[Terry Thornton]

Watched a golfer give a speech yesterday in the freezing.  He said, "We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals."

Change we can believe in!

Mark

I don't think this golfer gets a vote at RM (wonder if he'll come out for The Presidents Cup?)
 As I've not already done so Mark, let me say thank you to you and the co-contributers for this amazing thread/topic

[Lyne Morrison]

Thanks Mark for the thread, wonderful photos and narrative - also all involved in the discussion, it makes worthy reading.

I just happened across this quote from the RM website -


      ' The aim of the Royal Melbourne Golf Club is "to maintain the characteristics and challenges
        of the course proposed by Dr Alister Mackenzie when he designed the course in 1926" '


Maintaining the aim, keeping the big picture in view, assessing what really is reasonable - all the more critical when managing a national treasure.


Cheers -- Lyne

[Sean_A]

Sean, the argument for attacking the front-right flag -- personally, I would never attack a flag there! -- from the left has more to do with giving yourself a runway of green to feed the ball down, as opposed to coming in perpendicularly, i.e., from the right, from where the margin for error is small.

Coming in from the left, that "ridge" feels more like a tightrope: it's easy to fall off into the bunker on the left or the swale on the right.  Think convexity not flat or "plateau-like."  It's possible reality isn't nearly as severe as the mind's eye makes out, but perception is reality for this chop!

My own thinking on a front-right flag is get it past the hole and the safest angle for that is perpendicular, thus my personal preference for the right side.

The idea of trying shots along a 20- or 30-yard arc from that hole is a pleasurable one, as would be watching a world-class player trying that distance approach from either side under tournament conditions.  It wouldn't be surprising to see that player focus on positioning his ball for an uphill putt -- in Peter Thomson's phrase, "loss cutting."

Mark

Mark

Sorry for the late reply, but I get every sense of what you are relating.  This tardy retort also gives folks a chance to view or revisit what is quite possibly the best review/discussion of any course by anybody on the history of this site.  Enjoy.

Ciao

[Jeff Schley]

Sean, the argument for attacking the front-right flag -- personally, I would never attack a flag there! -- from the left has more to do with giving yourself a runway of green to feed the ball down, as opposed to coming in perpendicularly, i.e., from the right, from where the margin for error is small.

Coming in from the left, that "ridge" feels more like a tightrope: it's easy to fall off into the bunker on the left or the swale on the right.  Think convexity not flat or "plateau-like."  It's possible reality isn't nearly as severe as the mind's eye makes out, but perception is reality for this chop!

My own thinking on a front-right flag is get it past the hole and the safest angle for that is perpendicular, thus my personal preference for the right side.

The idea of trying shots along a 20- or 30-yard arc from that hole is a pleasurable one, as would be watching a world-class player trying that distance approach from either side under tournament conditions.  It wouldn't be surprising to see that player focus on positioning his ball for an uphill putt -- in Peter Thomson's phrase, "loss cutting."

Mark

Mark

Sorry for the late reply, but I get every sense of what you are relating.  This tardy retort also gives folks a chance to view or revisit what is quite possibly the best review/discussion of any course by anybody on the history of this site.  Enjoy.

Ciao

This is an excellent thread and enjoyed the time well spent reading many still here posting insights. Royal Melbourne I played in 2019 and targeting late 2022 to revisit. Even taken separately the East or West would be world class examples of why the iconic sandbelt has only Long Island / Fife as peers.

[Mike_Clayton]

This thread is a compelling arguement for:
- cutting back the length of the ball
- banning titanium
- reducing the size of the 4600cc driver to maybe 380cc
- no club longer than 43.5 inches

This Course should be eternally relevant.

The longish par 4's need to be driver & 5 iron for the best players in the world ... not 3 metal & gap wedge

This has been going on a while now!!
13 years later and still nothing. What does 2034 hold?

[Thomas Dai]

This thread is a compelling arguement for:
- cutting back the length of the ball
- banning titanium
- reducing the size of the 4600cc driver to maybe 380cc
- no club longer than 43.5 inches
This Course should be eternally relevant.
The longish par 4's need to be driver & 5 iron for the best players in the world ... not 3 metal & gap wedge

This has been going on a while now!!
13 years later and still nothing. What does 2034 hold?

Someone referenced "hide and seek" and "snakes and ladders" in a rather fine recent article on this subject.
Seems like while some seekers are climbing ladders the powers that be are in hiding scared that they don't possess enough venom in their fangs to deal with the issues the seekers wish dealt with!
atb


PS - for future reference purposes - https://www.golf.org.au/clayton-time-we-made-a-call/

[Mike_Clayton]

Thomas,


Very good:)

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