Moonah Links - Legends Course: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)

[Mark_F]

I beg to differ Kyle - I think you're selling 13 a little short. A cool greensite, nestled within dunes, it feels like a little punchbowl, but doesn't play like one. The shaping is OK, but really rewards drives to the left of the fairway. Such a tee shot gives this look on approach-



while bailing right on the drive yields this approach-

Having one strategic hole out of 13 isn't much of an accomplishment though, MM.

[Kyle Henderson]

MM,

I remain unconvinced. The flag is still partially visible from the right side, and the bowled surroundings make the target pretty clear, even if the green itself is mostly hidden.

If there was something to avoid around the green, then blindness would be much more troublesome. As it stands, one can dump a shot anywhere with 10 yards of the green and have a simple up-and-down, wouldn't you say?

[Bruce Hardie]

I think 12 and 13 offer the two best green sites on the course and they certainly sit within the land best of the 18.

Getting to 12 is like reaching an oasis after a constant diet of TWP pushups (perhaps BnT rather than TWP) it is a relief to finally get a green that sits in the land rather than juts up above it. 13 is still raised but at least seems to sit properly.

Legends gets more love from raters than I think it deserves, but not egregiously so. It holds its' own in comparison to its' peers, most of which are within a 10 minute drive.

[Kyle Henderson]

#14: 413 meters. Par  4.
Another hole that sits lightly upon the land, the 14th flows through another shallow valley to another green bowled into the side of a hillock.

From the back tees, this hole starts with very little in the way of visual reference.


A short stroll forward offers a view of the undulating fairway climbing slightly from right-to left to reach the 14th green.


Bunkers sit on both sides around 110 meters short of the putting surface.  The last bunker on the left will only catch approaches that come at least two clubs short of the pin.  More pertinently, the ground at the front/right edge of the green  falls quickly away.


For variety’s sake, I would have been pleased to see a hole perched on one of the ridges found at either side, a la the 4th hole at St. Andrews Beach, but the 14th at Moonah Links-Legends is not a bad hole in its own right.

The ridge-riding 4th at St. Andrews Beach

[Kyle Henderson]

#15: 353 meters. Par  4.

The fifteenth appears to squeeze through a small parcel adjacent to the property boundary. Tee shots must be played straight ahead and up to a maximum of 250 meters. Bear in mind that, with the ensuing 90-degree left turn, there is no need to play more than a long iron, as only a wedge will be needed for the approach no matter how far the drive might travel.


The short approach must find a green elevated just enough to disguise the depth of the day’s pin location.

[Kyle Henderson]

#16. 185 meters.

The last par 3 is also the last poor hole of the round, played with a long iron (or perhaps a hybrid) down to a bunkerless green that is generally oriented from short/left to long/right. The length of the putting surface exceeds  60 meters (!!!), and there is enough movement to ensure that two-putts will be hard-fought victories. Yet, aside from its size, the green is rather unmemorable, and there are no highly troublesome features anywhere to incite the potential for a high score.

[Bruce Hardie]

Calling 16 'poor' is a little harsh. It does at least require a little thought and judgement to end up in the right section of that massive green. I've seen (and had) a few sword fights with a back right pin for example.

[Matthew Mollica]

I'm with Kyle - poor hole. Gymick at best, in that it allows a large green expanse to be viewed from the balconies of the dozens of dwellings surrounding the hole. As for 15 - shortish par 4, with no temptation. Green not visible from the tee, no question of line from the tee. A very poor hole IMHO.

MM

[Brett_Morrissy]

Gun-show, as you continue to do, another incisive and interesting photo tour.

Holes 4, 11 & 15, collectively are pretty disappointing short p4's, i would love to hear from the person/team that routed this course, and explain why these holes in particular are these short 90 degree turns, with no other option apart from getting the corner, with whatever layup club rocks your boat.

And I am also interested by Bruce's comments re the push up greens, I would like to know why the designers chose this option, there had to be conscious choices and I am curious as to the benefits of these choices that were sold to the developer(s).

[Steve Howe]

As a new member of GCA my first order of business is to say thank you to Kyle for all of your wonderful course pictorials.
I first stumbled upon GCA through searching for photos of St Andrews Beach (I was all too briefly a playing rights holder) on a wet and cold Osaka day and hit upon Kyle's pictorial. I've since studied many more of these pictorials - they're all fantastic.

I've played alot of rounds at Moonah Links legends and agree with the many of the comments about the course. In my opinion it's a course with 17 moderate to good holes and one awful hole. I think the 1st, 3rd, 8th, 9th and 12th-14th are good holes that sit nicely on the land and offer a reasonable mix of strategic options to negotiate them. The 15th is a terrible hole. There's only one way to play the hole regardless of conditions and ability. I've always played this course with pretty decent players and we've stood on the tee and hit multiple drivers, 3 woods etc - never with good results. There is just nowhere to hit a longer club to advantage - excepting perhaps the left greenside traps, which surely are not worth the risk.

In fairness to the course overall, it has to be viewed relative to it's big brother - the open course. The legends was designed to be a friendly outing in contrast to the extreme difficulty (and it is) of the open course. It's high ranking suggests many people regard it as a worthy design. Personally, I'd put it at about 6th/7th/8th on the Mornington Peninsula, therefore outside the top 50 in the country.

[Kyle Henderson]

Thank you for those very gratifying words, Steve, and welcome to the treehouse!

As a new member of GCA my first order of business is to say thank you to Kyle for all of your wonderful course pictorials.
I first stumbled upon GCA through searching for photos of St Andrews Beach (I was all too briefly a playing rights holder) on a wet and cold Osaka day and hit upon Kyle's pictorial. I've since studied many more of these pictorials - they're all fantastic.

I've played alot of rounds at Moonah Links legends and agree with the many of the comments about the course. In my opinion it's a course with 17 moderate to good holes and one awful hole. I think the 1st, 3rd, 8th, 9th and 12th-14th are good holes that sit nicely on the land and offer a reasonable mix of strategic options to negotiate them. The 15th is a terrible hole. There's only one way to play the hole regardless of conditions and ability. I've always played this course with pretty decent players and we've stood on the tee and hit multiple drivers, 3 woods etc - never with good results. There is just nowhere to hit a longer club to advantage - excepting perhaps the left greenside traps, which surely are not worth the risk.

In fairness to the course overall, it has to be viewed relative to it's big brother - the open course. The legends was designed to be a friendly outing in contrast to the extreme difficulty (and it is) of the open course. It's high ranking suggests many people regard it as a worthy design. Personally, I'd put it at about 6th/7th/8th on the Mornington Peninsula, therefore outside the top 50 in the country.

[Kyle Henderson]

#17: 380 meters.

I really enjoyed the composition of the 17th hole, as the fairway is seemingly draped over an undulating saddle with no obvious signs of gross earthworks. The edges of the playing corridor are also nicely blended with the surrounding landscape. Moreover, the fairway is generous in width rather than confined to the lowest/narrow portion down the center, a corridor used to frame the distant green.


Poetic wax aside, the hole also plays well. Drives that skirt the starboard flank of the fairway reward golfers with an open angle to the green and a perpendicular backstop.

[Kyle Henderson]

#18: 405 meters.
The home hole plays past a few foreground trees to a landing zone guarded by a single left-hand bunker.


Things get tricky with a poor drive, as a series of bunkers work through the right-center of the fairway from 30-75 meters from the green to muck with ill-conceived recovery shots.


The final approach plays a ˝ club uphill, and (if memory serves), the green features a pronounced false front that toys with weakly-struck iron shots.  

By the look of it, the clubhouse was designed to double as the U.N. headquarters.  Whatever the intent, it was a nice place to toss back a few with the Aussies, debate the relative merits of the day’s golfing experiences (we lapped St. Andrews Beach that morning) and watch the Oscar telecast (live on a Monday afternoon).