A short glance at Newcastle

[Lloyd_Cole]

My state of my game prevents any possible vain motivations for this posting, I'm sad to say.
I was in Newcastle, it was actually too hot to play 18, hence the hat , and the cart, and the double sunscreen (that you can't see).
We filmed a feature for Fox Sports Australia with Paul Gow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRV6bI-gDIo&feature=youtu.be

How was the course? (we only played 6 or 7 holes) It's a little rough from recent lack of water, right now, but still a fine test. Given the wind we experienced, I'd say it has gotten somewhat narrow over the years as it was tough to hit the fairway with decent strikes on a few holes. The greens complexes were excellent and it's a perverse fun to hit rotten irons when you're chipping well to greens which require imagination. More than that, I'm not equipped to say. The hospitality was second to none. I would say, if you were visiting Australia, and fancied a day away from Sydney, I'd do it... it's only an hour or so and the hotels by the beach (where we stayed) had some great restaurants nearby. We had a lovely stay which could only have been better had it been a little cooler.

[Tom_Doak]

It's only an hour or so?  Expect to find a traffic camera speeding ticket in the mail a month or so after you get back home 


Newcastle is a lovely place.  Reminded me a bit of Prairie Dunes, in terms of the contour, the thick native roughs, and the unpretentiousness of the membership.

[James Bennett]

Perhaps Lloyd started from the northern suburbs Tom......

It wouldn't be two hours would it, unless you started somewhere well south of the airport.

[Scott Warren]

From the centre of Sydney it's comfortably 2h15 to Newcastle by car. Perhaps Lloyd flew, given all the instruments etc...

Tom,
Prairie Dunes is a very good shout for both the course and the club.

Lloyd,
I chuckled at your comment in the segment about hating golf carts and Gow's look of shock when you said it.

Also amazed he grew up in Sydney and had never been there before. Ridiculous.

I visited Newcastle for the fourth and most recent time last November when Mark Pearce was visiting Australia, had been three years since I've been there, which is far too long.

I'd never seen the course in such superb condition -- wide fairways flanked by unirrigated sandy rough areas and a sharpness to the bunkering that seemed to have been deliberately pursued. But it has since been a HOT sunmer (as you experienced, Lloyd) so I'm not surprised it was struggling somewhat.

The club is currently looking at a major redevelopment, leasing the land that 1 & 16-18 are on for a supermarket, altering other holes (11, 12, 13) and building six new holes in the unused area of dunes. It's an exciting prospect but I am still a bit anxious about it.

Losing 1 and 11 particularly is a shame, and I'm quite fond of the approaches to 17 & 18. 12 is another very good hole lost. The change to 13 is also lamentable as its such a good par 4.5 with a green that really works for both a wood/long iron approach and for a tricky little flick with a wedge.

The question for me is twofold:

1. Can Bob Harrison & Scott Champion build better holes than those being removed?
I would say that yes they can, given their record and the land that's involved.

2. Will they build holes that match the character and nature of the existing greens and bunkering?
For me this is the pass/fail of the exercise, more than the outright "quality" of the holes they build, and is where I have my hesitation. I can't recall a partial redo where the architect let the existing holes be not just a guide but the instruction manual. If this goes well, the old 12 green complexes and the new six should be difficult to tell apart.

Staff at NGC also suggested this work is still two to three years away. It's an exciting time for the club, I just hope that it does its incredibly special course justice.

[Niall C]

The greens complexes were excellent and it's a perverse fun to hit rotten irons when you're chipping well to greens which require imagination.

Lloyd


Nothing perverse about it. You've just described my game for the last 20 years and I do get a lot of pleasure out of my short game and I certainly get a lot of practice due to my rubbish iron play. I'd also suggest it's made me focus more on green complexes and areas around them more in terms of assessing a course. For instance, having "successfully" missed the green what type of shot do I have and is there variety in the type of shot I'm likely to have. In fact, go one step back and ask is there room to miss ?


Scott


Nicely written. I can well imagine your apprehension as to whether the architects manage to build in something that fits with the remainder of the course. In my limited experience the problem can sometimes be not so much that they didn't get the bunker styling right or that the greens were out of kilter with the rest but that often the new holes are of a different scale to the existing. I think you tend to see that more with older classic courses.


Having said that, I'm struggling to think of examples off the top of my head. Must be old age 


Niall

[Mark Pearce]

Newcastle was one of the highlights of my Australian trip.  Really bold architecture on great terrain.  The way the course plays over, rather than around, dunes reminded me of the drama of Royal Hague.  No doubt that the land that's being lost is less interesting than the land that will replace it but some good golf will be lost. Mi'd love to get back in a few years to see if an already excellent course has improved, or if an opportunity has been missed.

[Lloyd_Cole]

Well, our route was circuitous. And I was sleepy. Ok, call it 2 hrs
Addressing Scott's comments - after a short chat with general manager PaulFoulcher, and a quick look at the new plan, I thought that it seemed especially well thought out. The thought that a world class course like Newcastle could be economically endangered may seem ridiculous, but this is the new reality. Other clubs will undoubtably disappear if they fail to respond thoughtfully to the challenges posed by the changing of the guards and the expectations of the new young adults.
Mark - yes it is bold! it resembles Victoria, if it resembles a Sandbelt course (the bit I saw, anyway).

[James Bennett]

Newcastle (Stockton) is built on lovely grey sands.
The bunkers utilise the native grey sands.
When affected by rainfall/irrigation, the grey can become a very dark grey, charcoal perhaps.
No blinding, white bunkers at Newcastle.

The course and undergrowth is greener than the Melbourne sand-belt, but that is an outcome of sub-tropical climate in Newcastle vs a milder maritime climate in Melbourne (and mediterranean climate in Adelaide).

[Adam_Messix]

For those of you who have played Newcastle far more than I have, do you think that thinning out the surrounding vegetation would improve Newcastle or does hole isolation add to the charm?  My impression was that I thought the course could be so much better if the vegetation could be thinned out between holes and allow the air to flow better.  Newcastle is such a charming course but I think the current course could be better and I would be concerned with changing the course if I were a member.  It should be interesting because the land is quite good. 

[RJ_Daley]

Note to self:  if on the very long shot I ever run into Lloyd Cole somewhere on the GCA.com trail, do not buy into his short sale of how he plays... 

[Lloyd_Cole]

For those of you who have played Newcastle far more than I have, do you think that thinning out the surrounding vegetation would improve Newcastle or does hole isolation add to the charm?  My impression was that I thought the course could be so much better if the vegetation could be thinned out between holes and allow the air to flow better.  Newcastle is such a charming course but I think the current course could be better and I would be concerned with changing the course if I were a member.  It should be interesting because the land is quite good.

Wouldn't almost everywhere be improved? Plus less long grass would equate to less fear of snakes, for me, anyway... The locals seem to treasure the isolation (per hole) factor, I suppose valuing a Pine Valley / Birkdale thing. IMHO they should all go play Kingston Heath, or TOC to see the folly in this POV.

[James Bennett]

Adam Messix

the course was significantly more overgrown 10 years ago.
Andrew Summerall was a member, and posted before and after pictures (and historic pictures I think).

To your question, yes I think it would be better.  However, removing vegetation is a lot more expensive than growing it.

James B