Hi Guys,
Long time lurker, first time poster.
Kingston Heath have two bores with a healthy supply of water, hence the condition there is outstanding. It manages to maintain excellent condition throughout the year, regardless of the season. It has survived the drought exceedingly well thus far.
Royal Melbourne (and Victoria GC) by contrast have little in their bores and have suffered as a consequence.
The East course at Royal Melbourne re-opened last week yet the West remains closed, I believe until sometime in March or April. I played with a RM member on Wednesday who tells me the condition of the East is still some way from being acceptable, but it will improve in time. They now have a good supply of water in their dam.
There has also been a good dumping of rain in Melbourne over the past two days, so that will help.
My main criticism of RMW is that the par 5's are little more than long par 4's for many amateur golfers, especially when played downwind or with no wind. Is it the best par 68 course in the world? Undoubtedly!
On the West course, three of the four paddock holes are hardly warranting recognition in the upper echelon of Australian courses, with only the 16th justified in claiming to be a very good hole, IMO. Someone with better knowledge of the course may choose to offer more indepth analysis of the other holes in light of the way they play today compared to the 1920’s when Mackenzie laid out his plans.
Unfortunately, additional length that technology brings has not been kind to a lot of the holes on both courses.
By contrast, Kingston Heath continues to stand the test of time. Testing fairway targets and challenging second or third shots abound and I believe Kingston Heath has been unfairly treated because of lack of profile outside Australia. That has carried over within Australia too. The best player in the world was -14 for four rounds on a 7000 yard course in November. There were no 60's or 61's as have occurred on the composite course.
Having travelled and played extensively through GB&I and the US, I know that Royal Melbourne is the only course in Australia with any international profile (some GCA contributors excepted), and together with the congenial 'Royal' title seems to have historically held RM in the forefront of rater’s minds when their selections are submitted. Let's face it, how many of you can name the course where the Presidents Cup teams tied in South Africa?
Go easy on a newbie!