"currently battling with my dear friend, the Silverstripe CMS" - 18 hours ago
"is thoroughly relaxed at another Irish farmhouse B&B, this time one run by a character and a half, Sharon Moore.... http://fb.me/Fd1zVe5z" - 1 day ago
"Is this the Nellie bunker you were talking about mate? Safely avoided I'm pleased to report http://fb.me/EHAvCmyU" - 2 days ago
One issue with flying solo is the lack of a GPS. To solve this, I have been taking my computer and mobile broadband with me wherever I go to give directions. This worked relatively well in reaching my destination of Lakelands GC. Well so I thought until there were two different ‘pins’ identifying the Lakelands GC on Google. After invariably heading to the wrong pin first, I was a couple of minutes late for my 9am tee time. But this mattered not as the morning field were all away and I had the first tee to myself.
Following the field I decided to take my laptop out on the course with me to send some emails (necessary at the moment to try and get on top of the 2 months ahead plan – which is not quite happening at the moment for the upcoming US leg) and post some live scoring during the round. PGA tour website styles. Except without all the red numbers.
So some of you keen followers may have read that my round climaxed on around the 11th hole after a string of birdies before ending with a disappointing few bogeys to finish with a 74. Still not to bad going for a 6 marker.
I made the mistake today of playing Lakelands off the blue tees. 6400m off the blacks looked a bit long (??? I hear you say) and Bruce’s philosophy of the day prior of enjoying the round and not getting dominated by the course was still in my psyche.
Lakelands is a Jack Nicklaus design, like Kinloch, but it is nothing like Kinloch. It is not a monster, and it is very generous – particularly off the tee. The fairways wide and greens rather large, not many people would leave unhappy that they couldn’t tame the course at least during some stage of their round.
The name Lakelands is a bit of a misnomer on the front nine. Only a couple of lakes were seen and it wasn’t until number 8 that the water was genuinely in play. Number 8 was one of the stretch of three par fours that were up and down, the same length to finish the front nine. Uninspiring stuff and surpising from the great man. At least 8 was a really good par four, with pot bunkers off the tee and a perfectly positioned lake surrounding the front and left of the green. This hole reminded me of the 13th at Links Hope Island. And both holes I had success on so that always helps them to stay in the memory bank.
The back nine had a few goodies– starting with 10 (below) which snaked around the lake to the left. Another birdie and at this stage I had that feeling where you know exactly where you are hitting it. This is possibly the best feeling the have on the golf course (although it is closely rivaled by the ‘there is no way I am going to miss this putt’ feeling). The 12th green was another green situated perilously close to a lake to it’s right so much so that my chip from short left was left short for fear of rolling past the pin and into the lake. The greens by the way were quick and true. They seem to be getting better every day of late – it might have something to do with the perfect weather.. It is probably accurate to say that the main test at Lakelands comes with your second shots. It really helps to have good angles into the greens and then you need to be precise with your approach. If you hit your irons well here, scoring can be very agreeable (to use a Nick Laing term, who has just got engaged – congrats mate!).
The last hole of note was probably the tiny par three 14th. This is the hole that probably features on the Lakelands post cards. Have a look below. The tee shot to the shallow green is a genuinely fun shot to play. Reminded me of the 3rd at my old home track, Russley, which I used to absolutely love to play – probably because of it’s low degree of difficulty but nonetheless great fun! I’d go back to Lakelands just to hit that wedge shot on 14 again.
So, with the internet as my marker I finished the round and retreated back to base camp to have a mid-afternoon nap and get on to a bit of administration and blogging. Until tomorrow….
Most golf courses insure all the golfers who play on them for any stray shots which may career into neighbouring properties and cause damage. So I was surprised to see this sign on one of the tees at Links Hope Island. Perhaps there is an opportunity for an insurance salesman on this tee - the way I was hitting it last week the threat of iiability for a(nother) duck hook would have put the jitters up me.. Luckily no issues today..
I have arrived on the Gold Coast. Courtesy of a great chap from Christchurch, NZ called Tony Dowell I’m all set up in a great wee pad just north of Surfers Paradise. The next few days show much promise.
The Gold Coast is a popular place for kiwi’s to come and escape the cold, enjoy the sun, the surf and increasingly some quality golf. This week on the agenda is the Links Hope Island, Lakelands, The Glades and Sanctuary Cove so I have the opportunity to see what all the fuss is about.
First up was the Links Hope Island with playing partner and golfing media guru, Bruce Young. Bruce is from these parts and has kindly helped arrange a few games of golf. Bruce is probably best described on his website but is often seen, heard and his work read through various golfing media channels. He is the chief writer at iseekgolf which is a successful golfing website that is definitely worth a look!
Jamie and I had first met Bruce down at the New Zealand Open at The Hills. What I didn’t pick up then was that Bruce is actually a Kiwi! And a South Islander from Dunedin – his stocks continue to rise. His life in the golfing industry began as a 17 year old when he wrote to John Lister - a prominent kiwi professional - and asked if he could caddy for him. From there he caddied on and off for a few years carrying the bag for a few winners along the way. He was in the unique situation where he caddied for two kiwis, in consecutive weeks on the European Tour, who both won – Bob Charles and Simon Owen.
The Links Hope Island is currently in the process of becoming a private members course with 990 equity shares currently up for sale. Half have been sold to date. After the round I had the opportunity to sit and enjoy a beer and hear about the golf club (and have some banter) with John the Executive Chairperson whose company owns the resort, Alan the CEO and Luisa the Marketing Manager.
They were some of the finest hosts I have met on the journey to date and I could spend a few evenings in the clubhouse enjoying some more of their hospitality! The club is developing a strong culture amongst the members and this was evident as I was introduced to a few of the locals who reside on the course. But to the course -
Set in a 360 ha residential resort community, the par 72 course measure approximately 6,500 metres off the championship tees. Designed by five times British Open winner Peter Thomson and design partner Mike Wolveridge, the course was initially carved out of a dairy farm, with the layout following the natural contours of the land.
The immediate feature was the GPS in the carts. This gave precise numbers to reach all hazards and to the pin. A number of the holes had very generous landing areas so if you knew how far to carry the bunker you could just hit the appropriate club off the tee to leave you the widest landing area.
So, GPS in tow, the front nine was very user friendly: large landing zones, generous greens that were pretty flat and bunkers being the main hazards to steer clear of. That said, the par five 8th had quite a number of bunkers, and also scrub around the fairway that was very much in play. I managed to lose my ball in the scrub, but made birdie with my second ball for a bogey 6. Bruce’s golf was pretty handy considering he hadn’t had a hit for a few months. Thru nine holes there was probably only a hole or two in it. However over the course of the front nine the old caddy started giving me tips on how to read these couch greens and these tips started to pay dividends...
Couch greens have grain in them. This is something I am not used to. And it is definitely the reason behind my poor putting of the last week or so. I have not been able to judge the pace of the greens, whether putting or chipping onto them, and the issue was the grain. Bruce gave me the pretty simple advice to walk around the hole and work out where the grass was darker – when you could see the dark grass you were looking into the grain. Obviously the ball will try and go with the grain, so putting down-grain you need to be particularly careful (especially on pure, fast greens such as the beauties at Hope Island).
That lesson learnt, the back nine was there for the taking! I called an under par nine but a two chip, two putt bogey on the last put an end to that. The course builds to a crescendo on the back nine eventually leaving you well and truly satisfied and keen to return. The 13th is probably the first hole to raise the tone, a dog-leg par four to the left around a lake and probably one of the toughest par fours on the course.
From here, some excitement kicks in on the 16th which is a drivable par four at around 300m. From the blue tees it was very reachable, but neither Bruce or I managed to make birdie. I enjoyed the hole as it was generous enough to reward a well hit tee shot, but subtle to punish a miss in the wrong spot on the left or to the short side of the pin. Pitching out of the curly rough is difficult to finesse.
The signature holes are definitely the last couple. 17 is a long par three played over water, and often into the prevailing wind. The word goes that the biggest defense of this course is often the wind, and in this respect it reminded me part of my home course Clearwater. But today it was very still, and 17 was manageable with a 5 iron which I hit to about 15 feet and almost, but not quite, read the grain of the green for birdie.
And finally the 18th, played towards the clubhouse and around the lake (which had some rather tasteful houses perches on the other side of it, and houses that were far enough out of the way to not impact on the golfing experience). 18, like the par five 11 encourages you to get as tight to the trouble on the left as possible to make the hole reachable in two. This line obviously has its associated perils, but if you play out right you have virtually no show of getting the green in two.
So the match finished with another victory 4&3, and I was relatively happy with my +4, 76. The golf is finally getting better! After a few snaps with the owners I left the course very impressed and in great spirits – a great day on all fronts!
I'm on the first tee at Lakelands, about to play what looks like a top track.
No-one else is around so I'm going to have the internet as my marker and do some live scoring via facebook. Jump on facebook, find puregolf2010 and watch Lakelands tear me apart.
Royal Queensland Golf Club. That famous track 6km from the Brisbane CBD nestled alongside the Brisbane River and underneath an almighty bridge known as the Gateway.
Actually the golf course is now known as The New Course at Royal Queensland, after a complete redesign by Mike Clayton. This redesign was triggered by the federal government decision to build a new Gateway bridge alongside the existing one. During construction the golf course land was required and so a settlement was reached and RQ redesigned. Unfortunately the new design no longer requires shots to be played underneath the bridge – this could have been a bit of fun considering how high I hit the ball…
So after a very early start up on the Sunshine Coast I made it to the course with plenty of time and met my playing partner, a fine gentleman from these parts by the name of Ray. Ray and I were a two-ball at the end of the field, which meant plenty of time to take some photographs and have a good chat.
On the first tee another gent, by the name of Shaun came across, welcomed me to RQ and gave me a course guide to help me through. The course guide said something along the lines of: “at RQ it is not simply about hitting it to the middle of the greens, but you need to assess the exact position of the flagstick and ensure you position your ball on the right area of the green”. This was the most pertinent comment of the day and the defense of this course is undoubtedly it’s greens. My first taste of this was on the gentle par 5 opening hole. Just short for two I pitched up to around 25 feet, where I proceeded to four putt for a 7. The pin was on a treacherous spine and the hole was one you just couldn’t attack.
The next episode came on the glorious short par 4 third hole. At about 290m this is a genuine chance to knock it on and make 2. But water looms to the right and the green is one that you must approach from the right spot on the fairway. This green has a swale in it front right that is seriously deep and any shots even 4 feet to the right of the flagstick (or short if the pin is position on the back of the green) will gather to the bottom of the swale. I made the error of leaving my sharply uphill putt from aforementioned swale short and watched as it rolled right back to my feet. Humiliation. This was a green that some might say was “tricked up” but on this short par four it really worked for me. The other short par four on the course, number 11 also worked nicely with perfectly positioned bunkers protecting a more gentle sloping heart shaped green.
As Ray and I wandered down the next few holes I really began to enjoy the atmosphere of the place. With the yachts cruising along the river running alongside the course, 100 year old heritage-listed fig trees dotted here and there and the huge man-made feature arching over us RQ really has a distinctive feel. The main block of land directly in front of the clubhouse was particularly peaceful as the holes glided through the trees almost inconspicuously before the greens and surrounds really got up to give the course bite.
The two main features of RQ as a golf course are the bunkers and the greens. Both of these features were like no others that I have seen this year. The bunkers were like little trenches, cut out of the ground on the fairways and around the greens. They are so thin that there is often no flat ground at the bottom, so you either get a downhill or uphill lie. They are dotted all over the course and are timid on the eye, but a real obstacle to play out of. They are, of course, surrounded by the scruffy Mike Clayton edges, which again I don’t think are always necessary, particularly on a traditional track such as this one. This is not a links course. After a day or so to dwell on it, I have decided that I really like the bizarre style of these bunkers. What I don’t particularly enjoy are the 2 or 3 waste bunkers which line the 8th, 11th and 12th holes. To me, these are out of character with the quaint bunkers on the rest of the golf course.
As I have already described in part, the greens are gnarly. And I can say that from experience after my 42 putts today. Ray also knocked it around the hole with frustration a few times so we could relate to one another. I imagine many a member walks in after striking the ball well only to read a scorecard that looks a bit sorry-for-itself. The swales here do not start besides the green, but actually on it. Take for example the 4th hole where the back tier is barely 30 feet wide, but has a serious slope on the left quarter of it making it that much more difficult to get to. Another gnarly slope like this was on the left side of the 7th green. Although the 7th green also had an unusual ditch running sideways right through the middle of it, separating it’s front and back sections. My ball ended in this ‘ditch’ giving me a stepped putt back the short distance to the hole on the front “tier”. Unusual.
The 9th and 18th greens and 1st and 10th tees are all laid out in front of the clubhouse on an expanse that has very few trees but allows you to look across and see other golfers all enjoying their walk. I enjoyed this outlook, and could imagine this area of the course lined with spectators watching a big aussie tournament go down the wire.
Despite hitting it pretty well all day both Ray and I just couldn’t convert. I ended up with an 83, 11 over par which was particularly poor considering that I hit about 10 greens in regulation. But all in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable round with great conversation and exactly what the doctor called for.
After the round I had another chat with Shaun and Josh in the pro-shop. Shaun (in his bright pink shirt he wore so it could feature on the blogroll) has previously been at Royal Canberra and played a few of the great golf courses in Aussie so we shared a few war stories, including hearing about his spectacular round at the World Famous in Australia Barnbougle Dunes where he only lost one golf ball (can you believe it) on the last hole. And yes, before you ask like every other Aussie golf fanatic has over the last two months, the plan is to get to Tassie at the end of the year on the way back to NZ to have a crack at this gem!
But back to RQ, another gem of a day in tranquil surrounds on a golf course I would definitely recommend. Thanks to Ray for joining me and for Ross for hosting puregolf2010.
Shinnecock
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