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.