Peninsula Country Club - North (Morpeth / Clayton) - A Photo Tour! - Hole 18 Up!

[Mark Saltzman]

The 329m opener, that places a premium on accuracy over length as bunkers eat into the fairway 200m from the tee.  The approach is played uphill with a short-iron to a two-tiered green.




Reminiscent of the 5th at Royal Melbourne West, the slightly uphill 2nd at Peninsula offers a spectacular greensite and no good place to miss.




The third is a 450m par-5 that should be reachable in two.  While the tee shot is perhaps uninspiring, the drop into the valley on the second shot, combined with a perfectly placed bunker 80m short of the green, a sloping fairway and a cleverly angled green, make this one of the better par-5s on the Sandbelt.








The up and over par-4 4th is a subtly difficult hole.  Golfers will be tempted to try and carry the fairway bunker on the right, but an uphill carry of some 220m is required.  Those unable to carry the bunker must challenge the narrower portion of fairway to the left.  Though the angle into the green will be good, the semi-blind approach will be quite long.






Another interesting par-5 at the 5th.  The tee shot is played into a half-pipe before the hole bends hard to the left.  I suppose one could argue that the 2nd and 3rd shots here are too similar to those played at the 3rd, with the fairway bunker left, ample room right, and angled green, but well-placed and well thought out hazards and greens will always make for interesting play.






 

[Gary Gruber]

Mark,

Nice pictures, I worked at Peninsula CC some years ago, it's a great place and the changes are very impressive, I've been lucky to of been back a few times since.

I look forward to the seeing pictures of the rest of the course.

Will the south follow?!

Gary.

[Mark Saltzman]

The 6th is a spectacular short par-4.  Like his redesigned 12th hole at Metropolitan, Clayton has placed in the fairway a series of centreline bunkers running at a diagonal.  With the land falling from the left, and the approach more difficult the farther right, careful consideration to line and distance must be given from the tee.




The green is fairly large and a slightly raised back portion lessens the importance of the angle of approach as most well struck approaches should be contained on the back of the green.  That being said, a deep fronting bunker on the right makes for a fearful, uphill approach from the right.  And, a small front-right plateau in the green tilts away from the tee, making accessing front right pins a possibility only from the narrow neck of fairway on the left.






Anywhere but on the Sandbelt the short par-3 7th would be a standout.  A swath of bunkers cut into the irregular shaped green left and right, with no rough buffer, making finding the putting surface a real challenge.

[Mark_F]

It looks as if you had some of the more interesting pins, Mark. 

The picture of 6 from the tee highlights just how badly the half dozen or so trees along the left hand side need to come down.

[Mark Saltzman]

It looks as if you had some of the more interesting pins, Mark. 

The picture of 6 from the tee highlights just how badly the half dozen or so trees along the left hand side need to come down.

Mark, I'll take your word for it.  The only thing I'd say, though, is that I wouldn't want to see that left side fairway any wider... make it too wide and the risk of playing for the ideal angle of approach disappears.

[Mike_Clayton]

Mark F.

I'm not sure if you played the hole where the whole of what is now the left fairway was trees. It was a truly awful hole.
Those left trees need to go and they will.

[Mark_F]

Mike,

i only played the North once before I joined, and can't really remember.  The picture in the locker room is more than enough memory for me. 

Hopefully those trees go - but they really, really need to take out everything on the right hand side of 9/10, the left hand side of 15 past the second shot fairway bunkers, and everything next to and past the drive bunkers on 17 if they are serious about having a good course, as opposed to having a course in good condition.  Everything on the left hand dune of 5 should go to, but I guess that's a pipe dream.

[Ash Towe]

Mark,

I have to get past the first hole on my next visit.

[Mark Saltzman]

Mark,

I have to get past the first hole on my next visit.

Absolutely, but only if they let you on property!

[Mark Saltzman]

The great golf continues at the 8th, a medium length par-4 that legs to the left.  The golfer able to flirt with the fairway bunkering will be left with a short pitch, but he must beware as a tee shot slightly left will find a deep swale.  The safe line, well out to the right, will leave a far longer, but level, approach.




A hog's back fairway short of the green will reject slightly off-line approaches, but flying the ball onto the green is equally risky as the drop-down green tilts away from the line of play.




After playing the first 8 holes, the golfer must be wondering how this course is not more well-known and considered among the very best in Australia.  Unfortunately, the stretch from 9-11 holds the course back and brings the golfer back to reality.  The 9th plays through a chute of trees before legging hard to the right.  This is the approach to the 9th green.




The 10th is a straightaway par-4 of 400m with the narrowest corridor and fairway (22m) on the course.  The slightly raised green will more readily accept approaches from the right.




The last of the long and narrow back-and-forth par-4s, the 11th measures 370m and requires a drive that negotiates a pair of staggered bunkers in the driving zone.  We are brought back to the high quality golf at the green, which is long, narrow and angled and with a false-front and small back plateau.

[Mark_F]

Mark,

I have to get past the first hole on my next visit.

Ash,

It will happen one day.  Multiple times.

After playing the first 8 holes, the golfer must be wondering how this course is not more well-known and considered among the very best in Australia.  Unfortunately, the stretch from 9-11 holds the course back and brings the golfer back to reality.  The 9th plays through a chute of trees before legging hard to the right.  This is the approach to the 9th green.

That's an interesting take, Mark. I tend to think it is a little more fine tuning and detailing of the holes themselves than the land per se, as the Sandbelt is hardly bereft of very good flat holes.

The 9th was altered a couple of years back.  The greenside bunker was made smaller on account of erosion, and the left short one added in house, somewhat unsuccessfully. If they removed all of the trees on the corner, and just accentuated the slight hogsback , pear-shaped nature of the green, it would be a really cool hole.

I like the 10th green, but not the fairway bunker.  On a course with some beautiful bunkers, it stands out as a fairly average effort.  I would prefer it to be a low-profile affair that blended into the bracken, one that you would almost forget about from the tee and perhaps even weren't sure if it was there.  The green is really cool.

I like 11 a lot - on a nothing piece of ground, Clayon and crew have crafted a nice hole.  The left hand bunker is hardly in play, but is a great example of non-strategic fairway bunkering without which the hole would be much less.

Obviously, though, after the land that you have played thus far, these three holes are a bit of a letdown.

[Mark Saltzman]

The 12th returns us, temporarily, to the rollicking land and is one of the best par-4s on the course.  The 370m par-4 plays substantially uphill and demand for precision is high as the hog's back fairway will send offline shots towards long grass.






The 13th is a short par-4 whose dominant feature is a Woodlands-fourth-hole-like green that angles left to right and falls off on all sides.  A pair of staggered bunkers are in play in the driving zone, though only the left side bunker adds real strategic merit.






14 is a very attractive 160m par-3 with a shallow green benched into the side of a hill.  Left pin positions are well-protected by a deep green side bunker.






The 15th is the longest hole at the course at over 520m.  The rolling fairway first bends right in the driving zone before cutting back to the left 90m short of the green.  A single left side fairway bunker 100m short of the green, combined with an angled green and front-right bunker, add considerable interest to the 2nd shot.  I would love to see a portion of fairway left of the fairway bunker, though the location of the 12th tee means this is likely an impossibility.




16 is a short par-3 that sets up for a fade.  Bunkers short-right and long-left lay waiting to punish the typical righty misses. A steep drop-off long make back pins a real challenge.




Another par-5 over 520m, this hole bends hard to the left.  Bunkers have been added on the inside of the dogleg, but the 230m+ uphill carry is far too long for most golfers to consider.  Longer hitters must take on the bunkers or risk running through the fairway.  For shorter hitters, the tee shot is uninteresting.






The closing hole rewards the golfer that can hit a draw.  The hole can play considerably longer than the scorecard yardage as the fairway cants hard to the right and anything missed slightly right will funnel away from the green.