Australia '07 New South Wales and Royal Melbourne

[ed_getka]

After a wonderful time in NZ I moved on to Sydney, Australia and had the pleasure of playing New South Wales GC with our generous host Terry Thornton and fellow GCA'er Kevin Pallier. There are pictures to check out on the club's website and in the courses by country section of this site.
    One of the interesting things about NSW is that it is within the boundaries of a national park. Starting off on #1 a shortish par 4 you would love to try and drive the green, but without an adequate warm up on a range the required shot would require a large measure of nerve. The land drops away to the right out in the landing area and there is a nest of bunkers down there awaiting the miss right. Bushes/trees down the left prevent a bailout to that side. Your options are hit a long iron to the level area on the left fairway or go for it. Laying back leaves a wedge into  a green that rises up and is guarded on the right by more bunkering. Played conservatively the hole is a nice opener that doesn't put too much pressure on your game. It would be fantastic as a tenth hole when you have your swing loosened up for the day.
  #2 par 3 The hole plays slightly downhill it seems and the green is set on a diagonal to you from front right to back left. Thus the target is relatively shallow, and is guarded front left by a hollow and left of that bunkering. The green falls off on most sides a la Pinehurst #2. I have read previously that some don't think this newer hole fits well into the landscape, but I thought it was a good hole. I pulled my first attempt woefully left, but a second attempt just to size up the shot requirement was a well-struck, slightly drawn 4 iron that readily held the green, and I don't hit the ball high or with a lot of spin.
   #3 par 4 An interesting hole that is generally panned as being unfair due to an awkward tee shot. More to follow.

[ed_getka]

On #3 at NSW you simply need to draw your tee shot so you don't run through the fairway which after going downhill turns almost 90 degrees left and then climbs back up to the skyline green. Right in the middle of the turn of the dogleg is a grassed depression that I assume used to be a bunker. I would imagine that it was filled in since it is a blind tee shot and it would be complete luck whether you went in or not since you can't see it. You can aim left and take your tee shot over the brush and shorten the hole considerably if you are successful. The uphill approach into the prevailing breeze to a narrow long green, flanked by bunkers will certainly get your attention. I really liked the challenges of this hole.

#4 par 4 Plays pretty much straightaway with a fairway that rolls up and down like a rollercoaster, with one particularly big roll in the landing area of your drive, that if you are a bit short will leave a blind approach, but if you can get your ball over will leave a pretty simple approach. This green has a pretty good tilt from left to right as I remember. I'll be counting on Terry to correct any lapses in my faulty memory.

[ed_getka]

#5 par 5   The justly famous hole starts off with a tee shot that can only be described as daunting. You see bush left, bush right, and bush right in front of you, so there'll be no foozling your way to the hole (as I inadvertently tried to do ). Off in the distance you see the ocean, and in the far foreground you see the fairway that appears to be a grassy wall that must be surmounted, otherwise your ball will roll back down the slope and leave a blind uphill second shot that really isn't as easy as it sounds. See the courses by country section of the site to see a great photo of what I am describing. Once up and over the crest of the fairway the hole becomes much simpler if playing it in 3 shots, but going for it in 2 will still leave a testing shot, as the green is protected by bunkers that are staggered a bit such that your ball needs to be coming in from the proper angle, and then the green is running a way from you slightly so you have to judge how far back to land the ball to allow for the run. And this in turn is complicated by some contour leading into the green that must be negotiated. To look at it in the course tour on NSWGC website you would think it was a pretty straightforward hole.

[ed_getka]

#6 par 3   The other oft-photographed hole here. From the back tee you are out on the rocky peninsula that you see in pix behind #5 green. On our day we had the wind into our face and the hole plays a bit uphill. Fortunately the carry over water isn't super long so you are more concerned with just getting up onto the green which is well-protected by the bunkering flanking and the depression in front with a steep face up to the green. Along with the tilt of the green towards the water this is not a hole to bail out right on. You pretty much want to just put the ball on the green as the other options aren't that appealing.

#7 par 4 Coming off #6 green we turn right and head back uphill and inland. The tee shot goes right up a trough and is flanked on both sides by bush so a bit of tension creeps in here as you survey the tee shot. Once in the fairway the approach seems pretty straightforward to a raised green that has a pretty good tilt to it. In general there isn't a lot of internal contour on this course, but the tilt of the greens will keep you on your toes.

[ed_getka]

#8 par 5  Straightaway par 5 with a hill that the second shot needs to get over, leaving an approach to a green that sets up into the hillside. The flanking bunkering is pretty deep.
   At this point in the round after the sensory overload of the last few holes there would be an understandable letdown, but the course really keeps you on your toes and the challenge never really drops off and was a most enjoyable round.
   #9 par 4   A shortish hole with a tilted fairway that was kind of a funky hole. Hopefully Terry can explain the challenge of this hole as I botched it so horribly I didn't learn much here.

#10 Straightaway par 4 with slightly uphill approach to yet another green benched into the hillside of the dune. The flanking bunkering keeps the challenge up but at this point you begin to start to see a bit of repetition to the approach shot demands.

#11 par 3  Here we change direction and head back out toward the water. The changes in direction after almost every hole are certainly one of the great strengths of this course. A nice little drop shot to a green that looks inviting with a short iron in hand. A nice breather hole.

[ed_getka]

#12 par 5 Straightaway par 5 that is reachable in two depending on the wind. An explanation of the challenges of this hole by Terry would be greatly appreciated. Terry in his modesty led me to believe he didn't know a lot about golf course architecture when we met on the tee. Then he proceeded to give one of the best architectural analyses I've ever heard of a golf course.

#13 par 4 We now head into a series of dogleg holes starting with this one which turns to the left. The approach is up into a narrow deep green flanked by bunkers typical of what we have seen a few times during the round.

#14 par 4  Here we have a tee shot that holds it's own with the tee shot of #5. This short par 4 has a heaving fairway that slopes severely from right down to the left so you want to get your ball up into the saddle of fairway where you can get a fairly level lie. It is interesting that if you turn right at this point this saddle of fairway continues on it's way up to #15 green. You could play some really fun cross-country golf here if you had the course to yourself. The approach shot on 14 is quite uphill to a skyline green that seems perched on the edge of oblivion and bush on the right to squelch your tendency to bail out right.

#15 par 4 A tee shot that feels quite similiar to #7 right up a trough of fairway that seems even narrower than it's cousin. Once the drive up over the saddle has been negotiated the approach is relatively straightforward.

[ed_getka]

#16 par 4  Dogleg left that turns pretty hard. Overall there are more dogleg lefts here than rights but it doesn't seem to jump out at you. Perhaps a slicer of the ball would feel differently.
    The green is sited along a ridge of dune with the usual complement of flanking bunkers.
 
#17  for us was a fill in hole which was a replacement for #18 which was out of play as they were rebuilding it and the range. We played a wonderful little uphill short iron to a tiny green that sloped pretty hard from left to right, and with the pin up on the left was a pretty tough shot. You couldn't see any of the green from the tee, and the bush was just left of the green, not to mention it was all carry over a bush-filled depression. A great little hole that unfortunately is not part of the normal rotation.

Interestingly in Australia most of the courses we played had a fill in hole which allows them to work on another hole without having to use a temporary green which is pretty smart. However, it may be that just gives them an excuse to mess with their courses too much. I haven't seen enough to make an informed decision as to which it is.

#17 par 3 (our #18 for our round) is yet another in a long line of solid par 3's that we saw throughout our travels. The hole plays right along the top of a ridgeline, with a huge falloff down to the right onto #16 fairway, and a pretty good falloff on the left also. The ground rises just enough on the way to the green with the vegetation to obscure your view enough to induce uncertainty. This uncertainty makes it hard to commit to your shot, which is always a good thing in my book from an architectural standpoint. There is actually room to miss short, which is the bailout, but since you don't see it the first time around you just do your best. Besides with a mid-iron in hand it is hard to convince yourself to lay up. Fortunately there are some flanking bunkers near the front of the green that can save your miss from rolling far far away.

All in all a great course IMO and one I would certainly make it a point of playing again on a return trip even though that would mean leaving the Sandbelt. Easily a Doak 8 (One of the very best in the region and worth a special trip to see. Could have some drawbacks, but will make up for them with something really special.)

[Ash Towe]

Ed,
Thanks for such a detailed description.  Looking forward to your comments on the other courses you played in Australia.

[Mark Manuel]

Ed,

I am going to have one day in Sydney, where would you recommend that I play?

Mark

[ed_getka]

Mark,
   See above. I didn't have time to check out any other courses in the area while I was on my first trip down, but the other course I would have been interested in seeing was Newcastle, which is north of Sydney. Magenta Shores that I read about in Golf Architecture sounds interesting, but I haven't gotten feedback on that from the guys in that area. Apparently it too is north of Sydney somewhere.
    I would most definitely make the time for NSW if I were you.
    If you need further recommendations for the area Kevin Pallier and Terry Thornton are a good place to start, along with the rest of the GCA contingent down that way. If you start a separate thread asking for recommendations I'm sure there will be a long list.
 

[ed_getka]

Next up: Royal Melbourne West

   A course that seems to have justly earned its place near the top of the golf world. I say seems, because unfortunately Australia has been struggling with a drought over the past year or so and some courses have been impacted. Fortunately it wasn't as bad as the members of RM I ran into in NZ made it sound when they reported the course was in bad shape. The only thing I noticed was that the greens were on the soft side, from irrigating them so they would survive the lack of rain. The problem with soft greens at RM is that the wonderful contours that you can clearly see would send misjudged/poorly played shots away from the hole if the greens were their normal firmness. The course was still a delight to play and we had great company. The great company was a recurring theme throughout the trip. The guys down there were just outstanding hosts. Between the courses and the guys down there this was certainly my best golf trip ever.
    Royal Melbourne's website has an outstanding course tour feature that provides 3 pix of every hole and will help you to see some of the brilliance of this place.

[James Bennett]

Ed,

I am going to have one day in Sydney, where would you recommend that I play?

Mark

Mark

definitely NSW.  It is also close to the airport and the city (20 to 30 minutes from each.  Go to their web-site and you can arrange a lot of things.

James B (not a Sydney local)

[Kevin Pallier]

Ed

Glad to see that time hasn't diminished your appreciation of NSW GC. Hope the photo's helped in that end  

If you could summarise your analysis into some + and - could you possibly do so ? I'd be interested to hear a few of your highlights and lesserlights of each course ?

Look forward to your reviews of the other courses...

Mark - James is spot on - NSW should be at the top of everyone's golfing list when in Sydney.

If you have a bit of time on your hands and have a few days to spare a 2 hour drive north to Newcastle GC encompassing a stay at Magenta Shores + a short drive to the Hunter Valley (Vineyards) would be my recommendation.

[ed_getka]

Kevin,
   Most definitely, the photos were a great treat to receive. Thank you for putting together the CD for me.

[Jason Topp]

Ed:

What was your favorite hole at NSW and why?

[Shane Gurnett]

Looking forward to the Melbourne course comments Ed.

[Terry Thornton]

Strewth Ed, great summary of NSWGC. Reading it has convinced me to bring my next visit there forward somewhat!!

I'll add some comments on holes #9 and #12 soonish, in the delightful throes of unpacking boxes following a move up the hills to be nearer those kangaroos at Cleland.

[Anthony Butler]

#16 par 4  Dogleg left that turns pretty hard. Overall there are more dogleg lefts here than rights but it doesn't seem to jump out at you. Perhaps a slicer of the ball would feel differently.
    The green is sited along a ridge of dune with the usual complement of flanking bunkers.
 
#17  for us was a fill in hole which was a replacement for #18 which was out of play as they were rebuilding it and the range. We played a wonderful little uphill short iron to a tiny green that sloped pretty hard from left to right, and with the pin up on the left was a pretty tough shot. You couldn't see any of the green from the tee, and the bush was just left of the green, not to mention it was all carry over a bush-filled depression. A great little hole that unfortunately is not part of the normal rotation.

Interestingly in Australia most of the courses we played had a fill in hole which allows them to work on another hole without having to use a temporary green which is pretty smart. However, it may be that just gives them an excuse to mess with their courses too much. I haven't seen enough to make an informed decision as to which it is.

#17 par 3 (our #18 for our round) is yet another in a long line of solid par 3's that we saw throughout our travels. The hole plays right along the top of a ridgeline, with a huge falloff down to the right onto #16 fairway, and a pretty good falloff on the left also. The ground rises just enough on the way to the green with the vegetation to obscure your view enough to induce uncertainty. This uncertainty makes it hard to commit to your shot, which is always a good thing in my book from an architectural standpoint. There is actually room to miss short, which is the bailout, but since you don't see it the first time around you just do your best. Besides with a mid-iron in hand it is hard to convince yourself to lay up. Fortunately there are some flanking bunkers near the front of the green that can save your miss from rolling far far away.

All in all a great course IMO and one I would certainly make it a point of playing again on a return trip even though that would mean leaving the Sandbelt. Easily a Doak 8 (One of the very best in the region and worth a special trip to see. Could have some drawbacks, but will make up for them with something really special.)

Ed thanks for your comments on my home club... it really is like no other golf course in the world. The combination of wind, water, sky and bush add up to golf 'in the wild' no matter how immaculate you find the turf and greens... I'm counting the days until I return in December.

NSW has 4 right to left dog legs and only 1 left to righter, but I'm not sure a slice is a bale out option off any tee except 4 and 8.

[Mark_F]

Fantastic review Ed.

NSW has always appeared to me to be about the spectacular ocean holes.  Is the architecture as interesting on the inbound holes?

In particular,I note your comment that approach shots get a little familiar. Is the shot variety limited to the drives?

[ed_getka]

Jason,
    I would say my favorite hole is #3 and it might be #1 if it wasn't the first hole. I'll tell you why later when I have more time.

Mark,
   I would say there are as many good holes inland as there are along the ocean. Although some of the greensites begin to seem somewhat familiar by the end of the round, I still thought there was plenty of challenge, and you certainly aren't getting bored.
   You have a lot of variety in the par 4's and the par 3's, and I would say in general that the par 5's are probably the holes that left the least impression. They weren't bad holes, but they tended to play straightaway. The land moved up and down on the 5's which added interest, but I tend to prefer par 5's that make you change direction along the way and incorporate angles.

Guys, please keep in mind that I only saw each of these courses ONE time, and the company was so fantastic each time that I probably learned the least about the courses of any trip I have been on, as I was having such a good time visiting with our hosts. These are general impressions and I would certainly appreciate feedback from those who know the courses better than me when I gloss over some of the good stuff I'm sure I missed.

[ed_getka]

#16 par 4  Dogleg left that turns pretty hard. Overall there are more dogleg lefts here than rights but it doesn't seem to jump out at you. Perhaps a slicer of the ball would feel differently.
    The green is sited along a ridge of dune with the usual complement of flanking bunkers.
 
#17  for us was a fill in hole which was a replacement for #18 which was out of play as they were rebuilding it and the range. We played a wonderful little uphill short iron to a tiny green that sloped pretty hard from left to right, and with the pin up on the left was a pretty tough shot. You couldn't see any of the green from the tee, and the bush was just left of the green, not to mention it was all carry over a bush-filled depression. A great little hole that unfortunately is not part of the normal rotation.

Interestingly in Australia most of the courses we played had a fill in hole which allows them to work on another hole without having to use a temporary green which is pretty smart. However, it may be that just gives them an excuse to mess with their courses too much. I haven't seen enough to make an informed decision as to which it is.

#17 par 3 (our #18 for our round) is yet another in a long line of solid par 3's that we saw throughout our travels. The hole plays right along the top of a ridgeline, with a huge falloff down to the right onto #16 fairway, and a pretty good falloff on the left also. The ground rises just enough on the way to the green with the vegetation to obscure your view enough to induce uncertainty. This uncertainty makes it hard to commit to your shot, which is always a good thing in my book from an architectural standpoint. There is actually room to miss short, which is the bailout, but since you don't see it the first time around you just do your best. Besides with a mid-iron in hand it is hard to convince yourself to lay up. Fortunately there are some flanking bunkers near the front of the green that can save your miss from rolling far far away.

All in all a great course IMO and one I would certainly make it a point of playing again on a return trip even though that would mean leaving the Sandbelt. Easily a Doak 8 (One of the very best in the region and worth a special trip to see. Could have some drawbacks, but will make up for them with something really special.)

Ed thanks for your comments on my home club... it really is like no other golf course in the world. The combination of wind, water, sky and bush add up to golf 'in the wild' no matter how immaculate you find the turf and greens... I'm counting the days until I return in December.

NSW has 4 right to left dog legs and only 1 left to righter, but I'm not sure a slice is a bale out option off any tee except 4 and 8.

Anthony,
   I wasn't implying that slicers could bail out, I was making the point that slicers will find the dogleg lefts harder to negotiate, although there is a fair amount of width on the doglegs generally as you know. I don't generally slice the ball and the balance of doglegs turning right or left didn't jump out at me during the course of the round. It was only later looking at the routing that I noticed the 4:1 ratio.

[JESII]

Was in Australia 2 years ago this coming Christmas and played a few of the Melbourne courses and loved them...but...I would schedule a trip back for the opportunity to play NSW alone...an eye opener for me.


1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 14, 16 are all indelibly burnt into my eye...

[James Bennett]

Jes II

NSW #9 would not be a common choice (I expect) but it is a hole that I really remember as well.  That sandhill on the drive, encouraging you to play left and then finding you line of play affected by the bunkering.  A really good shortish par 4.

Mark F

#9 is as inland and away from sea views as you can get.  As are 1, 3 and 16 in JES II's list (although the bushfires a few years ago have opened up a few distant ocean panoramas on holes like 16).

James B

[ed_getka]

Jason,
    #3 is really interesting to me for some of the reasons I mentioned above. Check out the NSWGC website to see the routing. It starts with a blind drive, which you could easily circumvent as a first timer by simply walking forward of the tee a little ways and taking a look. There really is loads of room out there to drive the ball, so you just need to know the line. Straightaway off the tee with driver is not a good idea (as I inadvertently did when I pushed my tee shot right of where I was aiming), as you run through the turn of the dogleg. From the right rough you have just a horrible angle into the green having to cross the fairway bunkers and try to get your ball into the gap between the flanking greenside bunkers. Also, from that angle the upslope into the skyline green is not helping you as you are coming into it obliquely.
   Now even if you hit a good drive right into the fairway you still are faced with an uphill approach to a narrow, deep, skyline green and have to factor in the wind so even with a short iron it isn't a picnic. You obviously don't want to be short of the green due to the slope in front, but going deep into the green can be problematic too. There is a bit more back to front tilt to that green than the eye picks up so it is easy to blow your first putt way past the hole (don't ask me how I know ) and 3-putt. Although in hindsight I was putting spastically on the trip so that may have been it more than the architecture. Add all the elements up and you have a really good hole IMO. Blindness, commiting to a line off the tee, skyline green, etc... Fun stuff.

#1, I read after the fact, has a green that slopes toward you in the front half and away in the back, but I didn't pick up on that when we were there, so I will have to rely on Terry or someone else more familiar with the course to confirm.

[ed_getka]

RM West
    Please make a point of checking out the EXCELLENT course website. Google royal melbourne golf club, go to course tours, choose the West course and you will begin to  get a pretty good idea of what makes this course great.

    Your initial impression, from the driving range to the golf course, is there is a sense of expansiveness. That the property just sprawls out and isn't hemmed in by civilization. Which certainly isn't the case. I'm reminded of Garden City in the US in this regard where you feel like you are away from it all, when in reality you are in a densely populated area. The feeling of expansiveness  continues onto the first tee where it literally feels like the fairway is 100 yards wide (think #1 TOC) and you would feel like an idiot to miss it (trust me on this one  ). The hole moves slightly right to left on the way to the green. There doesn't seem to be much going on on this hole except to get you away comfortably. There is some hummocky ground that most approach shots will traverse and it ends well short of the green, but it seems to affect your distance perception. A generous green with a bit of tilt to it, but nothing to give you an inkling of the greatness here.

#2 par 5   A really good double dogleg par 5 that has textbook hazard placement (for mortals like me). The first turn is to the right and there is a large bunker there so you can challenge it or you can play away safely to the left. Out to the left where I was you can certainly entertain getting home in two and it just appears to be a straightforward shot to play with a slight draw to work its way into the green. However, it is not so simple as it appears as the cluster of large bunkers guarding the green short left and left are aided in the ball gathering capacity by the ground that slopes to the left when your running approach lands on the fairway and is drawn inexorably into one of the bunkers. There is also some lovely movement to this green so even if you play the hole as a 3--shotter your short iron approach needs to be well-judged. Just a brilliant hole IMO.