There is not enough width on the course for that to be true in my opinion. Nearly all of the greens have little or no internal strategy to have any impact on whatever angle you come from.
There is no left or right side of a fairway that really helps on any hole or very few of them anyway.
We have gone through nine holes so far and hardly anyone has managed to explain strategy on the holes to me. I am willing to learn as I did about hole 8 but so far I am not convinced by anything that has been said to change my opinion of the course.
Brian, I understand that NSW was your least liked course on your Australian trip, but strategy & width have been spoken about on this thread already.
1st – The best approach angle is from the left, although the fairway bunkers are on the right. This was a hole you said you liked, although I think it is strategically the poorest hole on the course. To lay up from the fairway bunkers you have 40y width.
3rd – It’s 40y width at the lay up point & decreases slightly the closer to the green you drive.
4th – A 250y drive gives you 33y width. Taking on the fairway bunker gives you only 23y width. There is a big advantage to being near the fairway bunker, because it gives you vision of the green. The more conservative drive leaves you with a blind approach.
5th – The 5th is best approached from as far left as you can go, whether you are hitting the green in 2 or 3. Approaching from the right leaves you taking on the front right greenside bunker.
7th – Best approached from the left hand side near the two grass bunkers. Lay up width is 35y, but it is only 24y at the grass bunkers. It’s the golfer’s choice.
8th – A 250y drive from the men’s tees has 32y width. As discussed before, the green is best approached from the left where you again has 32y of fairway.
9th – 35y of width up until the dune.
I know 30 to 35 yards is not the widest fairway in the world, but it’s as wide as a majority of the Top 100 courses in the world. I really don’t think that width is the problem.
NSW is not the most strategic course, but there is still quite a bit of strategy there, in width & length. There are a lot of options for golfers of all abilities.
Of course, as Tim Liddy said, “The aesthetics are of a municipal golf course. Front nine has a view of some goofy rescue building, ugly scrubs encroaching on many of the fairways and ugly bunkering.” I dare say this is the real problem.