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Ran Morrissett

  • Karma: +0/-0
Australia's Newcastle GC profile is updated...
« on: April 30, 2007, 08:25:50 PM »
...and is found under Architecture Timeline and Courses by Country.

Suppose you just spent $30 zillion on opening up a new course.

Now please go look at some of the photos in the Newcastle, Australia profile, particularly of the greens at the 7th, 8th, and 11th. Suppose they were your new club's green complexes.

As owner, would you feel cheated? The greens look so simple, almost featureless as they don't have any wild interior movement or neat looking bunkers.

HOWEVER, though visually not dramatic, these greens at Newcastle are among the finest in the game from a golfing quality perspective (I say that after 200 plus rounds there and having had the privilege to call Newcastle my home club for over five years).

What does that say about golf architecture these days?  Is it all about how cool something looks  :-\ rather than how it in fact plays?

I hope my Aussie wife and I can retire within an hour's drive of there: this simple, uncluttered form of golf architecture is very near ideal. Not a single architect with whom I'm aware builds anything that looks this clean, this simple yet plays so well.

Cheers,

Mark Bourgeois

Re:Australia's Newcastle GC profile is updated...
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2007, 08:31:18 PM »
11 smells Redan-ish. Was that an inspiration?

If you do move there, be sure to bring a portable desalination plant!

Andrew Summerell

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Australia's Newcastle GC profile is updated...
« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2007, 11:40:22 PM »
If you do move there, be sure to bring a portable desalination plant!

Mark,

The Newcastle area has more water than anywhere in Australia. Damn are almost 90% full, which is extraordinary considering an hours drive north or south & you are in drought.

Andrew Summerell

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Australia's Newcastle GC profile is updated...
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2007, 11:59:35 PM »
I have always thought that Apperly’s routing of Newcastle is superb. The classic example of this is the 5th & 6th holes. Those two holes branch off in a different direction from the rest of the course.  This is not unusual, until you consider the close proximity of the 7th tee from the 4th green. It looks & feel obvious that the 7th should follow the 4th.

Then consider the walk that Apperly would have made up to where he ended up placing the 5th tee. He would have ridden his horse (as was his way) up the first hill to find more rolling hills that are taking you away from the rest of the course with no guarantee of being able to find a decent hole on the way back.

I believe many architects would have found the 5th & 6th too difficult, or not found them at all.

Apperly’s work at Newcastle & NSW, and with lesser known courses like Duntry Leagues, Castle Hill & the original The Lakes has shown that if he lived in England or America, & had a few decent opportunities, he would be considered a architectural genius.

Jason McNamara

Re:Australia's Newcastle GC profile is updated...
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2007, 10:20:18 PM »
Did the 6th serve as Steel's inspiration for the 11th at Wallasey?   Looking at the two recent postings from Ran, I was surprised at how similar the green complexes appear to be (admittedly from a distance).

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/images/Wallasey11.jpg
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/images/Newcastle6.jpg

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