Scott
Before I went I have to admit that the merits of the sandbelt courses had sort of passed me by. I tended to pass over the chapters on Australian golf courses in the various golf course books I've got. To be honest, they pretty much looked all the same to me. This trip was the opportunity to prove myself wrong, so to speak.
And so it proved. I was especially surprised by how diverse the courses were. NSW suffered in comparison because we were forced to play off the very forward tees, due to their preparations for the Australian Open. if we were playing from a bit further back I think we would have had a better impression of it. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the round and having looked at the old images of the course on Google Earth, the course is definitely getting better. The two big disappointments were the 6th hole, which wins the award for 'the most disappointing green complex in the best location' and the overgrowth of scrub, which is throttling the landing areas on several holes.
Royal Sydney is just bunkers, bunkers, bunkers. Really strategic, but brutal on the approach shot. We had a lot of really tight pins. It killed me. Better than I thought it would be though.
Metropolitan was very impressive. I loved the sharp edged bunkers, which cut all the way into the greens. Fairways and greens were immaculate. Definitely the best greens we putted on and the best presented course. I knew nothing about it before the trip, but it impressed me a lot. The course felt more like a Florida course though. Almost tropical in its atmosphere and the noisiest damn course I've ever played. Those birds just shriek all day long!
After Metropolitan, Brain Phillips and I sneaked off to play St Andrews Beach, with Mick Henderson, who works with Tony Cashmore. The back story on that place is worth a thread on its own, but for me, it was the best course of the week. It just ticked all the boxes. Spacious, exciting and endless variety. I just don't know how long it will be around though. We paid $22 for a twilight round and we all had a feeling that this was a course that could easily just disappear again, this time forever. I hope that isn't the case. It's an absolute classic and will be my abiding memory of the week. I could expand on this theme, but maybe on another thread.
Melbourne West was a treat. I'd done plenty of reading up before we played, so knew what was coming up. I played really good around there, so got a lot of enjoyment out of the bold, strategic choices offered from the tee. Hit my best drive of the week on the classic 6th hole, right over all the bunkers and trash on the corner, leaving just a short iron into the green. I thought the short 3rd was genius. I drove long, left and had virtually no shot, despite having a completely unhindered access into the flag. The pin was at the front of the green, so despite an absolutely pefect pitch, I ended up at the very back of the green, which slopes dramatically away from the line of play. I'll be using that one somewhere.
Kingston Heath looked fabulous, but my strongest feeling coming away from our day at the Australian Masters is that the Melbourne golf fans deserve to have more of the world's best golfers in their midst more often. More than 20K people turning out to see Tiger. The atmosphere was the best I have ever experienced outside of a Ryder Cup. Oz deserves a World Golf Championship at the very least.
I finished my week with a game at Huntingdale, which was the weakest course of the week., though it is compared to exalted company. They really need to change the par 3 15th alongside the lake. It just stinks the place out. Got a really nice shirt from the pro shop though.
In order, I would rank the courses I played as:
1. St. Andrews Beach
2. Royal Melbourne (West)
3. Metro
4. Royal Sydney
5. NSW
6. Huntingdale
I'll return to your other questions later Scott and add a couple of photos.