I had the pleasure in reading the February issue of Golf Australia and seeing an article on the Top 25 Best Public Access Courses.

At the top of the list was the new creation from Tom Doak Barnbougle Dunes. It's amazing that a layout that has only recently opened was able to leapfrog right to the top in such a short time. An impressive feat no doubt.

I was fascinated by the final comments from author Nigel Wall. He said ...

"Where does this course sit in the Australian golfing landscape? Only time will tell. Barnbougle Dunes is easily the best public access layout in the country straight away. I'd suggest it is definitely in the top five courses in Australia, probably even the top end of that bracket. It's that good."

I'd be curious to see how others who are well versed in the other public access courses in the country feel. The pictures of the following four courses rated after BD looked quite impressive with the likes of Brookwater, The Golf Club Kennedy Bay, The Dunes and Thirteenth Beach. Any additional info on them would be appreciated.

One other question -- does Australia have golf development through government jurisdictions like State Parks and local communities and the like and are any of real top quality to compete with the privately owned daily fee layouts mentioned in the article?

Last info item -- the magazine featured an update on the new St. Andrews Beach courses and they too looked quite unique. The Gunnamatta Course is set to open very soon and the second 18 called the Fingal Course is slated to open in '06 from what the article said.

Interesting goings on from the land down under. I'm looking forward to my '06 visit.

Mike - at your caliber, are you in agreement that the three new Doak courses would rank?

1 Barnbougle
2 St Andrews
3 Kidnappers

I thought so much of Kidnappers (but didn't continue on with the rest of you) that it seems almost beyond belief that it's third best, but that sure was the general consenses among the Ren Cuppers.  I've promised my namesake, Mr McCleer that I'll make it there soon.

JC

Matt,

You're a fast mover.  The magazine has only been out a week here, and you have it already?  

13th Beach and The Dunes are really good - however, I think The Dunes is a bit too much of a bitch to walk to make it an entirely pleasant round, whereas 13th Beach is just real fun - despite a little bit of manufacturing on a couple of holes. Neither are particularly difficult, altough they have a few difficult holes between them - strangely enough, a 110-odd metre par 3 in 13th Beach's case. I think you'd like both, although 13th Beach is a good two hour drive from Melbourne.  There is a ferry from the Mornington Peninsula across to the opposite side, although you of course then have to drive back up...

The magazine's list is also very strange.  The two courses at Moonah Links,which are more or less alongside St Andrews Beach, are both open to the public most days, but omitted because they were in an earlier 'Best Resort Course' issue merely because there is a hotel on site - although you don't have to stay there to play. Most people here treat them as a public course whatever compartments magazines attempt to stuff them into.

The Legends course there is quite neat, albeit with some typical strange TWP goings on, and as it takes in some quite diverse terrain is probably worth a round if you are coming down to the Peninsula.

The Open course is an unmitigated disaster, a once only track for most people I've met who have played it.  Although 6800 metres long, it isn't because of the length people hate it; more because it's just uninteresting and unexciting.

Some people, however, rank it pretty highly, including one golf writer here who wrote in a magazine a few months back that he thought it would one day be recognised as being better than Augusta...

Needless to say, poor old Thommo thinks it's the dog's bollocks.  He's half right...

I'd be interested to see/hear your opinion on it when you're here.  

Sean

I could have said 'will' be fantastic.I would rather understate the case than overstate it and come up short.
There are some wonderful holes out there that won't cost much to build.
My assumption is there will be a fantastic course on the ground sooner rather than later.
Certainly financial constraints will have nothing to do with the quality of the course.Unmade it is already a wonderful palce to play golf.

SEAN

I think Barnbougle has enough really world-class holes to justify a decent green-fee.
I'm not sure the Open course has the holes that truly fascinate time after time to keep bringing people back.
It was built for a purpose but the holes that people - and I - love at Barnbougle are the two little four's, 4 and 12 and the 112 metre 7th.
Perhaps the Open course would be better with a couple of like holes.

Mike - You are so right.  That 15th at Kidnappers in a stiff wind may be the hardest hole (and I'm bearing down on 1000 lifetime courses played) I have ever seen.

We did a piece last fall in Wash Golf Monthly on scary holes.  I wrote about the 8th at PVGC and that frightful approach shot.  Well the 8th at PVGC is just a slight chill up your spine compared to the terror of 15th at Kidnappers (Doak/Robertson should rename this hole from Pirate's Plank to The House of Usher!)

In a stiff wind this hole is so terrifying that the story posted on a previous thread bears re-telling.  Several nights after the Ren Cup I was having dinner with the Director of Golf and Superintendent of Kauri Cliffs.  The super told me he played Kidnapper's 15th (550 yards) with two 150 yard 3/4 swing grounder 4-irons, then PUTTED 4 times from 250 yards!  Beat the hell out of the four Xs my group got (included a teaching pro and scratch amateur).

JC  

Matt,

To answer your original question, Barnbougle is easily the best of the courses you mention.  Brookwater is visually stunning with holes playing down corridors lined with huge gums, but to my mind is too narrow in most places to provide many options other than "hit it down the middle" and suffers because of it.  It has some good holes, one or two shockers (9 and 10) but probably only the 1st that I thought was exceptional.  The green complexes are good but again the narrowness of the fairways means that on occasions the preferred line in is from 10m into the trees.

Kennedy Bay is better than Brookwater and is a delight to play.  Not as spectacular a setting but with a collection of very good holes.  The most striking feature is the bunkering which is made up of small and deep pot bunkers in almost all cases.  They are such that going out sideways or backwards is sometimes the only option, not a bad thing but in a location where the wind really blows this is a place that could bite you very quickly.  The highlights for me were the excellent short par 4’s and a couple of terrific par 3’s.  One thing I felt was a little strange was the way almost all the par 4’s and 5’s had their landing areas pinched in at almost the same distance (around 250 yds).  Given the penalty of the fairway bunkers and the strength of the wind off the Indian Ocean in the afternoons I’d suggest that if you intend to play it, the earlier in the day the better.

The Dunes and 13th Beach are both Tony Cashmore courses.  The Dunes suffers a little in comparison to 13th Beach, mainly because it was a redevelopment of an existing course (Limestone Valley) and some of the new holes that use sections of the old don’t work that well.  The tee shots on the 1st and 9th and the par 3 3rd for example.  It is still a good course and a lot of fun to play.  13th Beach is better and is a much more consistent package than the Dunes.  If starts on some pretty flat ground but once it moves into the sand dunes it moves up a gear and has some terrific holes.  The par 3’s particularly 7 and 16 stand out.  

In order I’d rate them Kennedy Bay, 13th Beach, the Dunes and Brookwater.  None of them come even remotely close to Barnbougle which has better holes, no glaring weaknesses and is gobsmackingly spectacular.  It is just in an entirely different class to the other 4.

Lastly to the two TWP/TP courses at Moonah Links.  I enjoy the Legends course a lot.  Aside from the horrendous 15th and the gimmicky 16th it is a lot of fun to play and has some great holes.  I just love 4.   The Open course is a different beast entirely and whilst some excuse it on the basis that it was designed to test the modern pro I don’t think you can overlook it’s obvious failings so easily.  It is long, heavily bunkered and very penal with little attempt to reward the smart player over the long bomber.  For a course designed to counteract the distance the ball now travels, all it has done is play straight into the hands of the long drivers.  No short par 4’s, average par 3’s and some pretty strange stuff in between.  Of the 7 courses mentioned it tails the field by a fair margin.
 

Matt Ward,

I share your skepticism when a new course is favorably compared to the best of well established courses. Moreover, I'm hardly an expert on golf courses in Australia

........ but if Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath are the standard, then I don't think it is unreasonable to suggest Barnbougle is already among the elite courses in Australia.

I came away a huge fan of Kingston Heath for several reasons, but my guess is that many observers will prefer Barnbougle - the quality of the site is just so much better.

I'll wimp out and punt on the comparison to Royal Melbourne until a second visit, but again, wouldn't be surprised if a significant percentage of golfers preferred Barnbougle.

Barnbougle isn't hype, as no less than Mike Keiser suggested in his opening day remarks.

Sean Walsh,

I think Brian Walshe summed up Moonah Links perfectly.  It's a once only track, really. Does it really do the job it's designed for all that well?  If you're attempting to rein in the pro's, why build four par fives?  There are a couple of interesting holes, though.  But only a couple

Also, Re the Fingal course,
 
I've started on some pictures of the land, hopefully will be able to post them when finished in a few weeks.  I saw part of it that I hadn't seen before, and there's some wonderful stuff out there.  A little easy to get lost out there at the moment, but 4 is just mind-blowing.  Mike must be really itching to get started on it.  I know I can't wait to uncover the rest of the course.

Chris Kane,

A little over an hour from Melbourne?  Where does your idea of Melbourne start?  Hoppers Crossing?  It's an hour from the city side of the West gate, then another twenty to the course.  And if you live in the tranquil eastern suburbs like me, it's two hours easily.  Especially with the demerit points system.  

And the Dunes and 13th Beach not being worth travelling overseas for?  I suppose it depends on where you've come from and how much you want to see, but despite their weak points, they're still more interesting and fun than a number of Sandbelt courses.

The Dunes and 13th Beach are both good courses, but are not worth travelling overseas for....Unless you have a lot of time here, I wouldn't include them in your itinerary.

Have to disagree with you there, Chris.  13th Beach is rated 10-15 in the country.  So if you were going to play 10 courses in the country, you would have to play 13th beach, remembering  it is a very significant new course.  I would say that a trip to Barwon Heads and 13th Beach would be highly reccomended to anyone coming to melbourne.  Once you have done RM, KH and Vic, I would head down to the Barwon before playing the rest of the sandbelt, especially for someone like Matt who likes boldness and new courses and isn't as into the subtle architecture that the good second tier sandbelt course like Woodlands and Commonwealth offer.  

David, I'm not saying that 13th isn't worth seeing, but there are plenty of courses in Melbourne and surrounds you'd see first, from a gca standpoint.  Probably RMW, RMW, KH, Woodlands, Victoria, Commonwealth, Metro, Yarra, National Moonah and Portsea.  Of course, if you had plenty of time, 13th and The Dunes would be on the list to play.

Mark, I've been down to Barwon Heads a number of times, and it is always about an hour from when we enter the freeway at Burnley.  From my place in the inner-eastern suburbs, its a little under 1.5 hours to the clubhouse at 13th.  From the sandbelt region, it would be creaping up towards two hours, but from MELBOURNE, its about an hour!  

David, I'm not saying that 13th isn't worth seeing, but there are plenty of courses in Melbourne and surrounds you'd see first, from a gca standpoint.  Probably RMW, RMW, KH, Woodlands, Victoria, Commonwealth, Metro, Yarra, National Moonah and Portsea.  Of course, if you had plenty of time, 13th and The Dunes would be on the list to play.

Chris,

No need to clarify, I know exactly what you meant, I just disagree with you!  Once a visitor has played RM, KH and Vic, anything else on the sandbelt is going to be a letdown.  You may as well go to a course that is ranked as high and is as architecturally strong, but in a different style and from a different era.  I think a day at Barwon Heads/13th Beach would be a lot more interesting, fun and gca worthy than a day at Metro and Yarra Yarra.  

Matthew:

Royal Melbourne only gets about 1,000 overseas visitor rounds per year, and it would be folly to assume that Barnbougle would get more.  No course is going to be a financial success on that kind of number.

Barnbougle will be a big success only if it achieves a following like Bandon Dunes, where groups of golfers from Melbourne and Sydney like it enough to go every year, or possibly even more than once a year.

I think that's possible, precisely because it's different enough from the Sand Belt courses for people to want to enjoy the variety on a regular basis.  If you put St. Andrews Beach in Tasmania, or Victoria or Commonwealth, they wouldn't be enough different than the Sand Belt courses for people to make the trip regularly.  But Barnbougle does have that chance; it's a question of pricing and what Australians are willing to pay.

If it fails because Australians decide they don't like links golf, I'll be surprised by that.