The Indooroopilly Golf Club was originally founded at St. Lucia in 1926. The club first moved to its current home during the 1960’s, although they continued to golf on both sites for almost twenty years. In 1985 additional land close to the Brisbane River allowed the club to build 36 holes, the public access East course and the private West course, on the present site and to sever all ties with the old St. Lucia course.

Members now enjoy these two courses in six different 18-hole configurations, with the pick of the holes those found on the traditional West course set-up, which is mostly played close to the banks of the River. Ross Watson, the original designer, recently upgraded the West Course at Indooroopilly with some mixed results. While the odd hole, like the right-bending 6^th and ridgetop par three 13^th, are decent enough, there is a distinct lack of cohesion here and a few of the new water holes are very ordinary.

One of the main criticisms with the new course is the bunkering, Watson choosing to overpower some holes with sand shapes while leaving others flat and dreary. While this inconsistency might have been a product of the land the flatter holes occupy, the result is a bunker style that seems confused and traps that appear to have been built in randomly selected spots. The greens are better, but still there are quite a number with putting contours that are more effective up close than when viewed in relation to the stroke required from back in the fairway.

Indooroopilly West is not a bad course, but it’s an unremarkable layout that will most surprise those expecting the standard of Brisbane golf to match cities like Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. Long regarded as Queensland’s number 2 established club, Indooroopilly is best recommended for its practice facilities and diverse collection of large, well-established trees including Bougainvillea’s and Jacaranda’s, which are a delight when in full bloom.