NSW Golf Course

[Matthew Delahunty]

James,

I think Ed and David may have gotten wet once or twice today.

[Andrew Summerell]

There's a great photo in the clubhouse of the original 1st. It played from I believe near the clubhouse up to where the 2nd green stands today.

I believe the original 1st by MacKenzie was a long par 3 to near where the 2nd green is today. The 3rd & 4th were therefore the 2nd & 3rd, with the 4th being a short 1 shot hole to a green not far past the helicopter hanger. The 5th was a par 4 to where the 5th green is now & the uphill 7th  was the 6th. The 8th as we know it today was 2 short par 4’s.

It was Eric Apperly who designed the 6th as we know it today, as well as making the 5th a par 5. Possibly his greatest contribution was to design the 14th, allowing the 15th & 16th to be what they are today.

Apperly, as is evident at Newcastle as well as NSW, was never afraid of routing a hole over a dune or hill. Both courses are better for his involvement.

[Kevin Pallier]

Andrew

Thanks for the update of the original routing on the F9 - can you enlighten me on that of the B9 ?

[RichMacafee]

James,

I think Ed and David may have gotten wet once or twice today.

Wet doesn't adequately describe it Matthew!! Bloody drenched is getting closer.

I was down at Barnbougle yesterday with Ed, David at Matt Mollica and it was a brutal day.

The best conditions: 3-4 club wind and overcast, were experienced for 20% of the day. 60% of the day was 4-5 club wind and drizzle. The remaining 20% was 7-8 club wind and sideways torrential rain.

An interesting but very enjoyable day. Great guys to talk about golf with. Our 7.10pm flight out of Launceston departed at 10.40pm so it is fair to say that we will all be a bit weary today.

There is also one less Wallaby in Tasmania after Ed experienced the time-honoured Australian tradition of roadkill on the way back to the airport

We also had a great day at Kingston Heath on Wednesday with Ed, David and Lloyd Cole.

Ed and David are at Commonwealth today.

[Kevin Pallier]

Rich

It seems that whereever Ed and David go they bring rain with them. We had a brief downpour at NSWGC on Monday as well.

Maybe we should keep their passports and send them out to play our country courses  

[RichMacafee]

So true. The rain front they brought to Tasmania yesterday was so big it covered Bass Straight and got Melbourne at the same time apparently!

Powerful stuff

[James Bennett]

Neither Ed nor David have the least similiarity in appearance to Dustin Hoffman's 'Rainman'.  

Nor the Graduate, nor Tootsie for that matter.

PS  It bucketed down in San Francisco when I caught up with Ed last year, and the day I left Ed after Rustic Canyon this year was the only wet day of my recent trip.  Must be something to do with the combination of Northern Californian and  South-Eastern Australian bio-rythms (?sp) or something similarly spooky.  Or just plain mother nature.

[ed_getka]

bump

[JESII]

For those having played both...is it fair to place the second shot (when going for the green) on #5 at NSW in a class with the second on #8 at Pebble Beach?

There are clear distinctions with the drive, but once the approach club is in your hands, are there many other holes on the planet that make you wish as hard for your best shot of the day to come right now? Not out of a fear of failure, but more the desire to pull off the shot...

Mindbending pictures!

[Mark Bourgeois]

Oh, yes! I think of the same caliber.  You're right to note the distinction: on one all you think about is stepping on the gas while on the other it's "brake! brake! brake!"

[ed_getka]

JES,
   For my level of game it is not the same. Pebble is relatively easy for an 11 handicap to put the tee ball in play. Then most people are going to have the same shot in since the fairway runs out. I remember being about 180 out at Pebble on my only crack at it. That approach shot was simply the most intimidating golf shot I had ever attempted in my life up to that point.
   At NSW #5 it will take a pretty darn good drive to get up to where you see the approach shot being "attempted". The tee shot has to get up over a rising fairway to get to have a view of the green. If somehow you belted a good drive, then the approach shot isn't necessarily that intimidating I wouldn't think, because there is only one bunker to be concerned with right of the green.
   Overall for my game the holes almost play opposite. PB easy drive, extreme approach. NSW is a very tough drive, and second is challenging, but doesn't seem as impossible as PB. The downhill second at NSW makes it a little tougher to hit a good shot, and I don't remember what the prevailing wind is there, but I don't imagine it helps.
   On one attempt each, I totally botched #5 at NSW and parred #8 PB.

[JESII]

Ed,

I was really just looking at it from the inspiration angle...answer this...assuming you are in the eight fairway at Pebble with 185 to go and also on the top of the plateau on #5 at NSW with (help guys...) what 230 to go...are there many shots on the planet that would be more gratifying to hit your best than those two?  Not talking overall challenge, difficulty, strategy or anything other than..."boy, I would really love to hit my best 5 iron, 3 iron, 3 wood (whatever) into this green...just because it's about the coolest shot in the world..." That's all, nothing scientific.

[ed_getka]

JES,
   That's cool. I just think the shot at NSW looks more interesting in the photo than in real life. Aesthetically it is beautiful, but for a golf shot I don't think it quickens the pulse like the 2nd shot at PB or the tee shot at Cypress #16. Or for that matter the next hole at NSW. #6 NSW may not look as cool as #5 in photos, but when you are standing on the tee out on that rocky peninsula behind #5 green, and hit your tee shot on #6 I would put that more on par with the 2nd into #8 PB. All of this is certainly subjective and splitting hairs on courses of this caliber.

[Kevin Pallier]

JES

I believe from the top of the plateau it is as you suggested  pretty close to 230-250 yards into the green. The great thing about the shot - is that you have to then allow for say 100-150 yards of roll on the fairway (depending on the breeze). One can still get away with a "worm burner" but at PB you cant  

Like Ed I feel it's not as near as intimidating as the 8th at PB nor is it the most intimidating shot on the course (say the tee shot on 15 or that at 6 NSW ?) but it is a "cool" shot all the same.

[Sean_A]

The course looks to be an odd mix of rough n ready with neat n tidy.  Is NSW in some sort of transition, if so, which way?

Ciao

[Jason Topp]

JES,
   That's cool. I just think the shot at NSW looks more interesting in the photo than in real life. Aesthetically it is beautiful, but for a golf shot I don't think it quickens the pulse like the 2nd shot at PB or the tee shot at Cypress #16. Or for that matter the next hole at NSW. #6 NSW may not look as cool as #5 in photos, but when you are standing on the tee out on that rocky peninsula behind #5 green, and hit your tee shot on #6 I would put that more on par with the 2nd into #8 PB. All of this is certainly subjective and splitting hairs on courses of this caliber.

I completely agree.  Other than the view,I do not remember the 2nd at NSW at all.

[Anthony Butler]

I guess I should launch into the fray here as a happy recipient of the  'Windy Wales' magazine each quarter.

Looking back through past copies of 'Windy Wales', the general maintenance/renovation strategy for the course is as follows:

Given the prevailing weather pattern (wind 15mph+) revetting of most if not all greenside bunkers has been identified as the best way to keep the sand where it belongs and maintain consistency... As an example of a bunker completely open to the elements, take the front right bunker at #3. Most times, you have play that bunker like it was hardpan.

The decision to return some areas of the course into sand blow outs came about somewhat by accident. In 1998, there was fire at the course that hopped across the fairways and burnt out most of the tea-tree style vegetation to the left of 5, between 5 & 6, the large area that separates 7 and 13, 14 & 15, the back side of 16 etc. Because this vegetation had reached 10-12ft in some areas it had the unexpected benefit of opening up vistas throughout the course. It also exposed a lot of areas that had become grassed over or covered with ice plant etc... Looking at some archival photos from before WWII the course showed a lot of sandy waste areas before the plant life got established, so it was decided to restore those waste areas to holes 5, 7 & 15.

Because the land where the course is located belongs to the NSW Parks & Wildlife Department, their staff was all over the course about 10 minutes after the smoke cleared and declared the other areas off limits. The area between 7 and 13 for instance has long been known as the area where brown snakes have resides. When many of them were driven up towards Perrie Lake alongside the 4th hole they were welcomed by the local black snake population who preceded to eat most of them. (Ironic since a black snake bite makes a good story and a brown snake bite might kill you before you made it back to the clubhouse.) As a protected species, the brown snake habitat must be maintained.

[Mark_F]

As a protected species, the brown snake habitat must be maintained.

The brown snake can kill you with a mere nip and it's a protected species?

Far from being the chesty Bonds men of folklore who could kill an undesirable creature with impunity, it would appear we have become a nation of camisole wearers like the French.

What's next?  Mortein being banned because it is cruel and unusual punishment to spray half a can on a daddy long legs that began scuttling along the ceiling?

I was hoping to play NSW in a few weeks.  Clearly, I will need to hide my flame thrower in my golf bag, instead of proudly slinging it over my shoulder.

[Anthony Butler]

As a protected species, the brown snake habitat must be maintained.

The brown snake can kill you with a mere nip and it's a protected species?

Far from being the chesty Bonds men of folklore who could kill an undesirable creature with impunity, it would appear we have become a nation of camisole wearers like the French.

What's next?  Mortein being banned because it is cruel and unusual punishment to spray half a can on a daddy long legs that began scuttling along the ceiling?

I was hoping to play NSW in a few weeks.  Clearly, I will need to hide my flame thrower in my golf bag, instead of proudly slinging it over my shoulder.

Mark, I should have put that last sentence in quotes as it is an opinion issued by the Environmental Office of the Parks and Wildlife Dept. The very same people who delayed the rebuilding of the island 6th tee for two years due to a 'threat' to the habitat of a 4-inch lizard who apparently lived in an area about 12 x 15 ft right next to the ladies tee.

Regardless of population estimates, if I tug one off the 13th tee I start the search like a man... ready with a pitching wedge to bring down on anything that stirs at ground level. Be that snake, lizard, or stick.

[Scott Warren]

Bumping a very good thread.

1. Pics of GCAers having fun together.
2. Some great pics - old and new (interesting comparisons, Matt)
3. Mark and Anthony providing a couple of laughs at the end (The last line made me chuckle, as one who has been scared shitless in the rough a few times and taken a wild swing at what turned out to be a stick I had stood on )
4. Apropos of the discussion in another thread about 8 at Pebble offering the toughest 2nd shot in golf, interesting to read Ed Getka's comments about that shot up above.