What is the worst thing you can say about RM?

hmmmm, they sure have alot of flies!
golf hat

Ran- Did I see yesterday that the openning date is 1891?

Is any or all of that original course being played, today?

Ran,

I couldn't wait to get up this morning and watch the coverage. I too have never been, but RM has zoomed up my list of courses to play before I die.

The bunkering is spectacular, and only through TV coverage, I can't find anything that would benefit from change.

What a tuna-a-mint! The course certainly showed its teeth today. Els did blame a bad bunker play on the greens staff. He claimed there was no sand in a rear bunker, and "the Greenkeeper should be made aware of it."




Doug

Ditto about Thompson!  And as mentioned on another thread, Mike Clayton was appreciated the other day as well.

Ran,

The only real weakness I can see in the West course is the absence of a genuine three-shotter for the skilled player.  All four par-5's are easily reachable, with 12W in particular being a simple 4 (it plays as a 4 during the tournament).  Of course, when designed in the late 20's, all four hole would have been terrific risk/reward holes, but technology has made them tougher two-shot holes rather than par-5's.  Thats why many of us now refer to RM as a par 68.

There have been a number of threads documenting Darren Kilfara's observation that the course is relatively easy for good players under member conditions without wind - I don't know if this is a weakness, but there is no question that RM is the easiest course for a teen-marker on the sandbelt, unless the wind blows!

TEPaul,

I had the good fortune to sit next to Peter Thomson at a dinner I hosted in St. Andrews last September, the one by the way, that you were unable to make!

A more erudite golfing raconteur would be hard to find. His depth of knowledge of golf history, architecture and equipment is encyclopaedic. I reminded him that many years ago someone asked him why he had never written an instructional book on golf. His brief reply was that there wasn't enough in the golf swing to warrrant one. After dinner,he said with a wry smile, that he might be changing his mind, I believe he was offered a substantial sum to put pen to paper.

Apart from golf, he has been a correspondent for the Melbourne Sun and once ran for Parliament. A remakable man.

Brian:

I knew it was Thomson, not Thompson and I actually spelled it wrong about three times. I'm just losing my mind!

Myself and my friend Jim Reilly played two matches at Royal Melbourne back in November 2002.  We were fortunate enough to play in a Composite Course tournament as well the club held.  Jim and I have played some amazing matches all over the world.  We've been to St. Andrews, Shinny, National and all over the U.K.  But our greatest match took place at Royal Melbourne.  It was a hot furance like day and the weather changed a bit throughout with the wind blowing a northerly warm and then switching to the cool south towards the end.  I can say this, I've never played a better place for match play than Royal Melbourne.  The tee shot strategy on a hole like #6 or the option of trying for the green in 2 on all the par 5s or a tempting hole like #10 (where I blew up blasting a driver into the bunker and then over the green to an enormous tightly mown chipping area) showed me how much you must respect the course.  With all of the width, one gets seduced into thinking they can drive the ball anywhere but in actuality you must pick your spots.  Furthermore, the greens were devilish and near dirt status when I played due to a drought.  I could have shot a career round at Royal Mel as I was driving the ball well but I didnt because of my inability to read some of the swirling vortexes in the greens.  I remember walking off of the course for the last time and thinking 3 things.  1) I can learn so much by playing this course day after day 2) This must be how Dr. Mac wanted Augusta to be and 3) These are the best bunkers I've ever seen.  Oh yeah and the match, I was 3 down with 3 to play and halved the match with my only 1 putt of the day to save par on the 18th.. My opponents 3 3 putts finished him off from winning the match.

Just one note, RM played the best firm and fast I ever saw.  The only course I've seen ever play that good was NGLA this fall thanks to the new super Bill Sallinetti and Matt Burrows.

I don't believe Thompson even is a golf TV commentator

Thomson use to commentate for many years on Australia's ABC, when they had the golf.

I would like to add a little more to the comments on Royal Melbourne especially given Greg Norman's opinion in this morning's press.
For those who have not been there, it is God's own country blessed with some of the best construction ever seen.  However the design and placement of most of the drive bunkers has not offered the intended challenge for decades.
The 2nd and 18th west are prime examples of complexes set at an angle where judgement of one's ability to bite off just the right amount was supposed to produce a better angle or shorter approach.  If the wind was too strong or the player not strong enough there was fairway to the left but a much more difficult 2nd and 3rd shot was left.
This was typical MacKenzie.
It is not only the Pros who disregard all of this but even single figure amateurs don't have to concern themselves with it.
The complexes are all cut into the natural hills for effect and unless the tees can be taken back 50 or more metres they remain obsolete.
As far back as 1959, in preparation for the Canada Cup, extensions were made to the 17th east and 2nd west to bring the fairway hazards into play.  Except for a few metres on the 4th and 12th west they ran out of room years ago.
Whilst the beauty of the course is undisputed and the greens, bunkers and green surrounds still offer an exceptional challenge the overall strategy is lost.(Ernie Els seemed aghast that the sand was packed hard in the back bunker on the 6th west. It has never been any different. Seemed to me to make the hazard exactly what it was meant to be - an obstacle to be avoided.)
Some say that the course hit back on Sunday but from what I saw the ridiculous pin placements were all that saved it.
Claude Crockford would only use those spots to protect the turf in the weeks prior to a tournament.  He would turn in his grave if he could see what was going on now.  
Maybe next year the pins will be in the bunkers!!
If the course does not challenge and tempt as it was intended to, how does it rate?
None of this is intended to lambaste the course but instead to make the point that the ball has been allowed to go too far for years.
Maybe shooting 60 around one of the supposedly best courses in the world will make the administrators of our game do something positive to reduce the distance the ball travels.
One can only hope.

By way of introduction I caddied at Royal Melb.in the early 60's and began my working life there as a groundsman in 1967 - earning $32/week!

The grass in the greens seem to have brought about a lot of comment. Maybe I can contribute later.
   

Graeme,

It's great to have your contribution.

Agreed re some of the pin positions on the final day, in particular 5 (1E), 9 (17E), 10 (2W), 12 (10W) and 18 (18E). They were similar silly pins on the days two and three. It's sad that they have to resort to this to protect a course from wedge approaches on holes which were designed for mid or long irons.

Graeme

It seemed to me Thursday was almost the day we needed to highlight the insanity of the ball and how far it goes.
Probably Royal Melbourne is the only great course professionals on any tour play all year - some majors aside - and Ernie's 60 really served to highlight how differently the course plays now from even 20 years ago.

I did laugh when Ernie complained about the back bunker at 6 West. Even the worst member knows not to go there because there is neither any sand or any shot.The hole would be easier if it was a water hazard.