre par 3 to an elevated green, named after the region's first commercial mine. The 18th, Tongarra, is a 325-metre par 4 with a large bunker on the right and a two-level green. The club puts a round at about three and a half hours.

Everyone is welcome to play. Weekday social fees are $29.50 for 18 holes and $25 for nine, and $34.50 and $28.50 at weekends, with cheaper rates in low-demand periods. Tee times run from 6:30am to 4:30pm daily and can be booked online or by calling the pro shop on (02) 4283 5322. Carts can be added when booking; a driver's licence and credit card are needed. The golf club runs open competitions for men, women and juniors.

The pro shop opens from 6am to 6pm and has a PGA professional for lessons, fitting and repairs. Facilities include accessible toilets and paths, a covered barbecue area and 57 parking spaces, and the golf club's clubhouse sits across from the 11th hole.

Green fees

Weekday social rates; weekends $34.50 (18) and $28.50 (9); off-peak from $18.50 (18) and $12 (9). Run by Wollongong City Council as The Vale (thevalegolf.com.au).

Planning your round

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