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Last year I was fortunate enough to be among the first to play 6 holes of the St Andrews Beach Gunnamatta course. Today I was lucky enough to be among the first to play the full 18 hole layout.First some general comments. So you know my perspective, I was round in 80 today in what was my first 18 hole outing since November. The good news therefore is that this is a very playable layout.The greens and surrounds are in outstanding condition. The greens are medium paced at the moment and very comfortable to putt on, you have every chance to hole your putts and only yourself to blame if you miss. Not slow enough that you ever need to belt a putt, and not quick enough to slide one 10 feet by unless you've been very clumsy.The big surprise was the condition of the fairways and tees, and the management of the rough. The tees are 100% perfect and the fairways are so close it doesn't matter. To protect the grass, all shots are teed up, but I didn't have a single shot today where I couldn't have cheerfully played it as it lies. The rough is also under control. On several occasions I hit wayward shots only to find that the pasture has gone and golfing grass had taken its place. Lose a ball here and it deserves to be lost.The thing that kept occurring to me was what a wonderful place it was to play golf. The course is beautifully spaced out over wonderfully undulating land, yet it is pretty easy walking and this is a sign of good design.Ok. The specifics. The course is 6060m and par 70. There are two par threes and a par five on each nine, and a pleasing number of shorter holes including two par fours under 280m. I'd be fascinated to see all of the 270-280m hitters in action on these holes. I'm sure that there'd be many more bogies than two putt birdies.#1 497m par 5. The key feature is the bunkers and dune from about 60m up to the front of the green. The wide fairway and elevated tee flatter the opening shot. You then need to play for position to the right hand side to avoid a blind third.#2 279m par 4. Depth perception is the key here. Standing on the tee, it is hard to pick out exactly how far away the fairway bunkers are. The tee shot needs to be played to the right to avoid a blind second. That is of course if you are a mere mortal who hasn't flown it up near the green (and avoided the bunkering up the left hand side and tee tree on the right and bunker behind the green and...)#3 405m par 4. What starts as a pretty simple tee shot to a wide, bunkerless fairway then turns gently to the right and presents an awesome second. You can either take the challenge of threading your ball between the mounds and trees to a beautifully set green, or try to fly it over the mound and trees on the left and get on that way. A medium sized, bunkerless green with a generous apron awaits.#4 197m par 3. Another pretty hole to a green up on top of a hill. Bunkers to the right aren't that hard to avoid, but when you bail out left you'll find that what from the tee appears to be on the green in fact leaves you with perhaps a 10-20m chip shot. The size of the green then forces you to improvise. You can't really reach for the sand wedge and lob it, and it's too far to play along the ground the whole way. Very subtle!#5 387m par 4. Downhill to a generous fairway and downhill again with a semi blind second. No tricks at the green, but it is a smallish target with a wide, grass apron like the 4th (and many other holes).#6 169m par 3. A gem. It's less like RM West #5 than I remembered it, but there is so much design value in this uphill one shotter that I think it is a better hole. Half the green is hidden behind a fearsome set of bunkers on the right. With the pin left all you have to do is get the length right and you'll have a pretty easy two putt par. With the pin right you have a choice from the tee. Go at the pin and get it to stop (easier said than done). Go for the middle, left of the green and face a demanding two putt. Destined to be a classic!#7 377m par 4. The dome shaped two level green sits up high and seems a little out of place on this course, but the tee shot is the prize here. The hole is set in a valley which it shares with #8. Altogether it must be 60m wide. In the middle is a beautiful set of bunkers. Today from the elevated, forward tee and a tail wind, I was left with only 70m to the green. Into the breeze from the back markers would be a different question. The cleverness in the fairway is that although it is shared, the tee shot on #7 lands in a place which would rarely, if ever, threaten a player on #8 and vice versa.#8 332m par 4. Lovely. An elevated tee to a generous fairway flanked by bunkers long and left. The hole then turns slightly left to a small, bunkerless, semi-blind green with a trademark wide and closely mown apron. Big hitters will get a better view of the green, but nobody will see the bottom of the pin.#9 339m par 4. Hmm. What a green! I had a 70m pitch and managed to duff it 40m short. Surely next time I won't have thoughts in my head about how careful I must be to get the distance right to this wicked elevated twisting turning narrow green. I wouldn't bet on it though because this one will mess with your mind. The tee shot is a beauty both into the wind and downwind. Into the wind you have to hit it far enough to get up to the flat part of the fairway. Downwind you have to make sure your ball doesn't run all the way down into the bunkers waiting at the end of the downslope.#10 384m par 4. Classic dogleg right architecture. A very wide fairway with a bunker slightly left of the direct line from tee to green. A big hitter downwind will fly the bunker (I've seen it done) for a simple pitch home. Into the breeze today it was a matter of choosing the line off the tee to simplify the second shot. The bunkers short, right and behind mean that you want to approach from the left. Too far left and you pay the price of a substantially longer shot.#11 147m par 3. Close to the 6th and playing in the opposite direction, this hole just dares you to attack the pin. For those not brave enough it also beckons you to safety on the left. Both are sucker shots. The safe shot to the left will bounce away down a steep hill. The brave shot at the pin has to be so precise that a metre short or long will not be good enough. Into the breeze I hit a 6I to 2m and holed the putt for a two. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!#12 389m par 4. The course now moves away from the protection of the Moonah and Titree and into more open countryside. Like #10 this is a strongly strategic hole. Again the hole bends to the right, and again the preferred line to the green is from the left, just near the bunker that marks the end of the fairway. An uphill second to a surprisingly large green, with the upslope and absence of trees making depth perception difficult.#13 452m par 4. What's that? Yes, it's a par 4. What's more, the tee shot is over a substantial rise. Downbreeze you'd better be on your game. Into the breeze this would be a monster. The key feature, assuming a strong drive, is that it's quite possible to use the slopes to run the ball past the massive bunkers short right onto what is a pretty small green.#14 276m par 4. Surely this is a trick. A wide fairway with a slightly elevated green and only a single bunker guarding the front right. Nope. No trick, except that the green has lots of little slopes and getting up and down for bridie will require a delicate touch. Oh, did I mention that driving the green and getting it on the green are two separate matters? ...or that a short drive leaves a nasty uphill pitch?#15 361 par 4. A sleeper. Usually this means a dull hole. That's not the case here. Another wide fairway. No bunkers to be seen. A dogleg to the right, and make sure you drive it in the middle of the fairway to avoid the blind second. A narrowish green with a slightly unhelpful slope. Oops, how did we all make 5 there? Nuff sed.#16 197m par 3. When you come over the rise you will see the designer's gift to the members. You can tell this Doak guy has a sense of humor. There is a back tee at 240m. From the regular tee it is a nice downhill par 3 with a bunker right and a slope left guaranteed to take you off into the weeds with a big number guaranteed to wreck your round. I made an easy three today, but next time I'll know where the trouble is! Off the back tee? Don't even think about it.#17 468m par 5. A straight par 5 with a sideslope on the fairway if you drive to the right. The hole rises to the green and this one will be another photographers favourite. Not quite as easy as it sounds or looks.#18 404m par 4. An excellent finishing hole. I half shanked my second and made 6, but never mind. Just when you're ready to win the day, you need a good tee shot onto a wide fairway, but there's just enough out there to set doubt in your mind. The two fairway bunkers are set in the fairway just where you'd like to play your second from, so your heart will always be in your mouth until your ball is safely in play. The last iron shot of the day is to a beautifully set large and undulating green protected by a slope on the back left and bunkers short right and behind (I was in both). There's the chance of a birdie for the brave. There's an opportunity to throw it all away. Oh well.You can tell from the length and detail that I'm impressed. Very impressed. I'd encourage anybody who gets the opportunity to play St Andrews Beach Gunnamatta course to grab the opportunity with both hands.Thanks to "Player" for the invitation to play, and Rob, Mark and Martin for a happy day.