Woodlands Golf Club, Victoria, Australia: A Pictorial (18th hole posted)!!!

[Mike_Clayton]

Amazingly the tee at 15 used to be 50 yards forward and left and you had to hit a big hook around the trees on the left.
We moved that tee back about 10 years ago and the most significant improvement - aside from getting rid of a ridiculous tee shot - was to bring those cross- bunkers back into play for many more players.
This is a tremendous hole - one of the best long holes in Australia because of the green and the threat of the bunkers - the cross bunkers and the line of bunkers short and right.

[Tom Kelly]

A few pics of the 15th closer to the green



From short of the right hand bunkers



From just over the left bunkers/left rough



Close up of the bank short of the green



Unfortunately I didn't get a decent shot of the right side of the green which drops away steeply. Its a really tough green to hit especially if going for the green in two.

[Kyle Henderson]

Sir Kelly,

Thank you for the supplemental photos. That right side was giving my group (all Woodlands members) fits.

[Kyle Henderson]

The 16th sweeps ever so slightly to the left, with ideal drives ending right of the centerline. From the back tees, an overhanging tree must be taken into consideration.


A hook into the left rough will leave one blocked out behind bushes for their second shot.


The port side rough will prevent mishit shots from running into the bush, but the lies afforded will not be pleasant.

[Kyle Henderson]

 
The bunker scheme at the 17th suggests a high draw as the preferred shot.

 
The slopes and rough seen behind the green emphasize the need to find the surface with one’s tee shot.

[Kyle Henderson]

The final tee shot should travel up and over a small ridge to land on the away-sloping fairway, if the green is to be sought with the second stroke.


A large bunker complex pinches the fairway from the right, forcing golfers that can’t make the carry to lay farther back or further left than their preferred approach position.


After a big blast to the fairway’s left center, the powerful draw can trundle up the green’s open front and proffer a putt for eagle.


In keeping with the best principles of golf course design, plenty of space is offered for weaker players to navigate around the principal obstacles. Yet, highly-skilled golfers must skirt well-positioned hazards in their quests for birdies.


Woodlands is a real treat – only in a golf-blessed city such as Melbourne could it be perhaps just the 5th or 6th best course in the vicinity.

[Bruce Hardie]

Good tour and always an enjoyable place to play.

If it were transplanted to any other major city in Australia it would easily sit in the top 3 (although my Sydney knowledge is not first hand). However, even locals often forget it when naming the best 10 in Melbourne.

We are so spoiled in this part of the world.

[Justin Ryan]

Woodlands is a real treat – only in a golf-blessed city such as Melbourne could it be perhaps just the 5th or 6th best course in the vicinity.

What did you think was better Kyle?

Bruce, in Sydney it is definitely top 2.

[Scott Warren]

Enjoy your fishing trip, Justin!

[Justin Ryan]

Enjoy your fishing trip, Justin!

The tongue is well planted in the cheek Scott.

Afterall, I am yet to play Royal Sydney and The Australian.

[David_Elvins]

one of the best long holes in Australia because of the green and the threat of the bunkers

Also because Australia doesn't have many good long holes.  



Thanks for the thread Kyle,  I haven't been down to Woodlands for a while but will defintely revisit this thread after my next trip there.

Justin,

Not sure oyu can make that claim before you have played Riverside Oaks.

[Colin Macqueen]

Kyle,

Happily, Woodlands is a reciprocal club to the one I am a member of so I have played it before albeit only the once. On that occasion, as I was in the bush more often than not, I failed to appreciate the the totality of the architecture.
However the next time I play there, even if wayward, I will appreciate the course a lot more and recognise the cleverly placed bunkers and devilish green complexes!

Your excellent photography and description, supplemented by the comments from the GCA stalls, are why I find this "community" so seductive. Thanks and keep up the good work!

Cheers Colin

[Mike_Clayton]

Dave,

Can't say I disagree - which is odd given how many really good holes around 300 yards we have  - and most of them would make fantastic second halves of par fives.
Perhaps the best 320 yard hole in the country would be the 10th east from - 320 yards! What a pile of great options with that shot - that no one ever gets to play - at least not anyone who can consider making use of all the options.
If you could drive it 260 from the front of 15 at Victoria it would be a great second shot from there to a par five.

[Kevin Pallier]

Bruce, in Sydney it is definitely top 2.

So after NSW # 1 ? 

[Kyle Henderson]

What did you think was better Kyle?

I certainly would put it behind, Royal Melbourne-West, Kingston Heath, and Victoria.

I reckon Woodlands is in the same relative class as Commonwealth, Metropolitan, Peninsula-North, Peninsula-South and Yarra Yarra. I'd probably put it somewhere in the middle of that grouping.