Golf Australia March issue: Doak interview

[Chris Kane]

Picked up the latest copy of Golf Australia today, and was pleasantly surprised to see a seven-page interview with Tom Doak, conducted by Paul Daley.

Hopefully this will increase recognition of Tom's work in these parts and lead to him winning more jobs, since so many pieces of great land have been squandered in recent times.

There was also a letter from an Andrew Presnell, which reads:

I read with interest your rankings of the top 25 courses in Australia.

One comment which made me sit up and take notice was that of your managing editor, Nigel Wall, who made the wise observation that: "...far too many designers...are attempting to out-lengthen each other to combat technological advances."

I immediately began thinking of the two Moonah courses - Moonah Links and the Greg Norman-designed course at The National.  For readers' interest the last five holes at The National (Moonah Course) measure: 422 metre par-4, 524 metre par-5, 447 metre par-4, 204 metre par-3 and 412 metre par 4.

Amazingly, Nigel then preceded to rank this course as No.7 on his list!

Was this a temporary loss in concentration or are we to believe that 6576 metre courses are really the future of golf in Australia?

Andrew Presnell
Via email

(I certainly take your point on board in regard to the Moonah course at the National.  However, the other elements of Greg Norman and Bob Harrison's design - the routing of holes, the natural bunkering, the shaping of the greens and the excellent conditioning - were more of an influence on ranking Moonah so highly.  Also, it must be noted the Moonah course at The National has some wonderful short holes to balance the brutes - Ed.)

Nice letter Andrew.

What do you think?

[Brian Phillips]

How ya doin' Chris,

Looked to me like the Editor avoided the question don't you?  Looks like Moonah Links is one long slog at the end there.  I would have thought one short Par 4 in amongst those would have been a good brain teaser for the pros..

This is amazing.  It's 0630 here in Norway and I am talking to a mate in Aussie discussing GCA.  What a site!!  

Did you see Henrik's hole in one?

Cheers Brian

[Tim_Weiman]

Chris,

I'm just happy to see someone raise the issue.  Here in the States we have prominent golf writers (e.g., Ron Whitten, Golf Digest) suggesting that building courses ever longer is "progress".  Whitten also suggested that anyone who questions this trend is simply "ranting".

[Chris Kane]

Brian,

Don't confuse the course Andrew refers to in his letter (where he describes the final five holes), which is the Moonah Course at The National Golf Club, with Moonah Links, which is another course entirely.

Both are very long courses, however, the course at The National (designed by Greg Norman) has recieved a lot of acclaim, while Moonah Links (designed by Thomson Wolveridge and Perrett) has recieved mixed reviews.

While the course mentioned in the letter is a nice course, it does rely on length for effect on many holes.  Read this thread for info on it.

A criticism of the course is the absence of a great short par 4, with the shortest being 348 yards from the back tees.  The course measures approx. 7300yds.

The 16th is a 490yd uphill par 4, played into the wind when I was there.  I'm a relatively short hitter (250yds when I flush my driver), and it took me Driver, 3W and 7iron to reach the green.  This is on a par 4!

This issue is huge, and its going to explode if a suitable compromise isn't found soon.