GCA Boomerang 2011 - thoughts, memories, pictures etc.

[James Bennett]

Bill

they are monotremes - egg laying mammals.  So too are platypus (or is that platypi for plural?)

James B

ps  pics and commentary to come, perhaps from a different perspective.

Also, check out the Irish photo's in Aidan Bradley's 'St Patrick's Day' thread.  What do people think about the dunes' shape of the 17 courses shown?  I had heard that Barnbougle resembled the Irish dunes.

[Kevin Pallier]

I am currently waiting to board The Spirit of Tasmania back to the mainland but again want to echo everyone elses comments in thanking Scott for organizing such a fantastic event.

I had a great time meeting some new GCAers and reacquainting myself with some old one's at such a premier facility. At least Australia now has a destination venue as good as Bandon and a darn cheaper one (at present) too.

[Matthew Mollica]

I am looking forward to this thread.  Some questions out of the gate:

1.  Is a 4-5 club wind standard at the location? It sure seems like it is based on my visit and comments from others that have visited.

Perhaps a little contray to Brett's post, I feel the Westerly wind, of 3 clubs strength is the most commonly encountered playing condition at Bridport. I've visited at least twice a year each year over the last seven, and have yet to play in an Easterly.  I have rarely played a 1 club wind, while I've encountered what would be the equivalent of a 7 club wind once or twice.

MM

[Mark_F]

I've visited at least twice a year each year over the last seven

I really have to see if I can become a podiatrist.

[Bill Brightly]

I've just landed so I'll make a quick post now before I begin digging out from a mountain of work. Here are few quick thoughts:

Barnbougle Dunes and Lost Farm are a pair of GREAT courses that compliment each other beautifully. If they were at Bandon, each would receive their share of votes for "best course."

GCA members would do well to start planning their trip for 2013, you will not be disappointed, especially if you combine your trip to Tazmania with golf around the Melbourne area. The golf, the sightseeing and the friendliness of Australians more than make up for the long flight time.

The match was 13 1/2 to 13 1/2 after the first 36 holes...

In my mind, Barnbougle Dunes gets a slight nod over Pacific Dunes. It is a great links course and an absolute blast to play.

Lost Farm is superb, unmistakenly C & C on a great links site. I played it twice in very light wind, and once in the 4-club wind mentioned above. While the course has tremendous width, I limped off the course a beaten man that day having lost my 8th and last golf ball on 18. (No excuses, just a home-course 3-handicap who can't play in wind )

Both courses are easy walks. I carried for 36 holes on each.

It was fascinating to listen to Richard Sattler, a rare opportunity to hear an owner discuss the building of a golf course and the interaction he had with the architects.

Many thanks to Scott Warren for organizing a great event. There were so many great guys, I only wish that I was not battling a nasty cold. I had to forego any late night activities in order to rally for the next day's golf... I'll post some photos soon!

 

[David Kelly]

I had a great time meeting some new GCAers and reacquainting myself with some old one's at such a premier facility. At least Australia now has a destination venue as good as Bandon and a darn cheaper one (at present) too.

$110 for 36 holes at Lost Farm!!!!

[George Pazin]

 

Damn good stuff, thanks for sharing.

[Sven Nilsen]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDO49ImowVg

Here's a video from a morning round pre-Boomerang at St. Andrew's Beach.  It doesn't give you much of the course to look at, but does include some good examples of the local fauna and the general vibe of the rounds played down under.

I'll have videos of Royal Melbourne West and East, Yarra Yarra and the Barnbougle courses posted over the next couple of days.

[Bill Brightly]

A few of the participants;

The Kid, Michael Taylor, our gracious host at New South Wales






The Lefty, David Kelly, playing this hole at NSW
 



John Mayhugh playing the same hole from the proper side of the ball



John finding a little trouble elsewhere on the course:

[Bill_McBride]

A few of the participants;

The Kid, Michael Taylor, our gracious host at New South Wales

Stack and tilt, reverse pivot, or bad angle? 

[Bill_McBride]

Bill

they are monotremes - egg laying mammals.  So too are platypus (or is that platypi for plural?)

James, do you actually see those guys?  This one looks very shy!

[Sven Nilsen]

A few of the participants;

The Kid, Michael Taylor, our gracious host at New South Wales

Stack and tilt, reverse pivot, or bad angle? 

Does it matter, the drive most likely ended up around 295 straight down the middle.  The kid's got game.

[Matt Bosela]

Awesome photos and recap guys!

[Tim Leahy]

Great pictures!
Hey, Kyle did you get a bowl of soup with that hat!
But, it looks good on you! LOL

[Sven Nilsen]

Link to the Lost Farm video (SFW - golf porn excepted).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSoKGZdSo-c

Apologize for the jumpiness of the video, I didn't bring a tripod, and the breeze had an effect on more than just the slices.

[Eric Smith]

Link to the Lost Farm video (SFW - golf porn excepted).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSoKGZdSo-c

Apologize for the jumpiness of the video, I didn't bring a tripod, and the breeze had an effect on more than just the slices.

Awesome! Bring 'em on Sven. I recently got AppleTV at the house and will watch this and the others on the big screen this weekend. I watched maybe 30 YouTube vids from Bandon and the golf courses of SW Ireland last weekend on there. Pretty good entertainment and so much better than viewing on my computer screen, obviously.

[Brett_Morrissy]

Sven,
Great vid from StAB, you had better send that to the Australian tourism department and the management of the golf course!
Mate, what are the details on the little video hand held thing you had, brand, size, cost, memory?

Matt,I am amazed - you must play at different times of the year to me... I probably average 10-12 rds there pa, have had 14 since December, I cannot believe you don't get easterly's when you play there, 7 is probably the hole everyone uses as their benchmark for "what did you hit into 7?" - certainly the westerly is the prevailing but not of 3 clubs, if we assume the club into 7 is a wedge for the general, 3 clubs means a 7 iron, very rare in my experience, and a 7 club gale would be a 3 iron?!

I usually get down there late Feb, May and Late in the year. I find I am playing the long stretch into a breeze quite regularly and little wedges into 7, I guess I would play 8 into the wind maybe 3-4/10?

I think it just shows what incredible variety is available to the golfer on course designed and set up like it is.

Sven, keep the videos coming...

[Kyle Henderson]

Anyone that gazes upon the tan lines of Sven N. or David K. will instantly understand the wisdom of soup hats.

Great pictures!
Hey, Kyle did you get a bowl of soup with that hat!
But, it looks good on you! LOL

[Colin Macqueen]

Sven,

Thanks a lot for "embedding" the memory of that game at Lost Farm. Incipient Alzheimers is no longer a problem.....I will just return to this cracking video.  The gladiatorial roar as we approach the amphitheatre of the 18th. green is most apt. To have played the 18 holes in that wind was a victory in itself. A great memory of my first, and certainly not last, game with GCA cronies.

Cheers Colin

[David Kelly]

Anyone that gazes upon the tan lines of Sven N. or David K. will instantly understand the wisdom of soup hats.

Great pictures!
Hey, Kyle did you get a bowl of soup with that hat!
But, it looks good on you! LOL

Luckily it was a a lot warmer and sunnier when I got home than it was in the (alleged) summer in Australia so I was able to sit out and even things up.

[Sven Nilsen]

Brett:

It's a Flip Video Recorder - the UltraHD model.  It has 8GB of memory (about 2 hours of video) and retails for around $200.  Combined with Apple's IMovie software, it was pretty easy to string together the 50 or so 15 sec clips into something viewable.

Mine was a present from a very nice young lady who, perhaps, just wanted evidence that I was actually traveling half way around the world to play golf with my internet friends (I imagine more credible excuses have been given for a trip to Vegas).  They also have a nice feature where you can send in an image to be imprinted on the camera, mine has the 2009 Milwaukee concert poster for Widespread Panic, who provide 2/3's of the soundtrack for the video.

More to follow - having a hard time editing out Colin's accent from our round at BD on Friday morning.

Sven

[Matthew Mollica]

Matt,I am amazed - you must play at different times of the year to me... I probably average 10-12 rds there pa, have had 14 since December, I cannot believe you don't get easterly's when you play there, 7 is probably the hole everyone uses as their benchmark for "what did you hit into 7?" - certainly the westerly is the prevailing but not of 3 clubs, if we assume the club into 7 is a wedge for the general, 3 clubs means a 7 iron, very rare in my experience, and a 7 club gale would be a 3 iron?!

I usually get down there late Feb, May and Late in the year. I find I am playing the long stretch into a breeze quite regularly and little wedges into 7, I guess I would play 8 into the wind maybe 3-4/10?

Brett,

You've had me thinking. I've not often spent 2 or more days there in any one trip, with most ventures being 18 to 24 hour hit and run missions. But I but have been there every month of the year (at some stage through the last 7 years) apart from December and January. It's always been a westerly for me, and if I've been lucky, teeing off early, I'm through the 4th before the wind is up. I've found October to be brutal on average.

We are definitely on the same page, using 7 as a barometer. I don't recall ever hit wedge in there, and have hit seven or punch six most frequently. I have smashed 3 iron and been just short on one occasion. Never played 7 with the wind, or 8 into it. Mind you, I've twice got home on 8 (from the black markers) with driver gap wedge. The 5th has frequently been a 9 iron for me.

Never had the chance to think that the 15th green was ever much less than a 7 iron approach, and it has been a fairway wood at least once, yet I've come within 5 metres from driving the tenth on one occasion.

All this tells me I need to tag along on your next trip to Bridport!

MM

[Colin Macqueen]

Sven,
That bloody Macqueen suffers from verbal diarrhoea. I've noticed he mutters a lot to himself after every shot. Mute him! Mute him!

Cheers Colin

[Sven Nilsen]

Link to the Barnbougle Dunes video.  Don't want to step on the toes of Kyle's BD hole-by-hole thread, so either wait to watch this until he's reached 18 or treat this as an appetizer for the photos and commentary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbo7CkPCTF8

[Tom_Doak]

Sven,
Great vid from StAB, you had better send that to the Australian tourism department and the management of the golf course!
Mate, what are the details on the little video hand held thing you had, brand, size, cost, memory?

Matt,I am amazed - you must play at different times of the year to me... I probably average 10-12 rds there pa, have had 14 since December, I cannot believe you don't get easterly's when you play there, 7 is probably the hole everyone uses as their benchmark for "what did you hit into 7?" - certainly the westerly is the prevailing but not of 3 clubs, if we assume the club into 7 is a wedge for the general, 3 clubs means a 7 iron, very rare in my experience, and a 7 club gale would be a 3 iron?!

I usually get down there late Feb, May and Late in the year. I find I am playing the long stretch into a breeze quite regularly and little wedges into 7, I guess I would play 8 into the wind maybe 3-4/10?

I think it just shows what incredible variety is available to the golfer on course designed and set up like it is.

Sven, keep the videos coming...

Brett:

Based on my various experiences at Barnbougle -- mostly during construction, unfortunately -- the truth of the prevailing wind is somewhere between your two contrasting views.  There's no way the easterly blows 30-35% of the time; I'm guessing it is more like 15%, or 20% at most.  We did have a tailwind at #4 and #7 for the Grand Opening in December, 2004, but six years later, at the same time, it was a very strong westerly instead.

It's difficult to design a course where most of the holes have to run along the line of the prevailing wind, and where the playing yardages vary so much with the strength of the wind.  It is the same in Bandon; in fact, before we started building Old Macdonald, I made the design committee go out and play shots into the wind and downwind on a windy day, so they would appreciate how much difference it makes.  [The difference in tee shots was around 100 yards!]

All of that reinforces something I learned a long time ago in the UK and Ireland -- you just have to make the approaches work for whatever club a player may have in his hands, whether it's a three-wood or a half-wedge.