St. Andrews Beach - Gunnamatta Course: A Pictorial!!! (All holes posted)

[Kyle Henderson]

The Gunnamatta Course at St. Andrews Beach (SAB) boasts many fine holes which will test the full compliment of shots in one’s arsenal. As with many other courses produced by Renaissance Design (and Michael Clayton), the playing corridors are wide and the greens provide most of the challenge. Chips and putts require the utmost concentration in achieving low scores. Overall, presentation of the course is handled well, with tight firm turf and true greens throughout despite the financial issues that have plagued SAB since its inception.

The course does have a few drawbacks. While the land is generally quite good for golf, it is segmented by several large ridges that make for a tough/long walks in places (most notably between the clubhouse and 1, 2 and 3, 5 and 6, 10 and 11, 18 and the clubhouse). Also, nearly every hole plays down from the tee then up to the green. Thus, most approaches need to land just short and bounce on to the green due to the flattened trajectory.

Still, GCA aficionados would be remiss in skipping SAB on a trip to Melbourne. It’s quite good.

The first is a par 5 (497 meters) with a massive fairway that invites a smooth, confident swing to start the day. Despite this width, wild swings can lead to lost balls in the bush.


From the tee, the first green is visible beyond bunkers at the end of the fairway. From the fairway, the putting surface is hidden.


The second shot should be positioned well down the right side, as this improves visibility to the green and provides an avenue between protective bunkers


Viewed from the 2nd tee, one can see the large depression left of the 1st green set to swallow pulled, thinned, or overly-aggressive approaches.

[Ben Stephens]

Dammit Kyle - you have gazumped me  !

I played this course just over a month ago and have loads of photos of it and had been meaning to upload them on GCA.

This was my first Doak/Clayton designed course.

Cheers
Ben

[Patrick Kiser]

Does this guy ever sleep?

Seriously...

IMHO the first hole is one of the best on the course.  Period.

That's just a solid approach, even if you come in blind.  Green and surrounds worked well on this one.

Damn good start.

[Ronald Montesano]

Are those skies guaranteed in the rate?

[George Freeman]

I played this course just over a month ago and have loads of photos of it and had been meaning to upload them on GCA.

By all means Ben, throw the pics on this thread!

[Kyle Henderson]

I played this course just over a month ago and have loads of photos of it and had been meaning to upload them on GCA.

By all means Ben, throw the pics on this thread!

Indeed, hop on, Ben!

Sir Sheehy,
The turf is firm and fast. I really didn't play any soft courses in Australia, despite the VERY wet summer that preceded my visit, though a few tracks were not really designed to accept running approaches.

[Kyle Henderson]

Are those skies guaranteed in the rate?

Those skies yield a few brief moments of good light, and many drearily darkened photos. Check the website for weather reservations.

[James Bennett]

I believe the fairways are legend couch (bermuda) and the greens are a modern bent.  I don't recall the variety.

The course is unlikely to be soft and slow, unless there has been significant rain for an extended period.

[Scott Warren]

I must say I love how people continue to refer to this as St Andrews Beach (Gunamatta). Here's me thinking it was St Andrews Beach (Only)!

The opening hole threw me a curve - without a yardage book to refer to, I hit my drive, walked up, thought it was a dogleg right and throught "okay, hug the left with my second to open up the angle into the green", proceeded to push the crap out of it, walked up to my ball and noticed the hole actually went left and I had an idea line in!

On future plays, I reckon the temptation of trying to get over the short left bunker to shorten the approach in might well be pretty strong.

I didn't find the course to be as much of a brute as some of the other guys, and while I didn't love the walk between a few of the holes in most instances it was followed by a great hole.

As far as variety, I'm not sure you could ask for much more than you get at St Andrews Beach.

Along with RM West and Barnbougle Dunes, it's the course I daydream most about from the extended Boomerang festivities.

[Mark_F]

Also, nearly every hole plays down from the tee then up to the green.

Kyle,

That is a common, but inaccurate refrain from people who have only played the course a little.  Only six holes play high-low-high: 9,10,12,14,15 and 17.

2 you play down to the green from the right, 5 and 7 are definitely downhill approaches, 8 is level from the correct spot on the fairway, 13 is downhill unless you are way, way right, and so is 18.  6 and 11 are uphill par threes, but 4 is level and 16 downhill. The third tee is about 18 inches above the ground, and the green about 3 feet.  Only someone from Florida could call that high-low-high.

I believe the fairways are legend couch (bermuda) and the greens are a modern bent.  I don't recall the variety.

A4, James.

[Kyle Henderson]

Also, nearly every hole plays down from the tee then up to the green.

Kyle,

That is a common, but inaccurate refrain from people who have only played the course a little.  Only six holes play high-low-high: 9,10,12,14,15 and 17.

2 you play down to the green from the right, 5 and 7 are definitely downhill approaches, 8 is level from the correct spot on the fairway, 13 is downhill unless you are way, way right, and so is 18.  6 and 11 are uphill par threes, but 4 is level and 16 downhill. The third tee is about 18 inches above the ground, and the green about 3 feet.  Only someone from Florida could call that high-low-high.

I believe the fairways are legend couch (bermuda) and the greens are a modern bent.  I don't recall the variety.

A4, James.

We can discuss this as the tread develops, but in addition to the 9 holes you mention as having uphill approaches (including 2 from the left fairway), I certainly consider the 1st as a "downhill tee shot/uphill approach shot" hole. I also have a hard time believing 7,8, and 18 are not uphill approaches. 3 and 4 seemed uphill, but I will certainly bow to your experience.

I'll modify my original statement: "Nearly every hole seems to play down from the tee then up to the green. Thus, first-time golfers will soon be under the impression that every approach must land just short and bounce on to the green due to the flattened trajectory.

[David_Elvins]

The 1st is a really nice opener IMO. 

If you are loose and ready to play you can take the hole on and be rewarded for good play, if you aren't then you can muddle your way along easily without being punished. 

Some complain about the blindness of the green meaning the field is slow to get away, so it may not be as practical on a public course as a private course but it would be a real pity if it was redesigned IMO. 

Doak has done a really nice job of tying in the two bunkers short of the green with the one long right, as you look at it from the tee. 

Kyle,
7 and 18 are definitely not uphill approaches.  2 and 8 can be depending on where you decide to position your tee shot.  There are a lot of elevated tee shots. 

[Scott Warren]

This line of "every approach is uphill" was one I heard before playing the course. I can't say I agree.

For starters I'd debate 3-9, 11, 13, 16, 17 or 18 being "uphill" approach shots. A couple of them rise a bit, but not enough that I'd call them "uphill". Just going from memory.

That leaves six approaches I'd classify as uphill, at least from a decent amount of the fairway: 1, 2, 10, 12, 14, and 15.

Downhill tee shots? That's a different story.

[Bryan Izatt]

Dammit Kyle - you have gazumped me  !

I played this course just over a month ago and have loads of photos of it and had been meaning to upload them on GCA.

This was my first Doak/Clayton designed course.

Cheers
Ben

Not exactly sure what gazumped means, but the rest conveys my thoughts too.  So, I'll add some photos from a year ago last December, from a blisteringly hot (44*C) and windy day.

Like Scott, I played the first as a sweeping dogleg right, until I almost got beaned by people teeing off on 18.

It sure looks from the tee like the hole runs off to the right.




Looking to the faux fairway off to the right.  Where the hell is the green?    




Looking up to the green.  It's in the eye of the beholder if this constitutes a real uphill shot.  Certainly when I was there you could run the ball up.




And, over.

[David_Elvins]

Scott, I have not heard too much talk about up hill approach shots but I do think a lot of the greens sit above the player. There are not a lot of holes where you can see the bottom of the flag. I do not mean this to be a criticism, just a description.

[Tom_Doak]

Mike Keiser was the first one to tell me he thought there were too many uphill approaches, when we played in the pre-opening round several years ago [2004?].  I'd never really thought much about it.  David's description is technically more accurate, there are a lot of holes where you can't see the bottom of the flag, even if they're not always uphill.

The only way you were going to traverse all those ridges without massive green-to-tee walks (and climbs) was to locate several of the greens partway or most of the way up the ridge.  That's the case for #10 green and #12 green and #14 green, anyway.  But I'll also admit that when I did the layout for this course originally, several years before we actually built it, I wasn't as concerned with short green-to-tee connections as I am today. 

I am not sure how anyone rates the 18th as an uphill approach shot.  If you drive it down the left side into the lowest point, it might be two meters uphill over 175 meters.  Otherwise it's level or downhill.

It is unfortunate that the present clubhouse is so far from #1 tee and #18 green.  The land plan was laid out for 36 holes and a practice facility, and the Gunnamatta course sacrificed proximity to the clubhouse so that the other course could start and finish at the front door.  And the current temporary clubhouse is even further away from Gunnamatta.  I'm just glad the course is open, so I won't bother them about this detail for a while.

[Scott Warren]

I agree, David's description is much more agreeable. Much more.

"Can't see the bottom of the flag". Depending on pin positions I'm thinking about 12 or 13 holes.

[John Mayhugh]

I really liked the first hole,  but was a bit distracted by some of the fauna.

[Sven Nilsen]

Live action of said fauna:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDO49ImowVg

[Kyle Henderson]

At the second tee, we are faced with a short par 4 (279 meters) and several avenues of reaching a hillside green.


Aggressive drives can find the upper right fairway, at the risk of finding a bunker in the right/center of the playing corridor. This side offers a short but tricky approach over a down slope at the green’s right edge.

Conservative tee shots will be comprised of long irons or fairway woods struck to the lower left fairway, yielding an approach to a partially hidden flagstick ()down the length of the 2nd green

[Michael Whitaker]

Let me say up front that StAB is a quality course... but, I found the walk difficult.

A good number of holes require a walk into a low area before climbing up to a green or tee. Down, up, down, up. Now, I've only played the course once, so my observations may be out of line, but I commented to my playing companions after our round that StAB was the only course I had ever played that "felt" uphill from start to finish.

There seemed to be a good number holes that require shots finish on top of a ridge or raised landing area to be in prime location for the next shot. If the shot did not reach the crest of this area then it would often roll down or across the slope, leaving one with a long approach (often blind) to an uphill target. StAB seemed to me to be routed from high point to high point across the property. This creates some holes that are "effectively" level from shot to shot, but require a tough walk from the tee down into a low lying area, then back up to the fairway... then, down from the approach area into another low lying area followed by  a climb up to the green. I felt all day like I was hitting my approach shots to a target above my head... which I sure was a result of my lack of talent, to be fair to the course. But, it was very taxing.

[Matthew Mollica]

The second really is a glorious hole.

Eminently reachable with some winds, it is one of the rare short 4's that make you think "I'd better be accurate as driver could be too much and then I'm in trouble". Not always but certainly some days. Great green. Huge array of line and length options from the tee, each with their own pros and cons. Challenging, full of variety and lots of fun to be hand, and it's packed into such a compact package.

MM

[Kalen Braley]

So if going right results in a trickier approach shot, and one must risk finding more trouble to go right, and going left means you have the length of the green to work with, and its a wedge approach from either right or left....

Is there any reason to go right here? 

[Tom_Doak]

I love that little hole.  It is very possible to drive the green but not so easy to stop there.  The potential reward is to be able to putt (even from 20 yards off the green) if you are successful, but it's very easy to leave yourself a thirty-yard bunker shot or some other awkward approach if you try for the green and mess up.  And if you lay up short and to the left, the little pitch is no bargain, you could still make any number from down there.

(For Kalen:  the approach tilts from right to left, so you have to play it out to the right a bit if you are trying to drive the green.]

The little abrupt shoulder out to the right of the green is there because it was an off-limits archaeology area ... there was a small section that we weren't allowed to shape.  As it turned out, we used the slope to the advantage of the hole.  [The archaeology being protected is a shell midden left behind by the original inhabitants of Australia; you might want to google that to see some of the esoteric things we run across as golf course architects!]

[David_Elvins]

The 2nd is, in my opinion, the world's greatest short par 4.  The thing I like it most is that it works equally well as a drivable par 4 as it does a drive and pitch par 4 meaning it works fantastically in all weather conditions and with most standards of players. A real strength is that the ground encourages a shot at the green. Too many short par 4s try too hard to prevent a shot at the green.

Contrary to what kalen mentioned, I have always felt the shot in forom the right to be much much easier than from the left, making a tee shot into the pocket of bunkers on the right very worthwhile. From there you can draw a wedge, the ball is above you feet, that lands short of and right of the green and trickle down the slope to the hole. I see a lot of people coming in from the left having big problems with distance control. A lot of balls going through the green (dead) or in the left hand bunker.  

I think the second photo below show the advantage of coming in from the right.

The third photo below attempts to show how awkward the 70 yard pitch is up the hill.