In 2007, vandals attacked the course repeatedly.

In one incident, greens on the second and fourth holes were cut up on the eve of the club hosting the NSW mixed foursome championships.

To try to stop the vandalism, Carthew offered golf lessons and memberships to the perpetrators and the vandals soon became protectors of the course.

"He [Carthew] was smart, instead of keeping on calling the cops he spoke to the club and got them [the vandals] some clubs and really cheap memberships and actually got some of them playing golf," Tanilba Bay A-grader A.J. Quinn said.

"So when idiots would come in to vandalise the course, they'd beat the crap out of them."

Since Carthew's bold initiative, only two incidences of vandalism have been reported, the most recent last December.

Quinn said the greens were in prime form and getting back to club's glory days of the mid-1990s.

"All the new greens that were just put in and were destroyed have come in," he said.

"You never used to get any bite out of them or any spin but they're pulling up really well."

Muree professional Nathan Goodchild has played the course over the past three weekends with scores of 64, 72 and 72 and he is a fan.

"It's the best conditioned golf course in Newcastle at the moment," Goodchild said.