Moonah Links - TWP's Finest?

[Shane Gurnett]

Ok guys, what the consensus on this one?

I've only been around it once, and it strikes me as the type of course that you need to play a few times to get the feel of. Notwithstanding that, there appears to be a few good holes here and the conditioning was simply superb. The PR machine is certainly pumping this course very strongly at present.

Plenty of trademark pot bunkers, some interesting greens' complexes and some nice rolling terrain. But does it cut the mustard? At $75 per round it will need to be good to woo the punters back for a second look.

Where does it sit in comparison to the Ocean and Moonah at the National, the Dunes etc? Please share your thoughts.....

[BryanC]

Who, or what, is TWP? Just wondering.

Thanks.

[NicP]

Bryan,

         TWP is our good friends at Thomson Woolveridge and Perritt  who have, over the years, built a unique reputation in golf design in Australia.

Shane,

          Can't really comment as I have only seen a few holes before it was opened but from what I saw I haven't rushed down with my $75 yet.  

[Andrew Presnell]

SG as we have previously discussed I played this on New Year's Eve last year after a Boxing Day win on the horses (how else could I come up with the $75?).

Despite not really being allowed to, after the first hole I decided to seek the true pro experience and play it off the Blacks.

I recently read a review of a 4 handicapper who played Augusta National last Winter and he spoke about wearing out the face of his 3 wood with the approaches to the par 4's. This course was like that. It was so hellishly long that its strategical elements were really lost on me (especially when I was trying to avoid the 11 or so fairway bunkers on some par 5's - it seemed very overtrapped). Luckily the lies on the fairways were so pure that you had a lot of confidence with the fairway metals.
 
I'm sure it would be a more enjoyable walk off the member tees but Mike Clayton told me once that your best test of where you are as a golfer lies in your performaces off the backs. That the kid who welcomed us on the 1st tee warned "don't worry if you have 100's as this course is designed for the pros" didn't impress me much either. Can't imagine someone saying that on the first tee at Royal West (and we all know which is the miles superior track).

One impression I did leave with was that the green complexes seemed a little more subtle than those on some other new Vic courses (eg 13th beach, National Ocean etc) which is a plus.

[Brian Walshe]

Shane,

I played it a couple of months ago (off the blues, I'm not a masochist) and I have a feeling it is going to be at least another 12 months before you can judge it fairly.  Like both the Moonah and Ocean at the National when they first opened the rough was over the top and hopefully like both those courses they'll work out where it has to be trimmed back to make it more playable.

The greens are far less extreme in slope than the Ocean.  I seem to remember an article in the Age before it opened saying that a number of the greens (7??) had been modified because the slopes were too severe.  As this happened at roughly the same time as the changes to a couple of greens on the Ocean because of that problem perhaps some lessons were learnt.

One thing I was surprised at was that there seemed to be a problem in the driving area between 5 and 15.  As you walked down the fairway from the 15th tee there were tee shots from 5 landing amongst you.

How do I rate it?  Well better than the Ocean.  The green complexes are better and the bunkering while still way over the top is at least not as silly as the Ocean is in places.  Is it better than the National Moonah or 13th Beach? No not even close.

Would I pay $75 to play it again?  No, I don't think so.  I just got tired of having to drive it over the trademarked TWP pot bunkers off every tee (bar 13) and in the end it just wasn't fun, more just a grind and there are too many better courses close by to bother with it.

Brian  

 

[Peter Goss]

I played Moonah Links a few weeks ago and enjoyed the experience!
The topography would not be the ideal land to select in my view if you were looking for a classic course such as Royal Melbourne because it is too severe in its slopes  but as a "stadium course" it will offer great views for golf fans wanting to get a decent view of Tiger et al.
Tees, fairways and greens were in excellent condition. Most holes had significant strategic interest. I play off 10 handicap and played from the blue tees and found only one hole difficult to reach in regulation. I didn't lose a ball. I loved the best shot in to the green  on  a number of holes being a chip and run rather than a high pitch.
Many interesting holes,many strategic options. I enjoyed parring 5 with a 3 wood  off the tee hugging the fairway bunker left to get the best shot in (5 iron) while my 3 handicap collegue hit through the fairway with driver. Many interesting greens - I thought of Doak's essay on short grass hazards.
Criticisms - no short par 3, no really short par 4 though I hit driver pitching wedge into one hole. Major problem I noticed was the bowl efffect of current hole 1 and 3 collecting drives from a number of directions into "divot city".
Some fairway bunkers wre very penal but to me it was real risk/reward stuff. Soem other bunkers looked very penal but in fact were optical illusions. I thought that was clever.
So it may sound like heresy to some but I enjoyed it. I would like to play it a few more times to understand the course bit more and be more familiar to some of the blind shots.
For the pros it will be very tough. For the guys who consider themselves in pro class becauses they have low handicap so play off the back tees,  it may encourage a degree of perspective on how good some pros really are.
I'm not saying it's the best course I've ever played but better than Dunes by far. And I like Dunes.
I suggest everyone drop preconceived ideas and have a hit and form your own opinion and feel free to agree or disagree.

[Chris Kane]

I read recently that the green fee will jump to $100 when the clubhouse opens.

Apparantly $75 is the discount rate!