[Michael Taylor]

Kyle,

It's the only time I get to take photos out there.  My pictures of 8 and 9 however are just too dark, and even though I'm sure there's a feature on the camera to compensate for that, I just 'point and shoot.'

David/Scott,

That's actually what Gary Dempsey told me personally in the secrecy of his own office, and nowhere did the club suggest the 6th green was going to be changed. 

Bob Harrison was responsible for the 18th hole. And I've been told that he didn't actually have any plans for the green done untill the 'night before they were due.' That sounds like a load of crap however.

Patrick,

There might well be too much blindness on the front 9, but that theme continues to the back 9 as well. It's just how NSW rolls. For a short hitter there may well be blind shots on holes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15 and 16!!


Occasionally Pat I play the course with a mixture of the 'Gold' tees and the striped Ladies tees, coming in at about a total of 5400m. It is much more fun from that distance.

[Michael Taylor]

The 8th hole at NSW gives you another trouble free drive, unless it is downwind or you're a really long hitter as there is 'waste area' to the right at 260m, and some scrub to the left at 250m. Because you are provided with such width for your tee shot, it is really important that you don't lose concentration because any shot off line makes the 2nd shot over the hill that much harder and longer.

The 2nd shot over the hill is pretty easy if you've hit a solid tee shot, because there is plenty of room within 130m of the green. If you've mishit your drive, then the 2nd shot is to a much narrower area, and it brings the scrub right and left into play.

The green is one of the worst conditioned on the course, however I reckon it is the most natural looking green site we have. It slopes from back to front and left to right. There isn't a good spot to miss this green, as left leaves you a very delicate bunker/pitch shot, and right will leave you with an uphill blind chip shot.

Tee shot



Landing area.



After a very good drive. The line is over the middle of the hill.



"Waste area."





Looking back from the top of the hill.



From the top of the hill. 170m to go.



From the best angle into the green, 100m out.



The green as viewed from the cart path.  



Pup

[Michael Taylor]

The 9th hole isn't a hole that makes you go 'wow', but the more I play it the more I've come to enjoy it's little nuances.

The green is angled to accept approach shots from the right, but the shots from over there are semi blind/blind and are off an uphill sidehill lie. I prefer to approach the green from the left hand side of the hole, but getting the tee shot over there is much harder because a small miss left will run down the hill leaving a blind approach off a sidehill lie. You do not want to miss the green to the left either, as the ball will run at least 15-20m away from the green leaving you an impossible chip shot.

From the forward tee.



View of the landing zone.




From the right hand side of the fairway.



From the left hand side.



And the green.



Pup

[Kevin Pallier]

"Waste area."

Pup

That doesn't look good 

[Michael Taylor]

It is actually DANGEROUS to hit out of because there are some pretty big rocks in there. I've actually broken a club trying to play a shot out of that 'waste area' there.

[Kyle Henderson]

At the 11th tee, players enjoy another panoramic view of the ocean. From an elevated tee and playing to a hilltop green, winds are likely to play havoc with even the purest strikes.


Bunkers guard the front and sides of the putting surface, and the rear appears to drop into oblivion.

[Kevin Pallier]

It's amazing the amount of tee shots I see come up short on #11. Not my favouraite P3 at NSW but also not the worst.

Given the fact that all the P3's are routed to the compass it's still an interesting tee shot from one of the more exposed areas of the course.

[Scott Warren]

The green plays much smaller than it is, with any kind of wind assisting its movement, a ball won't settle on the front third of the green.

KP's right that you see more short than long here. Long is a much more punishing miss, so that could be why many folks err on the shorter side and leave themselves a chip up the hill.

One common criticism of NSWGC is that the greens are too tame and don't hold enough interest. This green is a great example of one that doesn't seem to have all that much going on, but there isn't really a straight putt longer than 5ft on the entire green.

[Mike_Clayton]

Kevis,

It is quite easy for 6,11 and 17 to not be the 'worst' par three at NSW!
11 always asks for a good shot when there is any wind.

[Scott Warren]

Question is, if we exclude the 2nd and look at 6, 11, 17 and 19, which is the weakest of the par threes then?

I'd be inclined to say it's the 6th.

[Mike_Clayton]

Scott,
Weakest architecturally or weakest as in the easiest?
I have never played 19 but I have seen it from the tee but it is hard to imagine its a better hole that the other 3.
It depends which tee you play at 6.
Has there ever been a hole where the tee you play off makes such a difference to the experience.
I have only ever played it off the tournament tee and I think it is a brilliant hole from over there.

[Scott Warren]

Mike,

When I got home to Aus I noticed the club had started maintaining the grass swale in front of the 6th green as rough (like they do at the 2nd). I've had three visits since February and it seems to be something that's staying and for me that is a major blight on the hole - especially from the tee out on the headland.

It forces a shot that carries onto the green and from that distance and with the wind that is usually a factor I think it was a better hole when you could land one short and run it on.

[Mike_Clayton]

Scott,

I have not seen it for a couple of years but it seems odd to be growing any long grass around the green - but is that enough to make it the weakest of the 3s? It is a wildly spectacular hole - which is not something that guarantees greatness - but it is an awfully good hole I think.The long grass in the grass bunker short of the 14th green is much worse than the rough at 6.

[Scott Warren]

The grass bunker at 14 is another glaring example, definitely. The little neck between the bushland left and grass bunker right is only a few metres wide now.

There seems to be a co-ordinated, deliberate program of growing grass close to the greens as a defence: 2, 4, 6, 14, 16... probably a few other instances that slip my mind.

[Kevin Pallier]

Kevis,

It is quite easy for 6,11 and 17 to not be the 'worst' par three at NSW!
11 always asks for a good shot when there is any wind.

Mike

I love 17 (such an exposed green and right is dead)  and I agree 6 is a much better hole from the back tee. It's so intimidating back there on the angle particularly with a SE blowing. 19 is a funky little hole with a wicked green. So that leaves 11 as the next best for mine.

[Anthony Butler]

 
Mike

I love 17 (such an exposed green and right is dead)
[/quote]
Left is not that lively either... You're guaranteed a bad lie for your second and the green slopes away from you. Even though you're most likely pitching into the wind, I've never made.par from the left of the bunker. Plenty of up and downs from the 16th fairway though...

The 17th is also a fairly simple prospect downwind- the 11th rarely is.
 arb:

[Kyle Henderson]

The 12th hole, like its neighbor (the 8th is on the left) is a par 5 playing over a sharp ridgeline. In favorable wind conditions, a big drive over the ridge will bring the green within reach for the second shot.


A pulled drive will find the “pigs face.”


Straighter shots that trundle down or carry this slope will set up a running approach between lateral greenside bunkers.


A small strip of broken ground must be considered by players electing to lay up short of the green with their second shot.

[Kevin Pallier]

Kyle

The broken ground is an intesresting hazard - I've seen a lot of balls over the years end up in there. I wonder if it ever was ever originally as part of the design as a normal sand filled bunker or waste hazard per se ?

[Mark Chaplin]

Going back to the threes I didn't play 17 but played 19 twice and it's a little beaut. Massive hole in one opportunities if the pin is on the right side and three putt land if you go left and stay left.

IMVHO 6 is not a good as it's setting which must be world top 10.

[Kyle Henderson]

Regarding the par 3s, I agree that 6 has a spectacular setting, but the green and surrounds do not quite live up to the scenery. Still, the angle from the back tees make for an exhilerating tee shot.

17 was out of play, but the semi-blind, mid-length par 3 concept certainly led to a raised eyebrow. 11 is pretty good. I don't detest 2 as much as some of the others that have chimed in so far.

Really, as a set, the par 3's at NSWGC do not really compare to the less scenic, but much better-conceived short holes throughout the sandbelt. I prefer the 1-shotters, as a groups, at RM, Victoria, Woodlands, Peninsula, Yarra Yarra, Kingston Heath, and maybe even Metropolitan. The simply have a greater variety of recovery shots and better putting contours.

This isn't a knock on NSWGC, but rather a testament to the bevy of excellent short holes around Melbourne.

[John Mayhugh]

I thought the green complex on 6 was pretty good.  The right to left slope towards the water is a bit intimidating, especially if you have wind going that way as well.  Add the bunkers on the right to make a bail-out shot have its own dangers, and I think the green complex works really well.  It probably is a better hole with repeated plays than just the one that I had. 

Not sure about the new green contours on this hole, but from the photos alone I'm not a fan.

I would have liked to play the 17th.  With short or long the only misses, wind from either side could really wreak havoc.

[Kyle Henderson]

At the 13th, tee shots must navigate a narrow chute of vegetation, although things do open up on the right in the target zone.


The flag protruding from the opposite undergrowth indicates the ideal line.


This view from outside the right-to-left dogleg gives a good indication of how the current boundaries of foliage dictate play.


An extra club may be needed on the approach, given the raised green site and the potential influence of air currents.


Paired pot bunkers at the left/front corner may prevent shots from finding graver perils.


Another pot guards the high/right side. Over the back is dead.


Pup flopping one off of a tight lie, just because he can.


Desktop wallpaper.

[Kyle Henderson]

A thrilling drive across a corner of the coast marks the beginning of the 14th hole.


Just beyond the green lies the entrance to Botany Bay, where Captain Cook made his first landing on the continent.
 

Following the hill, the 14th fairway slopes dramatically to the left, but there are pockets of earth that contain good tee shots.


Even from a fairly short distance, the uphill approach makes it difficult to determine the exact pin location.


Short and right seemed like the best place to miss the green, though Pup may have learned otherwise during the course of his 100+ rounds here.


A look back gives a better sense of the fairway pockets. The 14th tees are seen just past the flag, while the 15th hole plays off to the upper left

[Anthony Butler]

One of the best Par 4s under 375yds in Australia. Thrilling second shot downwind. 120yd 6 iron into the wind.

And site of Mike Clayton's classic putting sequence, which made an appearance on one of Charlie Rymer's Blooper shows the other day.

[Kyle Henderson]

Featuring an uphill drive through a narrow trough between shrubs, the 15th tee shot will surely pucker the posterior.


Once over the saddle, the fairway makes an off-camber turn to the right.


From behind, another raised green with bunkers at the front corners

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