Day 75 - A warm welcome and a media shoot at Woodlands

Posted by Jamie on 18 March 2010 | 0 Comments | Tags: , , , ,

Woodlands is quality.  Apparently it's the unassuming Kiwi like little cousin of the brash sandbelt brood, and doesn't get the recognition in the rankings that it should.  If that's the case it's a great big injustice.  Because this place, as I said, is quality.


The funny thing about these sandbelt tracks, Woodlands very much included, is that one minute youâ??re driving down some middle class road in suburbia, the next you turn into a blink-and-you-miss-it driveway and find yourself in golf heaven.  Nothing like Kauri Cliffs or Jackâ??s Point, where the entrance is a breathtaking but altogether unsubtle experience; finding these traditional clubs is satisfying in itself.  Although once youâ??re there you know youâ??re there, if you know what I mean.  

Once youâ??re a member at Woodlands, life is probably pretty good (of course there is no life beyond golf).  Apart from the initial AU$6,000 joining fee, itâ??s only (I say only, but if you see the place youâ??ll know what I mean) $2,500 a year, representing Top Value for a club of this calibre.  Sign me up.

Reckon Iâ??d never get sick of playing here.  On the front 9 â?? which was our back 9 â?? there are a few fiddly short par 4s, which you can tear up if youâ??re middling it.  Thatâ??s a big if, and we found that our scores were either birdie (had 7 between us) or double bogey (had so many we lost count).  Straying from the fairway isnâ??t a good idea here; itâ??s not like the courses down on Mornington, where bunkering and undulations are the predominant threat.  Here (and this is something we found at Yarra Yarra yesterday) the tree line isnâ??t just a few gums with a spot of second cut underneath â?? under the trees youâ??ll find scrub, brush, logs, sticks, stones, bones, snakes, etc.  Inhospitable country.  Apparently theyâ??ve thinned out a lot of the bush in recent years (again, at Yarra too), so I hate to see what It was like beforehand.  Mightâ??ve lost a few members who were sick of losing so many balls?  Harden up I say.


One thing I like about Woodlands was the heathland feel of the place.  In front of a good few tees lie beds of tussock, which is not so much in play (for most people) but certainly adds to the visual effect of the place.  Makes you feel like youâ??ve gotta hit that driver properly, even if youâ??re never really going to end up in the stuff.
 
On the back 9 there are stronger par 4s than on the front, in the sense that theyâ??re longer.  The 10th (our 1st for the day) was a 400 metre par 4, slightly uphill to a green guarded by bunkers, scrub and severe undulations.  Good luck hitting a 4 iron onto that button.  From the middle of the fairway I made 6.  Which wasnâ??t good.  Mike had a ringer / wipe.  So we werenâ??t doing our best to impress Roger, our playing partner, whoâ??d come down for a shoot.

Rogâ?? is a presenter for Channel 10, and covers AFL & cricket.  How the poor bugger drew the short straw and ended up having to come down to Woodlands to play golf with a couple of Kiwis I donâ??t know, but he put on a brave face.  Having the media on course can sometimes be a bit of a circus, especially if youâ??re filming staged shots / reactions / poses, etc.  But Roger & cameraman Ewan thankfully were pretty low key, so it wasnâ??t intrusive having â??em around.  Quite the opposite, actually.  Rogerâ??s from a wee country town somewhere in Victoria (he told me the name of it but I lost it instantly â?? these rural Aussie names all sound the same to me), and has retained his country charm.  Heâ??d borrowed some clubs from a mate and had a hit with us; heâ??s probably the only person Iâ??ve met who is a worse putter than our mate Ed!  (Ed gets a lot of stick on this blog, but will get a chance to defend himself with a guest blog when we catch up with him in England in July â?? heâ??s studying law at Oxford, so itâ??ll be well within his powers to write a compelling rebuttal).


Like Yarra yesterday, the greens were pretty darn good.  And fast.  You wouldnâ??t want to have the yips here, although that said they donâ??t have elephants in them, like some of the tracks down on the Peninsula.  Subtle is good, in our books.

Woodlands are in the final stages of revamping their clubhouse.  Itâ??s massive.  And plush, without being pretentious.   Between 9s, after the Channel 10 crew left, Mike and I had time for a chicken sandwich in the lounge.  5 bucks well spent.  When we leave Melbourne I might compile a sandwich ranking, because I can think of a few clubs off the top of my head that put together a quality sammie.  (Iâ??m a big sammie man).  Remueraâ??s chicken and avocado ones were up there, and this one today was competitive.  Fuller analysis to come.

Before ducking off we poked our heads into the General Managerâ??s office, to thank John for having us.  What an affable bloke he was.  (You may have noticed Iâ??ve started using that â??blokeâ?? word more and more recently; itâ??s the Aussie influence and I canâ??t control it).  John told us an entertaining story about his visit to Muirfield, which sounds like an arcane corner of the world if ever there was one.  I wonâ??t try to retell the story, because Iâ??ll botch it.  But if you end up at Woodlands ask him to recount his experiences â?? he had Mike and I hanging off his every word.  The gentleman also made a quick call while we chucked the clubs in the car, to Spring Valley down the road, asking if theyâ??d host us tomorrow (Yarra moved our booking at the last minute, so instead of playing there tomorrow we played yesterday, leaving a gap).  While we were waiting to hear back he invited us to enjoy the facilitiers and even charged my phone for me after it had died.  Wonderful hospitality.

Woodlands to me is unassuming.  The club has a magnificent course to call its own, thatâ??d be up there with the best weâ??ve played on this great big island, and a clubhouse to match.  Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath down the road might have a bigger brand, and pull the international visitors in, but Woodlands for me would have to be a â??must playâ?? for anyone coming this way.  An all round great experience.


Goldy and I at this moment in time are having a session in Malvern Public Library, a few blocks down from Lukeâ??s house.  Unfortunately the free wireless privileges here are reserved for library card holders â?? obviously not including us â?? but the wall sockets are coming in handy because the powerâ??s off at Lukeâ??s and all our gearâ??s running out of juice!  What are we like?  In a few minutes once the last emails of the day are posted weâ??ll meet up with Cam, and old mate of ourâ??s from Christchurch that we havenâ??t seen for a couple of years.  Heâ??s a lawyer by trade, but like us isnâ??t practising.  Sensible.

Tomorrow thankfully we have our first lie in for a while.  We donâ??t get many of those these days, with the imperative of avoiding the afternoon sun guiding us invariably towards an early tee off.  Might make the most of it!

JP    

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