[David_Tepper]

The 1st round of the JB Were Masters at Victoria National is on the Golf Channel tonite until 10:30pm, west coast (US) time.

[Mac Plumart]

I'm marveling at it right now.  I love those bunkers.

[Ryan Kelly]

Great stuff!  Nothing like watching live golf in prime time.  As a first timer seeing Victoria, it looks like a ton of fun to play.  Gotta love a drivable par 4 as the 1st hole.

[Scott Stearns]

I'm watching too--these sandbelt courses are amazing..  i never thought i'd want to fly 21hours, over hundreds of great courses, to play golf.  Now i want to go!!!

Am i the only one that is blown away that these courses are so good--with very little elevation change?  many seem to thing that a lot of elevation change is needed to have a good course.

[Mac Plumart]

No, Scott, you are not the only one blown away by these courses.  They look amazing.

[Ash Towe]

Victoria is a fantastic course and one I could be happily be a member for the rest of my life.

It is a long way to get to the Sandbelt from the northern hemisphere but we all know it is worth the effort.

[Michael Goldstein]

Victoria is a great place and a very cool club.

Mike Clayton has done a great job with the course exposing sand and the natural vegetation. This complements the bones of the golf course which are very, very good.   

I've been regularly tweeting this year that Victoria should be top 100 in the world.  I stick by that. Victoria is simple, unadulterated golf on perfect golfing terrain.

[Mike_Clayton]

Mike,

We started working at Victoria in 1995 - it was our first job really.
They had an amazing old aerial in the clubhouse from 1932 when the place looked amazing.The bunkers were bold,beautiful looking and all in the right places.
In the intervening years the course lost almost all of its 'character and atmosphere' as Peter Thomson described it in 1977.
He argued that sand had been replaced by grass in the roughs and too many trees had been planted.He suggested that in years to come the course would resemble Flinders Lane - a narrow and famous street in the middle of the city.
We argued for restoring the bunkers and the feel of the course - at least our interpretation of what it may have felt like using the evidence of the photo.
He moved a few bunkers - 8 being the best example - and Ian Todd, the superintendent, has done a brilliant job with all the details that make the course so much better. One of the highlights is the way he has used short grass to tie so many of the greens to the following tee.
We also took out lots of trees much to the predictable displeasure of some. Some of those trees were poorly placed - something Thomson also wrote about in his 1977 letter - and many were the wrong species for the property.
We also planted quite a few of the indigenous eucalypts - but those who criticise us for the removal of trees never seem to notice when you plant them. Odd that!
And removing the all-smothering tea-tree allowed the low growing heathland plants so predominant across the street at Royal Melbourne to prosper again.
For anyone watching the telecast the par three 7th hole is the best example of that. Also right of of 13.

[Jason Topp]

I watched a couple of hours of coverage yesterday.  A few thoughts:

1.  One of the announcers is driving me nuts .  He provides a running commentary as each shot is in the air.  We need Frank Chircanian to come back and give that guy a lecture about talking over a shot. 

2.  I am guessing that the announcing team is put together by the Golf Channel.  If so, I miss the old days when they would simply pick up the local telecast where there would be a much more unique tenor to the broadcast.  There was an enthusiastic quality to those telecasts as well as the possibility for very sharp criticism at any time.

3.  The course has failed to grab my attention in the same manner as Royal Melboune, Kingston Heath or even the Lakes has on other telecasts.  After the first, the par fours seem very similar from a two dimensional television point of view.  They are largely the same length - it seems like every one is 398 meters and every green is tilted back to front without as much interesting contour.  I did not play the course when I visited so I would be interested in hearing from those that have.

4.  The Sandbelt par 3's are so superior to what one sees elsewhere it is a mystery to me why architects have been unable to replicate that quality in other parts of the world.

[Mike Tanner]

I've also been enjoying the telecasts from Down Under. Royal Melbourne and Victoria look beautiful to me—I love the angles of play  and the way the bunkers knife right into the greens. Even the sandy rough areas and occasional glimpses of brown grass are a welcome relief from PGA Tour mono-green conditions.

And, yeah, the blabbermouth announcer should develop a case of lockjaw.

   

[PCCraig]

I watched a bunch last night and really enjoyed it. I love seeing a short, almost driveable, 1st hole!

[JMEvensky]

 

2.  I am guessing that the announcing team is put together by the Golf Channel.  If so, I miss the old days when they would simply pick up the local telecast where there would be a much more unique tenor to the broadcast.  There was an enthusiastic quality to those telecasts as well as the possibility for very sharp criticism at any time.

+1--Jack Newton was great to watch.

Does he still work the broadcasts in Oz?

[Michael Goldstein]

Yes, Jack still works on Australian TV and is the best commentator going around

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Well said Mike T. I cannot wait to watch again tonight.

[Mark_F]

Yes, Jack still works on Australian TV and is the best commentator going around

He's good, but a bit one-eyed.

It was interesting following Luke Donald around the front nine yesterday.   For a supposed short hitter, he was only a handful of yards behind Ogilvy off the tee, and well in front of Marcus Fraser.  He must have hit it close to 300 metres into a slight headwind on the 3rd hole.

For a bloke that struggles to reach 5 foot 7, it was some hit.

[Mike_Duffy]

Mike,

We started working at Victoria in 1995 - it was our first job really.
They had an amazing old aerial in the clubhouse from 1932 when the place looked amazing.The bunkers were bold,beautiful looking and all in the right places.
In the intervening years the course lost almost all of its 'character and atmosphere' as Peter Thomson described it in 1977.
He argued that sand had been replaced by grass in the roughs and too many trees had been planted.He suggested that in years to come the course would resemble Flinders Lane - a narrow and famous street in the middle of the city.
We argued for restoring the bunkers and the feel of the course - at least our interpretation of what it may have felt like using the evidence of the photo.
He moved a few bunkers - 8 being the best example - and Ian Todd, the superintendent, has done a brilliant job with all the details that make the course so much better. One of the highlights is the way he has used short grass to tie so many of the greens to the following tee.
We also took out lots of trees much to the predictable displeasure of some. Some of those trees were poorly placed - something Thomson also wrote about in his 1977 letter - and many were the wrong species for the property.
We also planted quite a few of the indigenous eucalypts - but those who criticise us for the removal of trees never seem to notice when you plant them. Odd that!
And removing the all-smothering tea-tree allowed the low growing heathland plants so predominant across the street at Royal Melbourne to prosper again.
For anyone watching the telecast the par three 7th hole is the best example of that. Also right of of 13.

"And removing the all-smothering tea-tree allowed the low growing heathland plant . . ."

Michael I'm so pleased to read that the noxious tea tree has been removed from Vic. I've always regarded the tea-tree species as noxious and unfortunately it grows in abundance on the sand belt courses and elsewhere. The species does not enhance the landscape in any manner, in fact it is the complete opposite, a blight to the eye and to the golf course.

[Mike_Clayton]

Mike
It is heresy in many places to suggest removing tea-tree and it has some place. But it is hard to manage, all but impossible to play from and it smothers the great little plants. It is apparently a 'fringe' coastal plant that rarely crept more than 500 - 1000 meters from the edge of the coast.
Royal Melbourne I think are contemplating some removal and I know we have suggested it at Kingston Heath. Victoria, though, has been the leader and the results, in many places, have been stunning.

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