Bette and I have arrived back home after 5 weeks in Aus/NZ. We could have stayed longer...great people, courses and country.
Some travel points for those of you who haven't made the trip yet:
Airline: If you are going with your wife or another buddy, the best way to fly is Air New Zealand, provided you have an American Express Platium Card and buy a full fare business class ticket and you get the 2nd ticket for free. You get a real sleeper cocoon, you can lay down 100% flat and it is excellent.
Baggage: They only allow 15 pounds as a carry-on so you must take something small. They enforce this rule.
Hotels in Melbourne: The Langham is way better than the Park Hyatt. We stayed about 5 days at each and the Langham has free breakfast buffet which is unbelieveable, again because it is standard with AMEX Platium, way better location and a buffet dinner that is beyond first class.
Travel Agents: We used GolfSelect, Gary Lisbon who did a feature interview here on GCA about a year ago. I can recommend him highly. He made reservations for us at 14 different courses in Australia, all with golf carts which are tough to come by, gave us a GPS system that covered every airport, golf course and hotel on the trip that did not get us lost even once, and when I overpaid him by mistake in US Dollars instead of Australian Dollars, he refunded the money immediately and I would never have caught my own mistake. Everything came off without a hitch.
Kalos Cruise: After spending 3 weeks in Australia, we joined a golf cruise in New Zealand put on by Kalos Golf Cruises. I made a post about a year ago asking if anyone had used them and got no response. So here is the deal. This is a very upscale cruise for couples, there were 50 couples on our cruise, on a small ship with just about every amenity imagineable. I can not imagine a more perfect way to explore NZ and play golf. Everything is done for you, from helicoptering to a glaizer, Cape Kiddnapers and Kauri Cliffs. 7 rounds of golf + sheep ranch, textile mill, the ship is the ORION with 75 in crew.
Golf Courses:
This has been reviewed a dozen times before, so I will not attempt to review them other than a few highlights:
Barnbougle Dunes: Best green complexes I can remember, biggest and nastiest flys anywhere. They fly right in your ears, nose and mouth. Tasty however, like a Big Mac. Great golf course, probably my favorite.
Royal Melbourne: Best in Australia
Other must plays:
Kingston Heath
Metropolitian
New South Wales
Kauri Cliffs:Best in New Zealand even though
Cape Kiddnapers is rated higher: Just too windy when we played it. The balls were blowing off the tees for everyone. Probably unplayable it was so windy but drop dead beautiful.
Sand Traps: In general, the sand traps thru out all of Australia and New Zealand are deep and wonderful. While the styles vary, and the sand varies even in the same areas, taken as a whole, you will love their traps.
Drought: Australia has had a long term drought so the condition of the courses and their definition are a big step below what I expected. It presented a scoring problem when some of the greens were wet and others were dry. I had my best results using the ground.
People: Friendly beyond expectations. Us Americans could take a lesson.
Golf Balls: Pro V's are $79.95 Australian + 12% tax.
Sun Screen: Buy a big rimmed bucket hat when you arrive, the sun there is intense and dangerous.