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Marty Bonnar

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Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« on: August 02, 2018, 04:51:20 PM »
And so, the long, lovely drive between Melbourne and Sydney complete, we come to the final course we enjoyed on the trip.
There's been lots written here about New South Wales. All I can do is add to the overall praise. The club has a wonderful vibe, with a terrific Pro, delightful Clubhouse and WONDERFUL members!
The Clubhouse appears slightly imposing, but once inside is the very epitome of Aussie hospitality.
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Marty Bonnar

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2018, 04:54:44 PM »
The initial view of the opening hole sets the scene wonderfully for the delights to come:
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Marty Bonnar

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #2 on: August 02, 2018, 05:00:15 PM »
Our delightful host kindly demonstrating the scale of the movement of some of NSWGC's fairways:
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

RJ_Daley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #3 on: August 02, 2018, 05:02:30 PM »
Aye Neffers, tis a lovely settin fer a fittin finish to a perfect sojourn doon oonder...  as it turned out, it was my first round mid winter for us, thus my first round in months.  With the warning from Andy Gray and Micheal "pup" Taylor as I pegged my ball on the first tee to avoid the right rough where the Eastern Browns like to hang out, I was sufficiently riled up owing to my snaik phobia.  It was also the first time I had to carry a divot sand pail.  I loved ever minute of a great day there and didn't get bit once.  Either way, last or first round in OZ, she's a little beauty!
No actual golf rounds were ruined or delayed, nor golf rules broken, in the taking of any photographs that may be displayed by the above forum user.

Marty Bonnar

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #4 on: August 02, 2018, 05:08:12 PM »

Absolutely, dearest uncle. If you had only half the fun we had, it must have been awesome. Great times, memories for a lifetime.

You're never very far away from a delicious view including some local vegetation. I'm becoming very fond of apparently simple carries over rough areas made of this:
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Marty Bonnar

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #5 on: August 02, 2018, 05:12:17 PM »
And rising over the crest of the hill, we come to THE VIEW. It's quite simply one of the best in golf. Not only that, but it begins a stretch of vistas - and golf shots - among the best, most challenging and most fun you're likely to encounter anywhere.
« Last Edit: August 02, 2018, 05:14:25 PM by Marty Bonnar »
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Marty Bonnar

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #6 on: August 02, 2018, 05:21:55 PM »
Rapidly followed by this gorgeous par 3, which I, with my Kingsbarns links, felt was the perfect mirror antipodean brother to #15 there!
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Alan Ritchie

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #7 on: August 02, 2018, 09:28:33 PM »
Great pictures, interested to hear what your favourite/ least favourite aspects to the course were, and how you rate the course compared to the others you played.

Colin Macqueen

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #8 on: August 03, 2018, 04:27:09 AM »
Marty,


THE VIEW! It is terrific!


The thing is that there are many wee (grand!) views like this up and down the New South Wales and Victorian coastline. Australia is a paradise when it comes to small (and large) course with spectacular views to the horizons of the Pacific Ocean. I am very lucky to be able to dwell on these views on and off the golf course. Just a great country.


Cheers Colin
"Golf, thou art a gentle sprite, I owe thee much"
The Hielander

Marty Bonnar

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #9 on: August 03, 2018, 03:52:02 PM »
I simply cannot get enough gegolfogy. For the benefit of the hard-of-thinking, that's golf and geology mashed, btw! 8)
Yup, any nice rocks in and around a golf course get my big thumbs-up.
NSW has a fine collection. This is probably tops:
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Marty Bonnar

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #10 on: August 03, 2018, 03:59:20 PM »
Isn't that purty?
And no, I'm not talking about Nancy's golf swing!
Another of those signature carries over the indigenous veggies. I think I recall my host telling me they're pretty actively managing the greenery. Doing a grand job by the looks of it.
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Marty Bonnar

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #11 on: August 03, 2018, 04:02:07 PM »
No words:
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Marty Bonnar

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #12 on: August 03, 2018, 04:07:58 PM »
Even got a visit from Captain Cook himself!
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Marty Bonnar

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #13 on: August 03, 2018, 04:10:27 PM »
Sunset shadows highlighting the subtle contouring very nicely:
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Marty Bonnar

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #14 on: August 03, 2018, 04:13:35 PM »
I'm very partial to a par3 green which just peeks out of its surroundings.
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Marty Bonnar

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #15 on: August 03, 2018, 04:17:19 PM »
The home hole is quite the looker too. I'd fill in that middle bunker on the right, but I'm strange.
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Marty Bonnar

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #16 on: August 03, 2018, 04:23:43 PM »
To the home green set below the Clubhouse. A fitting close to a golf course full of fun, interest and natural beauty with some great strategic values and a cracking routing which really maximises the location.
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Kalen Braley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #17 on: August 03, 2018, 05:30:48 PM »
Bonnar 100% agreed on the rocks comment!!!



Alan Ritchie

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #18 on: August 04, 2018, 07:48:54 AM »
Interested to hear peoples thoughts on 18. I personally don’t mind it but see how it can appear over bunkered, certainly in comparison to the rest of the course. The highly contoured green is also fairly different from the gentle grand slopes on other holes.


With my armchair architecture hat, I would like to see a bit of natural scrub running up between 10 and 18 ( 10 driving zone) with a few green side bunkers removed.

Scott Warren

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Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #19 on: August 04, 2018, 04:53:40 PM »
Some great pics, FBD. Shame about the carts marring your pic of 13!


The sixth tee really is a life-affirming place to hang. Often on days when there are lots of guests/visitors on the course, things can slow up a bit on the 5th and 6th with all the pictures being taken and jaws being reattached to heads... lucky there’s few places on the planet better to stand around and burn five minutes just being.


The sixth green is actually receiving a significant facelift very soon. The local council wants the green further from the public right-of-way walking path (we are in a national park), which means moving it closer to the cliff.


It will be the first piece of work carried out by Renaissance Golf Design since it won the course design consultancy gig (replacing Greg Norman).


The plan is a for a hole that IMO will be much improved, not least of all because it will welcome a running approach, which for a 200-yard hole in a windy location should be a no-brainer.


Then later this year a master plan will be tabled for the course in its entirety. Only some changes to bunkering, vegetation management and tees have been scoped at this stage, but there would be many members who would welcome a rethink of holes 2, 3 & 18. The former is a severe Newton, Grant & Spencer green that would be fun on a hole 50m shorter than the 205 yards this plays and the latter two were done by Norman in the past decade and are at odds with the rest of the course.


Alan — my general thought is that the 18th isn’t a bad hole as such, it just has no place on that golf course.


We are obviously very excited to see what Tom Doak and his team (I understand Brian Schneider is lead associate for the job but that may not be so) can do on the course. I can’t think of another course than ranks inside the World Top 50 but has as much untapped potential.
« Last Edit: August 04, 2018, 07:09:30 PM by Scott Warren »

Peter Pallotta

Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #20 on: August 04, 2018, 07:19:10 PM »
Martin - always very happy for you!

Scott - to my eyes, this might be Renaissance's most challenging assignment in years. I mean: it's one thing to restore to its original glory a golden age classic that was totally marred by a misguided 1980s renovation; or to bring a very fine golden age course back into the top 100 through enlarging and recontouring greens that over the decades had shrunk and been flattened and/or by taking down hundreds of committee-planted trees that ruined sight-lines/vistas, limited strategy and hurt the turf. But it is another thing entirely (or so it would be for me) to tackle and markedly improve such a lovely looking & fun playing & historic & top-50 course like NSW, even given that some earlier work by other architects was unsatisfactory. I know Tom D and his team are up to the task (and that Tom D loves such situations!), but I still think it's quite a challenge to pull off as 'successfully' and Tom will aim for and as the members will expect. I'm not even sure how one can measure success in this case. Maybe Bel-Air had more 'pressure' because it's in LA and full of movie stars and moguls and television 'personalities'; but in purely architectural/consulting/reno terms, NSW seems the tougher gig. Of course, you'll know much better than I would since you're right there while I'm 15,000 kms away!  :D 
P
« Last Edit: August 04, 2018, 07:49:05 PM by Peter Pallotta »

Marty Bonnar

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #21 on: August 04, 2018, 08:30:03 PM »
Great pictures, interested to hear what your favourite/ least favourite aspects to the course were, and how you rate the course compared to the others you played.


Alan,
Cheers and thanks. Good thought and question.
I’d start by saying it’s very much oranges and lemons! While RMGC and Kingston Heath are ostensibly immediately comparable and NSW (and certainly Narooma) aren’t (!), there’s still some thoughts which might help draw any comparisons together.
In short, my simple mind found I was enamoured by the visuals of all four in very different ways. RM and KH obviously share a certain amount of architectural DNA, lots of local geology and a cartload of sand, and yet, still manage to be quite different and possessing of individuality. They are like a pair of lovely cousins - not immediate siblings, but closely related nonetheless!
Narooma, I felt, was like any number of great ‘local’ courses here in Scotland. A hidden gem, certainly, like dozens here in the UK. Great fun, a members delight. We spent a couple of evenings having dinner in the clubhouse and loved participating in the raffle for fruits, meats and other delights!
New South Wales probably possesses the most interesting terrain of the courses we saw and that location is beyond compare. It’s a bloody good walk!
At the risk of overstating once again though, the local hosts are totally bonzer!
Cheers,
F.
« Last Edit: August 04, 2018, 08:34:18 PM by Marty Bonnar »
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

MKrohn

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #22 on: August 04, 2018, 09:31:17 PM »

Whilst we are often reminded of NSWGC's shortcomings by our brethren from the sand belt, it remains one of my favourite places to play golf.


I love turning the corner on 13, anticipating what I need to do for my 2nd...……….as Scott mentioned, would appreciate the carts being photo shopped out :)


Scott: the "mail" seems positive regarding the new super.

James Bennett

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Australia: NSWGC - The Quadrumvirate Quomplete
« Reply #23 on: August 05, 2018, 01:12:53 AM »
Martin
re your picture of #15 - concave fairway followed by (a subtle) convex green.  The green looks so simple, but rejects any weak shot.
I find the critics of NSW will tell you everything that is wrong, or able to be improved, and forget to mention all that is right and outstanding.  It is a great place despite the very strong air-conditioning that is prevalent at La Perouse.
James B
Bob; its impossible to explain some of the clutter that gets recalled from the attic between my ears. .  (SL Solow)

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