Day 77 at Victoria GC

Posted by Michael on 19 March 2010 | 0 Comments | Tags: Victoria, Sandbelt, cracker, Melbourne

After a warm welcome by the golf staff and a valiant effort, in vain, to find some locals to join up to make a four-ball we began round 77 of pg2010 at Victoria on the 10th tee.  The Victoria Golf Club does not have a time sheet, so the pro has to juggle the various groups to make sure everyone gets away. Worked well today! Good laid back system.

 

Dad and his mates have been coming to stay at Victoria GC for around 30 years.  On this annual golf trip playing all around the sandbelt they base themselves at the VGC clubhouse as house guests.  So I have heard many stories over the years about the dramas that have unfolded at Victoria both on and off the course.  Dad helped us to get a game here when he told the management about pg2010 back in February. They quickly got in touch with us, and the GM - Peter Stackpole - has been very generous to Jamie and I which we are very grateful for.

 

 

The course is a cracker. It is quite long - 6275m off the blue tees - and very balanced with four par 5's, four par 3's and a couple of short par 4's.  We started on the 10th and thus faced four strong par 4's to begin our round. 

 

The first feature of the course is the quality of the bunkering. Standard I hear you say. But read on. Firstly the bunkers are very well positioned.  Jamie can attest to this after hitting it in no fewer than 12 bunkers today - unsurprisingly he ended the day as the crab.  You don't need to have 2168 bunkers on a golf course to make them effective.  Secondly, they are very fair and every single time the ball finds its way to the sand it funnels to the bottom of the bunkers - no balls are ever plugged on the face or in a big foot print that hasn't been raked. So at least you have a chance at getting it out and in - which Jamie did quite a few times today.  And thirdly there is a good design feature where trees actually overhang the bunkers so if you hit a really bad shot you have two obstacles to deal with. Take for example the 11th hole (pic below) where I hit it in the bunkers on the left. Had I just rolled off the fairway and into the sand I would have been able to play out and potentially hit a 9 iron onto the green. But no, I had hooked it deep into the left side of the bunkers so was blocked out by a couple of gums and made a certain bogey.

 

 

 

Victoria is in an urban part of the south-east melbourne suburbs but whilst playing you forget that you are surrounded by housing. VGC is not short of land and you don't feel like the holes are on top of each other.  

 

The 14th (below) was the first par three we played today and it was all class. An uphill 140m shot to a green that looks like it is barely 20 feet deep with bunkers short and long. Distance control is key. This is something I don't particularly have at the moment when my 9 iron goes anywhere from 120m to 160mâ?¦ (incidentally my PW is playing up and I can barely hit it 100m??).

 

Then the 15th is a much talked about short hole. A 280m par four with about 12 bunkers lining the left, and then right of the fairway and, of course, all around the green. I went against my philosophy (of attacking all the short par 4's on the sandbelt with a driver) and took a 5 iron off the tee - straight into the trees. I struggle with lay-ups. Bizarre.  Someone told me once that amateurs aren't good enough to lay up and I think that is in my head every time I am faced with a decision on par fives. Anyway there must be some truth to the lay-up philosophy that most sane golfers subscribe to and I scrapped a four on the 15th whilst Jamie visited two of his 12 bunkers to end with a 5..  

 

A strange feature of the course, that I normally dislike is back to back par 5's. The long holes at Vic are 8&9 and 17&18. But each of these sets of fives has one short (450m) and one long (550m) hole. I am sure that good golfers play the shorter ones as par 4's and expect birdies, but the two longer holes are all round challenging holes with ti-tree, bunkering and even a dam lurching on the 17th to make 5 a damn good score.  I have heard that often 17 plays into the wind and requires three very solid shots to get there or there-abouts!

 

So we turned after 9 holes with pretty good rounds going. I was square, and JP was +3. And we had both left quite a few short putts out there. Things were looking promising. On the 1st tee (our 10th hole) we were joined by two gentlemen - Ray and Bryan who were both members of VGC. They told us where to go on the front nine which was a great aid, but unfortunately by this stage in our round we couldn't follow their directions!  

 

I'd say the first hole at Vic (pictured below) is quite polarising. It is a 235m par 4, which is very short to be a par 4, and has recently been remodeled to include much more extensive bunkering around the green.  I can't say I would have remodeled the hole as a 235m par four, but I guess with the land around the first there weren't too many options.. The pro's play this as a par three so VGC becomes a par 71 for tournament golf. The first as a par three would have been impossible today with the pin nestled merely 6 feet over the cavernous front bunker - not even tiger could hit a high 230m shot close to that..

 

Vic is infamous for having play suspended mid tournament in the 2002 Aussie Open for the greens being too fast and unplayable! Pro golfers were 5 and 6 putting� The greens have subtle slopes in them but are not severe - so they must have been pretty quick that day! Today the greens were sublime and at a speed where we felt comfortable to attack (certain) putts.  However some greens, like the 6th, were particularly gnarly when putting from above the hole and on that green even 3 foot putts needed close attention. 

 

As the round wore on the wheels started to come loose and a few holes were played in ways that  VGC has potentially never seen before (Note: don't go down 11 whilst trying to play number 8).  I failed to keep it together and bogeyed both 8&9 to end up with a 76 (Jim had an 82, and hit more fairways - I took out greens and putts).  I am pleased with the score, but it could have been much better. But then what round of golf could't be much better?!?

 

Ray and Bryan started rolling in putts from all directions over the last few holes and their experience, in particular on the par threes was evident. Ray knew the exact line to bump the ball up to some of the more obscure pin placements.  Which reminds me of the par 3 4th hole which was just scary - the pin was perched about  5 foot from the right edge of the green and if you miss right there is a swale/bunker/scrub/death.  JP managed to make a pretty damn good 4 from down there. Not often you say that about a bogey!

 

All in all today was a pure golfing day. And whilst I could wax lyrical for hours about the intricacies of the course but instead I'l chuck up a few pictures and maybe a video as well.  Time is short you see as we are off to St Kilda tonight to meet up with an old mate from the law firm who is now practicing over here.