Hilltop

Mollymook sits on the South Coast of New South Wales, about 3 hours south of Sydney, where the Shoalhaven region trades the city's bustle for a quieter stretch of coastline backed by eucalyptus bush and rolling dairy country. Golf has long been part of the fabric here — the Mollymook Golf Club is one of the South Coast's most established clubs, and the Hilltop course is its longer, more demanding layout, sitting above the cliff-hugging Lakewood course that draws much of the tourist attention.

Where Lakewood trades on its ocean drama, Hilltop earns its name the honest way — the terrain moves, the lies are rarely flat, and the surrounding bush gives the course a more inland, naturalistic feel despite the proximity to the sea. It plays as a proper test of ball-striking rather than a scenic stroll, rewarding players who can manage elevation changes and think their way around a layout that doesn't announce its difficulties immediately.

For visiting golfers, playing both courses in a day or across a weekend is a genuine pleasure — two distinct personalities sharing the same patch of South Coast real estate.