I mentioned in
this thread that Bonnie Doon Golf Club in Sydney will be the first design job of the newly-formed Ogilvy Clayton - the design firm of Michael Clayton and Geoff Ogilvy with Mike Cocking and Ashley Mead, who have designed with Clayton for a number of years.
The tag of this being "Geoff Ogilvy's first design job" is a great marketing hook for the club, regardless of the reality of how involved he will be compared to his three colleagues.
Their full redesign masterplan can be viewed
on the club's website, but I have extracted the hole maps and put them with some example pictures Ogilvy Clayton included to show how the work might look and play, as well as some snaps of my own that show how a few holes look today to give you an idea of the land.
On the hole maps, you can see the planned hole overlaid on what's there now. In many instances you can see the existing greens and bunkering. To help you differentiate, the planned bunkering is yellower than the existing bunkers, which are white. You should be able to see what I mean when you look at the holes below.
Stage 1 (May 2011 to March 2012) comprises the holes listed below as 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 and 18.
One thing I love is that there will be four or five par fours over 400m and four that are under 301m, playing over very different land. Lots of variety! Likewise the fives (493, 440, 547 and 447) and threes (162 flat, 179 slightly downhill, 132 uphill, 157 slightly downhill, 154 uphill) will present very different shots.
So here is the plan for the entire course. The site is 100 acres almost exactly. The course begins just to the west of the red roof clubhouse (north is to the left of screen). Generally, the front nine is the western portion of the main paddock and the back is the eastern portion of the main paddock as well as the southern paddock.
One crucial fature is that many (almost all?) of the mature trees you can see lining the holes will be removed and replaced with indigenous heathland plants.
And now onto the holes.
1st - 415m - Par 4Plays down the same corridor as the current par 5 1st, but from a shorter tee (necessitated by carpark extension). It plays over a steep hill on the drive to a blind landing area, then uphill to the green. It will play to the current greensite, with bunkers cut into the ridge you can see running staggered across the fairway just short of the green to force a decision after a short drive as to whether you try to get close to the green or lay up short. Currently you can run it up near the green with relative impunity.
The plan:
What it could look/play like: 12 at Sunningdale
What it looks like now:
2nd - 162m - Par 3This plays on the corridor of the current par 3 5th, though to a green in the slight valley short right of the existing green and from a tee a little further back to retain the current distance.
The plan:
What it looks like now (green goes to the right and slightly closer):
3rd - 288m - Par 4Current 2nd hole including the tee and greensite. This hole plays gradually downhill from the tee to about 220m off the tee then rises sharply to a second area of fairway that begins about 50m from the green. The plan will see bunkers cut into that steep hill so the longer hitters who can bomb it up there now with little risk will face a tricky bunker shot if they fall short or veer left or right at the green, and those laying up will need to control their distance.
The plan:
What it looks like now:
From the tee
From the approach
Side view of the ridge in the drive zone
4th - 179m - Par 3A downhill par 3 that is blind, owing to a diagonal heath-covered ridge about 100m off the tee. Currently the greensite is heavily bunkered, which will make way for an undulating green without bunkers that moves a touch closer to the sandy waste gully right of the green.
The plan:
From the tee - you can just see the greenside bunkering over the heath:
This shows the greensite as is, along with the sandy gouge towards which the green will be moved/extended
5th - 493m - Par 5A new par five playing south over the old tip that lies between Bonnie Doon GC and Eastlake GC. The area will be capped with 1m of sand, mined from elsewhere on the course, predominantly the current 1st, 4th and 8th holes, so the undulations and whatnot remain a mystery!
The plan:
The drive during clearing of the land:
6th - 132m - Par 3Another new hole on the tip, playing uphill towards the back of the current 2nd tee.
The plan:
What it could look like: 2 at Peninsula (North)
From behind the greensite during clearing:
7th - 301m - Par 4Currently the 6th. A downhill, dogleg-right hole that loses all its altitude on the drive, before a generally flat approach. Trees on the inside of the dogleg will make way for bunkers to entice a drive that bites off the corner. There is a spare hole being built right of the hole where the turf nursery is currently located.
The shortening of the current 5th (which is becoming the 2nd) will wllow the dogleg to be straightened a fair bit by moving the tee left, which also allows for the current tee to be used for the spare hole.
The plan:
This pic is taken from approximately where the new tee will be located (the back of where the 5th green is at the moment), which straightens the dogleg from about 70 degrees to maybe 45. The trees you see on the inside of the dogleg will be ripped out and replaced with bunkers.
What the hole could look like: 7 at Peninsula (South)
8th - 287m - Par 4Plays up the corridor of the current 7th, climbing a moderate hill to a plateau greensite, with a fairway that tilts right to left. Trees will be ripped out down the right with a drive bunker to tempt you to take on the RHS for a better angle and flatter lie.
The plan:
How it looks now (from the tee and the RHS of the fairway near where the bunker will go, showing the trees that will be removed):
9th - 440m - Par 5Currently the 1st and 4th holes are par fives playing side-by-side in the same direction over identical land with identical bunkering. It's uncanny how similar they are! The renovation plan will see the 4th reversed, creating this hole. Sand mining right of the green will create a hazard similar to what you see right of the 16th green at The Addington. The drive will be over a valley with a bold bunker cut into it, before a slightly uphill approach.
The plan:
10th - either a 157m par 3 or 411m par 4Ogilvy Clayton has presented two options for the club for the 10th and 11th holes. Whichever option is chosen, the two holes will run down the land currently housing the 9th, 10th and 18th, where 10 and 11 present some bad boundary issues. The land slopes generally from right to left as you move away from the clubhouse, but not greatly.
If the par 4 is chosen, a short game practice area will go in next to the hole, where the current 10th tee and fairway are. I have a feeling the club will select the option that includes two par 4s.
The plan:
11th - either a 547m par 5 or 316m par four.In either case the green will be located roughly where the current 10th green sits. The tough thing about the two options is that the long par 4 10th and par 5 11th appear to be the best two holes, but of course we can't have them both as they won't fit!
12th - 371m - Par 4One really bad thing about the back paddock currently is that 13-15 run parallel and adjacent, all about 380m and all from a high tee to a low fairway and to a high, benched green. To counter that, the current 14th becomes the 12th - which also shortens the walk after you cross the road (the current 10 > 11 walk takes about 3 mins!) and the current 13th, as you will see later, becomes the 16th - a cool par 5.
The plan:
13th - 403m - Par 4This is currently the 15th - one of the holes I just mentioned that suffers from sameness. With the current 16th being removed under the renovation plan, this green - currently benched into the hill - can move back 20m and become a skyline green where the current 16th tee is, something really distinctive and different to the previous hole.
The plan:
14th - 408m - Par 4A similar length hole to the previous couple, but very different as it is on much flatter ground. It replaces a really poor par five (the current 11th) that is as tight as I have seen and flanks a road. Not good!! The green moves short right of the current green into a little dell and the tee comes forward to get play aiming away from the road a bit more.
The plan:
15th - 154m - Par 3Plays uphill, but rather than a steady climb it's flat for 50m, then very steep for 50m, then slightly uphill the last 50m. The plan sees a bunker cut into that steep hill. Hole is curerently the 12th.
The plan:
16th - 447m - Par 5Just as the 13th green was able to be pushed back because of the curent 16th disappearing, this hole can extend to use the land housing the current 16th green. Instead of yet another 380m par four to a benched green, it becomes a short par five with a blind approach over the hill into which the green is current benched. The approach will be somewhat like 3 at County Louth or 4 at Lahinch - though in this instance the flagstick will be visible.
This stretch (current 13-15 - new 12, 13 and 16) is one of the main strengths of the redesign, in my opinion: three very similar holes each become distinctive and individual.
The plan:
17th - 300m - par 4This is the current 17th, with a few adjustments. In short, the green will hug the LHS dune even more, and will be bunkerless. With the current 18th disappearing, the RHS of the fairway can be contoured to drop down on the right (the favoured side in) if you hit your drive too far, making the approach blind.
In my opinion, nothing showcases great land like a bunkerless hole - 6 at Deal, 14 (Foxy) at Dornoch, 13 at Silloth, 10 at Fishers Island... I reckon this will become a great hole.
The plan:
18th - 419m - Par 4Basically the current 8th, playing from an extremely elevated tee to a level fairway with some fun contour, including a valley from 180-210m off the tee that renders the second shot blind.
The plan:
How it looks now:
