[cary lichtenstein]

Bette and I have arrived back home after 5 weeks in Aus/NZ. We could have stayed longer...great people, courses and country.

Some travel points for those of you who haven't made the trip yet:

Airline: If you are going with your wife or another buddy, the best way to fly is Air New Zealand, provided you have an American Express Platium Card and buy a full fare business class ticket and you get the 2nd ticket for free. You get a real sleeper cocoon, you can lay down 100% flat and it is excellent.

Baggage: They only allow 15 pounds as a carry-on so you must take something small. They enforce this rule.

Hotels in Melbourne: The Langham is way better than the Park Hyatt. We stayed about 5 days at each and the Langham has free breakfast buffet which is unbelieveable, again because it is standard with AMEX Platium, way better location and a buffet dinner that is beyond first class.

Travel Agents: We used GolfSelect, Gary Lisbon who did a feature interview here on GCA about a year ago. I can recommend him highly. He made reservations for us at 14 different courses in Australia, all with golf carts which are tough to come by, gave us a GPS system that covered every airport, golf course and hotel on the trip that did not get us lost even once, and when I overpaid him by mistake in US Dollars instead of Australian Dollars, he refunded the money immediately and I would never have caught my own mistake. Everything came off without a hitch.

Kalos Cruise: After spending 3 weeks in Australia, we joined a golf cruise in New Zealand put on by Kalos Golf Cruises. I made a post about a year ago asking if anyone had used them and got no response. So here is the deal. This is a very upscale cruise for couples, there were 50 couples on our cruise, on a small ship with just about every amenity imagineable. I can not imagine a more perfect way to explore NZ and play golf. Everything is done for you, from helicoptering to a glaizer, Cape Kiddnapers and Kauri Cliffs. 7 rounds of golf + sheep ranch, textile mill, the ship is the ORION with 75 in crew.

Golf Courses:

This has been reviewed a dozen times before, so I will not attempt to review them other than a  few highlights:

Barnbougle Dunes: Best green complexes I can remember, biggest and nastiest flys anywhere. They fly right in your ears, nose and mouth. Tasty however, like a Big Mac. Great golf course, probably my favorite.
Royal Melbourne: Best in Australia
Other must plays:
Kingston Heath
Metropolitian
New South Wales
Kauri Cliffs:Best in New Zealand even though
Cape Kiddnapers is rated higher: Just too windy when we played it. The balls were blowing off the tees for everyone. Probably unplayable it was so windy but drop dead beautiful.

Sand Traps: In general, the sand traps thru out all of Australia and New Zealand are deep and wonderful. While the styles vary, and the sand varies even in the same areas, taken as a whole, you will love their traps.

Drought: Australia has had a long term drought so the condition of the courses and their definition are a big step below what I expected. It presented a scoring problem when some of the greens were wet and others were dry. I had my best results using the ground.

People: Friendly beyond expectations. Us Americans could take a lesson.

Golf Balls: Pro V's are $79.95 Australian + 12% tax.

Sun Screen: Buy a big rimmed bucket hat when you arrive, the sun there is intense and dangerous.

[Jason McNamara]

Drought: Australia has had a long term drought so the condition of the courses and their definition are a big step below what I expected. It presented a scoring problem when some of the greens were wet and others were dry. I had my best results using the ground.

Sun Screen: Buy a big rimmed bucket hat when you arrive, the sun there is intense and dangerous.

Cary -

Did you just hit Melbourne, Sydney, and Barny Dunes?  Did the Sydney courses look comparatively better, given all the rain they've had recently?

Thanks for all the cool tips.  My cricket hat (bought in Dallas) was very useful for Houston summers.  Fashion disaster on the course, but that's never been a concern for me.

[Matt_Ward]

Cary:

What makes you rate Kauri Cliffs ahead of Kidnappers for you ? Was it just the wind velocity that you mentioned. Is Kidnappers playable when the wind is blowing really that hard ?

Be curious to know your thoughts on the par-5 15th (?) at Kidnappers. Is it everything that many people say it is.

Cary, have to put you on the spot -- what was the most overrated layout you played ?

Thanks ...

P.S. One last thing -- if you had ten rounds to play how many Kidnappers and how many at Barnbougle Dunes ?

[cary lichtenstein]

Drought: Australia has had a long term drought so the condition of the courses and their definition are a big step below what I expected. It presented a scoring problem when some of the greens were wet and others were dry. I had my best results using the ground.

Sun Screen: Buy a big rimmed bucket hat when you arrive, the sun there is intense and dangerous.

Cary -

Did you just hit Melbourne, Sydney, and Barny Dunes?  Did the Sydney courses look comparatively better, given all the rain they've had recently?

Thanks for all the cool tips.  My cricket hat (bought in Dallas) was very useful for Houston summers.  Fashion disaster on the course, but that's never been a concern for me.

I hit Sydney before all the rain, ditto Adelaide...both were dry, hard and fast.

[cary lichtenstein]

Cary:

What makes you rate Kauri Cliffs ahead of Kidnappers for you ? Was it just the wind velocity that you mentioned. Is Kidnappers playable when the wind is blowing really that hard ?

Be curious to know your thoughts on the par-5 15th (?) at Kidnappers. Is it everything that many people say it is.

Cary, have to put you on the spot -- what was the most overrated layout you played ?

Thanks ...

P.S. One last thing -- if you had ten rounds to play how many Kidnappers and how many at Barnbougle Dunes ?

Matt:

We had 100 people on our cruise and everyone of them loved Kauri Cliffs. They all had a tough time at Cape Kiddnappers but thought it was beautiful.

I would have loved to play CK with little or no wind, but it just didn't happen.

If I had 10 rounds to play, I'd try a couple more at Cape Kiddnappers hoping for less wind.

I'll opt out of the most overrated layout question, conditions and 1 play make me unqualified to answer that.

One more travel tip: Take your range finder. Distance is in meters in Australia and yards in NZ, some courses to the front of the green, some to the middle, but on the blind greens, you can't tell where the pins are.

[Terry Thornton]

Cary,

gald to hear you're home safely. Small world, I've been on one cruise ship my whole life, The Orion, about 3 years ago.

[Andrew Bertram]

Sounds great Cary

I can only concur that Gary at Golf Select is one of golf's gentlemen and you cannot miss using him for course access down here in Melbourne.

Where welse in melbourne did you play.

[Matthew Mollica]

Cary,

Can you expand on why you think Metropolitan is a must see course?

In my experience, it is absoluetly loved by some here, and regarded by others (including me) as just a course, albeit well presented.

Maybe I'm harder on it than most, yet I feel there's not THAT many good holes there. A well presented, an overly treed yet pleasant walk, with golf which should be better.

Tell me what you saw, that I'm missing..

One thing I will say, the Clayton holes (12, 13 and alterations to 14) have improved the course.

Matthew

[cary lichtenstein]

Cary,

Can you expand on why you think Metropolitan is a must see course?

In my experience, it is absoluetly loved by some here, and regarded by others (including me) as just a course, albeit well presented.

Maybe I'm harder on it than most, yet I feel there's not THAT many good holes there. A well presented, an overly treed yet pleasant walk, with golf which should be better.

Tell me what you saw, that I'm missing..

One thing I will say, the Clayton holes (12, 13 and alterations to 14) have improved the course.

Matthew

Matthew:

It is probably me that missed something. Generally, as with Metropolitian, I get 1 play in a golf cart and you can not compare that with someone who has played a course multiple times.

Here is what I remember 4 weeks later after playing 21 courses in 35 days:

I thought Metropolitian was a classic "old world course", untouched by committee or architect, olthough I could see the restorations of certain areas, I thought they were being done so they would turn out perfect.

I liked the more randomness of the wild grass heights, not so perfect, but really more unkempt, more natural. I loved the bunkers, deep, and unkemp as well, by unkemp, I mean that in a very positive way, more like nature was left to do its thing than the greens super tried to make it uneven and natural.

I liked the ebb and flow of the course, but I don't remember the holes anymore, but I just liked it for days following play and remember saying that to my wife and in a few emails home.

I thought it was a must play because is was a throw back 100 years or so and it gave you that look and those type of shots.

[Matthew Mollica]

Thanks Cary. I appreciate the detailed reply.

I have always found the course somewhat underwhelming, especially in comparison to some of it's neighbours, like RM, Kingston Heath, and even Woodlands. Little movement throughout the Metro property. Too heavily covered with trees, yet well conditioned. I assume many like it due to this alone. There have been several architects work there over the last 100 years, with J.B. MacKenzie in the early 1900's, Dick Wilson in the 1950's, and most recently Michael Clayton. I'm pretty sure more than 1 firm had the contract to make modifications in the intervening 40-odd years.

There are some bunkers there which eat into the very bowels of their greens, as one famours golf writer once penned. The older specimens are really good - I agree. Some challenging shots into the par 5s if you go for them in 2 following a good drive. The property does provide an enjoyable walk, and it's ambience is often infectious.

I'm glad you liked the courses down here. We think we're pretty lucky in Oz. Especially wit the recent crop of designs. I totally understand what you penned a day or two ago on the Barnbougle greens too.

Matthew

[David_Elvins]

I thought Metropolitian was a classic "old world course", untouched by committee or architect,

You might be interested to see this photo of the 12th and 13th holes taken 2 years ago.  I am sure you will agree the architect, construction company, superintendent and groud staff did a fantastic job integrating the new holes into the rest of the course.

Great comments on Barnbougle.  I am glad you enjoyed your trip.  But if someone charged you 12% sales tax, they saw you coming.

[Bill Gayne]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OwKBTZq--E

This is slightly OT to a slightly OT thread but I love this video of golf in Australia.

[cary lichtenstein]

I loved that video, probably similiar to Bill and Hilliary after she heard about Monica

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