Ballina Golf & Sports Club

Ballina Golf Club was formed on 6 June 1908, at a meeting chaired by the mayor, Alderman Ewan McKinnon. The first nine holes lay east of Owen Street, on ground that is now the Kingsford Smith Park cricket and netball fields. The club moved to Manly Street in 1957 and across the road in 1974, to the eighteen-hole site at East Ballina it occupies today.

It is a par 72, measuring 6,052 metres from the men’s tees and 5,249 from the women’s.

What it asks of you

Six thousand metres to a par 72 is a real length on the Far North Coast, and it is the first thing a visitor should know: this is not a holiday course that gives shots away.

The subtropical setting does most of the shaping. Growth here is fast and the rough recovers quickly, so a ball off the fairway sits down rather than up, and the recovery is a shorter club than the yardage suggests.

The coastal position means sea breeze in the afternoon on most days, which turns the holes running one way into a different proposition from the ones running back.

What players say about it

The club takes visitors and is well covered in the Northern Rivers guides. The points below summarise what recurs. These are other people’s opinions, not ours: we have not played the course, and we name and quote no one.

What comes up in its favor

• Conditioning is the point that recurs most, and the course is repeatedly called one of the region’s best.
• The subtropical setting, green all year, is what visitors from the south mention.
• The length gives it standing that holiday courses on this coast do not have.
• The club facilities, shared with the sports club, are well regarded.
• Value is consistently cited.

What comes up against

• At 6,052 metres it is long for a high handicap.
• The afternoon sea breeze makes the back half harder than the front on most days.
• Summer humidity on the Far North Coast is hard work.
• It is busy in holiday season, and the pace of play suffers.

Getting there and when to go

The club is at East Ballina on the Far North Coast of New South Wales, ten minutes from Ballina Byron airport and half an hour from Byron Bay.

The course plays all year. April to October gives the best of it; January and the school holidays are the busiest. Tee times are booked in advance.

Green fees

Visitor rates are set by the club. See the club’s own site.

How this page was made

The factual frame comes from public sources: OpenStreetMap for the location, the club’s published history for the 1908 founding, the original site east of Owen Street and the moves of 1957 and 1974, and public course records for par and the two card lengths. The opinion section summarises public reviews read in September 2026; we report recurring themes rather than individual voices, and we reproduce no quotations.

We have not played this course, and this page is no substitute for a round. The club has not paid for this page, has not seen it before publication and has no say over its content. If you know the course and something here is wrong or out of date, write to us and we will correct it.