Hey Scott,
1. What are the big differences you've noticed in golf culture between Australia and England?
Australia is, by and large, infected by the long rounds that are suffocating the world of golf elsewhere. I won't call it "American golf" because I think that would be short-sighted. While most of the courses I am playing in the UK seem to be run by clubs who view the 3-hour round as something worthy of fighting a war over, I gather from chatting to colleagues and other golfers, that many UK clubs are just as infected by 5hr rounds as those overseas.
But the true culture of UK golf lives on at the RSGs, Deals, Ryes etc - and that is something truly worthy of defending and insisting upon. Forget a stipulated time, just play swiftly, save the chin-wagging for the clubhouse and move with purpose around the course, then go inside and spend the two hours you would have spent working out who was furthest from the hole on two 40ft putts 18 times a round, or walking to you mate's ball en route to yours, sitting in the house with a drink in hand and a smile on your dial.
Too many guys back home go from the carpark to the first tee with maybe a 3min session on the practice green, then from the 18th green to the car and home. The club gets ignored, and that is what makes a club/course worth belonging to. The best club in Australia that I ever called "home" was custodian to the worst course, but that clubhouse was a home away from home for me and the enjoyment flowed through every aspect of my involvement with the course and club, and most importantly, the other members.
2. Are there any great architectural lessons you feel like you've learned just by playing in England?
Respect and use the land God gave you.
I don't believe Rye, The Addington, Deal or North Berwick would be built were the land offered to even the most "naturalist" architect today. Would they be brave enough to build the likes of 3, 6, 15, 16 and 17 at Deal? 4, 5, 6, 7, 13 and 16 at Rye? 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16 or 17 at The Add? 1, 6, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17 at North Berwick? Not that some of those holes are bulletproof, but they are examples of ballsy artistic creation with scant regard (at least IMO) for what would be said in response.
It reminds me of how I feel when I look at The Statue of David, or at any one of a dozen of Claude Monet's paintings. They are so beautiful not just in how well-executed they are visually and technically, but in how completely absent of any caution or self consciousness they are. Why? Because the man who brough it to life it knew what he was creating was unique, and without any way of ever being compared, it would stand on its own, judged simply for what it is. That's why I think these historic courses are so timeless, while those contrived by the hand of man are often so easily comparible with one another.
3. Tell the truth - didn't you join Deal just because the cooling towers at Ramsgate reminded you of the "three sisters" in the Blue Mountains?
I do quite like those cooling towers. Perhaps more than The Three Sisters back home. The not so well-kept secret is that no one who is actually from the Blue Mountains actually thinks The Three Sisters are that impressive. Give me Govetts Leap at Blackheath and Wentworth Falls and its awesome, steep bushwalks any day.
When you come for the Boomerang, I'll take you for a drive and you'll see what I mean!