Ogilvy Clayton redesign of Bonnie Doon GC: NEW CONSTRUCTION VIDEO

[PCCraig]

P Craig,

It is an existing course but this is a compete rebuild. The hole pictured and the previous one  (the par 5,5th hole) are on land the club had not previously used and it gave them a chance to spread out a little. The course is divided by a road with 6 holes (planned to be cut to 5 which is a big plus) across the road.
These new holes have allowed us to move the current 9th and 10th holes away from the boundary which also helps both with the feel of the course and the boundary problems.
The holes are quite close together but not uncomfortably so and the fairways are wide enough - generally 40 yards plus.
The whole course is built on meters of sand but it had lost a place in the top 100 in Australia which was staggering given how good the land was and it was the push the club needed to commit to such a significant redesign.

Thanks for the response and the background Mike. Looking forward to following the process going forward! Good luck!

[Scott Warren]

Pat,

It's extremely exciting as Mike says, not least of all because we have a brilliant property -- on metres of pure sand, nicely undulating with a couple of major ridges and hills, on a slightly elevated site exposed to the wind... -- a site worthy of top 30-40 in the country, and yet there we were with a golf course not ranked within the top 100.

Of course with seven holes down and ready to open in a couple of months, what's essential is that we keep things moving.

[Scott Warren]

Despite an extremely wet, fairly cool summer, the new holes are coming along and will begin opening for play at the end of the month. A couple that were seeded later may require a couple more weeks, but by and large they're getting to a playable point.

On the topic of playing them, Monday, April 2, I have a couple of spare spots at 10am if anyone is keen to come out for a game with me and Andrew Summerell.

A couple of pics from this afternoon, showing the advanced state of the grow-in.

Looking back down the short par five 9th/18th (ordering of nines so far undecided) from behind the green. Great bunkering not so visible at his angle, but you can see the fantastic short right chipping area.


Looking down the 1st/10th, which is now a really brawny par four, showing the excavation between it and the 9th/18th which has been softened into what will be a rough, heathy, sandy native area when the roughs -- which are lagging behind -- have grown in nicely. Also shows how the tees, rather than just getting progressively longer, move increasingly to the right behind that native area, bringing it more into play and making the diagonal carry further down more of a factor.

[John Mayhugh]

Thanks for the photos.  Looking forward to a whole tour soon.

[Adam Makepeace]

G'day Scott,

As a member at Eastlake, I have been an interested observer of the developments at Bonnie Doon. I have a question or two that you or Mike might be able to help me out with;

1. The landing zone of the new 5th seems very narrow to the naked eye (looking from behind the range, and also from the 2nd/3rd at East Lake). With OB right, and the large dune to the left that looks to obscure the view of the next shot if playing safe. Is the tee shot as intimidating as it looks?

2. For the big boppers, is the new 4th tee / 3rd green in range for a pulled tee shot on 5?

The work does look fantastic. After a month or so off, I am back out playing at EL tomorrow and cant wait to see the progress from across the fence.

[Scott Warren]

Firstly, it was decided on Wednesday to delay opening the new holes for a month. Unfortunate, but necessary. Grow-in issues -- largely dictated by the wet, cool summer with some major storms that caused washouts here and there -- meant that the rough hasn't grown and there are still large areas of exposed sand.

To answer your questions, Adam:

1. It bottlenecks somewhat at a point and isn't super wide there, but given the hole plays downwind a lot of the time I don't see it as overly tight, especially as the dunes both sides make for a bit of a valley fairway in the landing zone. The dune left won't obscure the second shot as the main section of fairway continues to head parallel to the boundary at that point and so the lay-up will be visible. And from there you'd not be able to reach the separate left-hand fairway in the lay-up zone in any case.

2. You'd have to really yank it, and carry it high to get up there. I'm thinking maybe 200+ metres from the middle tee to reach the 4th tee, well off-line and elevated and maybe 230 to get to the 3rd green. From the back tee, they're probably 230-260m away. I don't think many/any balls will threaten the 3rd green and 4th tee.

[Adam Makepeace]

Cheers Scott. I guess distance wise, they are both in range - especially downwind. I guess not many will threaten, and those that do should hopefully have a little more control over their ball. 

I am a little wild off the tee, hence my line of enquiry.

[Scott Warren]

I guess that's the thing -- those who can fly it 230m+ at a decent height should hopefully not be hitting too many 40m pulls!

I need to get back down to those holes and get some pictures. haven't got any down there a in a couple of months.

[Adam Makepeace]

I had an opportunity to take a look at the two holes on the new parcel of land yesterday, albeit from distance.

The par 3 6th looks a treat. The little pinched mound the front center of the green is such a cool feature. The back left pin will be fun to play. Miss left and you will be left a brutal bunker shot. Bail short right and 3 putts won't be uncommon. The lone tree at the back left of the green frames the hole beautifully.

[Scott Warren]

You've picked up a lot about the hole from the other side of the fence! I agree with all of that.

That front-centre knob is a huge part of the green working, because from anywhere on/around the green you can get the ball to any front pin by banking/stalling the ball off the slopes that run off that knob. There really isn't a putt on that green that shouldn't be reasonably two-puttable, despite how wild the surface is.

And yeah, I reckon one of the most fun and difficult shots on the course will be a bunker shot to the front pins from the LHS bunkers. The back-left bowl will be a great "Sunday pin" as well.

[Scott Warren]

Some pics of the 14th hole tee shot mentioned above by Adam.

From the regular tee, the width is plentiful:


But from the back tee you have to carry a decent amount of the (oob) driving range to take it down the right-hand-side, with an easier shot if you veer left. It will be a bloody long hole for most people from back .

[Adam Makepeace]

Thanks for posting those Scott.

Looks frightening from the back tee if into a southerly! I wonder if the plan is to keep control over the native vegetation on the LHS of the fairway to allow for a bail out option? Lost balls could be plentiful if not.

Re: the 6th green, I had another look on Saturday from behind the tee. From what I could tell, the front left section of the green will be so much fun to play. I imagine it is pinnable? Put the tee forward, and give players a short iron to a pin with that large backstop.

If only more courses had such fun and imaginative greens.

 

[Scott Warren]

The 15th (was to be the 6th, but they swapped the nines) green has a couple of pin placements in the front, separated by that knob and associated slope, then the green goes fairly predominantly uphill from front left to back right and in addition to hat is a back left bowl that's tucked away with backboard and sideboard off the green.

Even from the back tee to a middle pin it's about 130m or so, so a front tee and front pin could be less than a wedge for many.

Given it almost always plays in a crosswind, it all makes for a lot of fun, I reckon, and at that late stage in the round will be a great test of imagination and control -- on the tee, on the green and on greenside recoveries.

I loved that delicate test late in the round at 13th Beach (Beach) when I played it. This should be something a bit similar to that.

[Dieter Jones]

Scott, did you photo shop those pictures. I didn't look like it was raining in Sydney!!

Adam, I used to be a member at Eastlake myself. I noticed on google the other day that there seemed to be a drainage ditch / burn cut diagonally across the 12th fairway. Am I right? How has this affected the way the hole plays? I remember that it was a pretty tough slog up that hole into the wind anyway. Also it seems to go diagonally from left (closer to tee) to right. That means that the inside line is easier to clear than the outside. Do the shorterf hitters have to go further right to play short of it or can it be cleared by most people anyway? Could they have tilted the diagonal hazard the other way?

I left EL not long after the par 5 8th (now 7th) was finally reopened after 2 1/2 years of playing that temp hole near the shop. I see that they appear to have finally rectified the bunkering on that hole which was well and truly cocked up first time around.

[Adam Makepeace]

Dieter,

Without steering the conversation away from BD.....

Your observation is spot on re: 12. Hazard runs up the left and right on the tee shot. The burn crossing the fw is approx 200m to carry on the left, possibly 230m on the right. Into the wind, its as penal a tee shot as you could imagine.The burn runs from the back of 6 green to the creek in front of the half way house - so the burn naturally follows that direction.   

Its actually quite silly in my opinion. Single markers are usually fine, but if they are going to persist with it, they do need to constrct a new tee for B/C graders.

Re- the new holes completed by R Watson - 8 is diabolical, just plain terrible for a number of reasons. 9 is ok as a stand alone hole, however the location of the tee and its impact on the 8th cant have been given too much thought. 7 is ok in its current state, but do understand there were initial problems with it. 5 is acceptable, however the routing with the bridge is severly flawed. The green is unlike any other on the course, and the native vegetation eats way too many balls for a members course.

The biggest problem though is throughout the round, you look left and right to The Lakes and the new work at BD and realise what it could be...

[Scott Warren]

Down using the fantastic new practice facility the afternoon and snapped this from behind the green of the new par three 13th (previously the 3rd).

Plays between 160m and 190m depending on the tee and pin (tee is centre left of the pic up on the hill). About 20ft (6m) downhill and green flows generally from high front right to low back left, with a bowl back right that about the same height as the front right.

Great little chipping areas both sides not captured in the shot, but the light helps to accentuate the great movement in the green.

[Greg Thomsen]

Looks really good Scott, when are the new holes due to open now ?

Any word on whether works to the rest of the course will follow soon ? 

[Scott Warren]

We should know in the next couple of weeks, Greg. Hope to be playing them within a month. Not a lot of growing weather left before spring...

Rest of the course will continue at a rate of 2-3 holes a year, so another 4-5 years to be complete. Though of course there is hope it might be a bit quicker than that. The membership has actually quite enjoyed having a 15-hole course since last May, so I'm sure there would be little opposition to another short stint of a reduced course if the board felt it was the way to go.

[Scott Warren]

May 1 is the debut of the new holes, with only one hole to remain out of the rotation for the time being -- the old 4th played in opposite direction. It was planted last and hasn't settled enough.

Condition has improved a lot in the past month with a bit more nice weather.

Anyone who fancies a look, shoot me a PM or email (or text/call if you have my number). I'm fairly flexible. New practice area is well worth a look as well.

The new holes will be in play on the back nine, as:

10th - old 1st
12th - old 2nd
13th - old 3rd
14th - new par five on old tip
15th - new par three on old tip
18th - old 8th

I'll follow through with pics in due course -- I have been being unusually well behaved and staying off the new work!

A plan of the course as it will be played until work starts on the new batch of holes (new holes in bright green, graphic shows what was presented in the masterplan, not what was ultimately built):

[Adam Makepeace]

The countdown is certainly on Scott. You must be pumped!

Any explanation for the swapping of the 9's? Is the new 10th considered too difficult as a 1st hole?

[Mike_Clayton]

The 9s were swapped because the reversed 4th becomes 9 and it is an easy walk to the 10th - the original 1st.
And the new 1st will be the 18th in reverse with a tee right out the front of the clubhouse. It would have been the 10th, making the walk from 9 to 10 longer than the alternative.
The new 10th is difficult - but not as difficult as Kingston Heath or Muirfield.

[Scott Warren]

Mike,

So is this correct:

1st: old 18th reversed.
8th: old 7th (short four up the hill).
9th: old 4th reversed.
10th: old 1st.
17th: old 17th.
18th: old 8th.

[Mike_Clayton]

Scott,

That's it. I think it works well. They could flip 17 and 7.

[Scott Warren]

For any of the Sydneysiders (or anyone who'll be visiting Sydney), I'll be playing both Monday May 7 and May 14. If you're interested in a game, give me a shout.

[Dieter Jones]

Scott or Mac, how many holes will there be "available" for play once the new holes are open? (ie can you play a full 18 now and take say 3 out of play for the next stage?). Looks like 1,2 & 3 from the old course are now updated and 4 has been reversed + two new holes built. So can you configure 18 holes for the members to play during the next phase or do you go back to playing 15 or 16 holes? I notice in that map above you don't have the old 16th in play in that routing.