The Cut, WA PGA

[Marty Bonnar]

Just watching on TV right now the highlights of the Western Aus PGA from this very interesting looking golf course. First time I've heard of it. There's something quite different about the look - kind of another modern take on a Links, but really an original interpretation.

I hope they won't mind me posting a link to a photo on their website:



New design by James Wilcher. Any of our Aussie brethren played it or familiar with Mr Wilchers work?

cheers,
FBD.

[Tom_Doak]

Martin:

There was a big feature about this course in one of Paul Daley's books -- vol. 3 I think.  But it hasn't come up again until now.

Don't forget, Perth is 2500 miles from Melbourne and Sydney where most of the GCA types reside in Oz.

[Marty Bonnar]

Thanks, Tom. I really must get round to buying Vols III and IV of Paul's wonderful series...

(PS - DVD in post yesterday )

cheers,
MB.

[Terry Thornton]

Martin,

I'm fairly sure the well travelled Matt Mollica has played there.  I've driven into the car park, not much help sorry. The course is about an hour south of Perth (WA capital city) on the way to the wine region of Margaret River which is a major tourist destination. LOTS of golfing country awaiting developers should the opprtunities arise

[Andrew Summerell]

Don't forget, Perth is 2500 miles from Melbourne and Sydney where most of the GCA types reside in Oz.

Yes, but we do fly from time to time 

Martin,

It's a lovely course that can be exceptionally brutal at times. Some housing encroaches on a few holes, which is a shame, but is the way of golf development these days.

[Ronald Montesano]

http://www.the-cut.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=102&Itemid=99

Go nuts...there's a lot to like, it seems.

[Tom_Doak]

Andrew:

How wide are the fairways?  And are the roughs just off the fairway still as thick as when the pictures were taken?

[MargaretC]

Martin ~

Thanks so much for starting this thread.  At least from the photos, I really like his interpretation of links...that is, until the @#$% houses!

Meg

[Matthew Mollica]

Martin & others,

I've visited The Cut previously, and will be back there again early next year. I wrote a review of the course after the initial visit. Click here for the full run-down.

http://www.thegolfforum.com/index.php?showtopic=1589&hl=Bouvard

Wilcher worked with Greg Norman and Bob Harrison and possibly Harley Cruise for a while, before heading out on his own. He had a great site to work with at Port Bouvard. Some vegetation clearing restraints imposed by local council, which influenced the first greensite, and some fairway widths among other points.

Sometimes the fairways are sometimes quite narrow, and other times very wide. My memory of 10 and to a lesser extent 14 ( #10 is a blind drive to a long-ish dog-leg right par 4 ) is that it could be doubled in width. Many other holes are more than generous with fairway width.

The coastal winds in that part can be very strong. 50km/hr not that uncommon. The stretch of holes from 5 to 9 is set within uninspiring land, further from the water, nearer houses, less scenic and less undulating. The hole designs themslves are good however.

There are several holes there which in themselves (3,11,12,15 & 16) warrant the visit. The drive on 12 is nothing short of spectacular. The picture in Martin's original post is of the 12th hole. The tee is to the right of frame, and the hole plays as a dogleg right par 4 from an elevated, exposed tee. The aggressive drives carry the large dune in the centre of the image, and the approach is then played back up to a skyline green. It is a very exciting hole.

MM

[John Sheehan]

The course looks interesting if a bit jumbled aesthetically. Some of the hole are visually stunning.

I'm curious if the fairway bunkers on 17 (and a few others also) are as perfectly "circular" as they appear in these pictures?

Here is the picture of 17 from The Cut's website:

http://www.the-cut.com.au/images/stories/17.jpg

To my eye, those saucer-like bunkers look quite unnatural.

Does the routing take the golfer through as many different topographies and landscapes as the photos would indicate?

[Brian_Ewen]

What a strange name for a golf course ?

[Matthew Mollica]

John,

your question regarding differring topograpies during the round is a good one. As you may have appreciated if you clicked on the link to the review, the course has several faces. Much of the round is spent among heaving dunes and coastal vegetation, with small undulations on the fairways. 50% of the front nine is on a flat listless site through a stereotypical housing estate.

This exerts great influence on some people's views of the course. The change in landscape and aesthetic is jarring, but the nuts and bolts of holes 5 thru 9 is sound. As one friend wrote about the course - The highs are magnificent, and the lows are forgivably decent.

The bunkers on 17 are not uniformly circular. They are 'neat' but appear different in that picture, (an image which is different in dimension to most other images on the website). I suspect it's been photoshop reduced and shapes have altered a little.

Brian - I think the course takes it's name from a nearby man-made channel - The Cut (an Ocean inlet). I agree it could have been named better but then again, there's lots of courses with strange names. 

MM

[Grant Saunders]

During my time living in Perth, I never made the trip down to see this course.

I did not hear much in the way of positive feedback from the golfers in the region. Many felt the course too hard and some holes to be tricked up (their opinion, not mine). With the course being almost an hours drive south of the city, in Mandurah, people didnt seem prepared to make the trip to play it. Lake Karrinyup and Royal Perth seem to be the benchmark for good golf courses in the area and the most desirable to join/play.

I did find the attitude of golfers in Perth very insulated and there is fierce competition amongst the private courses and some very staunch loyalty by the members. There is a real pecking order of the clubs and memberships are very much a status symbol here.

I felt that Perth has some very good golf courses and they are all built on sand with the exception of a couple. I thought Mount Lawley, W.A golf club and Royal Freemantle to be interesting. I have a few photos of these somewhere and may post them later.

[John Sheehan]

John,

your question regarding differring topograpies during the round is a good one. As you may have appreciated if you clicked on the link to the review, the course has several faces. Much of the round is spent among heaving dunes and coastal vegetation, with small undulations on the fairways. 50% of the front nine is on a flat listless site through a stereotypical housing estate.

This exerts great influence on some people's views of the course. The change in landscape and aesthetic is jarring, but the nuts and bolts of holes 5 thru 9 is sound. As one friend wrote about the course - The highs are magnificent, and the lows are forgivably decent.

The bunkers on 17 are not uniformly circular. They are 'neat' but appear different in that picture, (an image which is different in dimension to most other images on the website). I suspect it's been photoshop reduced and shapes have altered a little.

MM

MM - Thanks - I did read your review just now.  The course does sound both interesting and strategic.  It is a challenge to tie the aesthetics together on a course with such varied topography.   Judging strictly from the photos, those saucer-like bunkers seem jarringly out of place, especially in juxtaposition to the much more natural dunes and flash bunkers.  Any insight as to why Wilcher chose that particular style?

Thanks,
-John

[Matthew Mollica]

Not sure why Wilcher chose those shapes John, but I expect he may make an appearance in this thread soon, as I suspect he reads GCA from time to time.

Grant - I too found the prevailing thoughts of Perth golfers to be largely governed by the social cache of their Clubs, rather than the quality of the courses themselves. RP is quite ordinary, and would suffer in comparison to courses such as Secret Harbour and Meadow Springs, much less The Cut & Port Kennedy. I also found the reluctance of many in Perth to drive more than 20 minutes FOR ANYTHING a little odd, and perhap the main reason behind the absence of positive feedback for those courses south of Freo.

MM