Not having a car is like puregolf2010 losing its pulse. There is another logistical puzzle to overcome each day working out who is going to pick us up, drop us off, or whether we??ll be stuck paying a hundy dollar taxi ride (as we were the other day ?? Ouch).
We were in a real pickle trying to get to The National for our game on Saturday. It was a one hour drive from base camp down the Mornington Peninsula and, without wheels, the prospect of hitchhiking or arranging a different course on a Saturday wasn??t a prospect that made sleep easy.
Fortunately Hana, our host, lent us her car and like that problem was solved and we were en route to ??The Nash?. We??d played at ??The Nash? twice during the puregolf2010 mission so far ?? having a whirl at both the Old and Ocean courses. The Old is the definitive course down here ?? a Robert Trent Jones design cut from the scrub with the most spectacular views in Victorian golf. The Ocean course is a Peter Thompson design which we played interrupted by a massive electrical storm on what was one of the most stressful days of our year so far.
And so, as Karma would have it, our final foray at the National was again hampered by the weather as a cold change blew across the course leaving us trapsing around in our bright coloured ??Dooks?? wet weather gear and with the futile protection of Hana??s effeminate umbrellas.
Simon Cummins from Golf Tourism Australia had kindly arranged our golf through his membership and The National again kindly gave us courtesy of the course. This is a very generous gesture from what is a very commercial and private golf club. It??s a club where corporates from Melbourne come down to play their golf and generally has a phenomenal buzz during the weekends as the clubhouse serves golfers who??ve battled it out over one of the three courses here. Membership at the National comes in the form of a pure equity stake that is transferable at market value over the ASX. Indeed I heard the chairman of the club is also the chairman of the ASX.
Our challenge was the Moonah course, the newest course at the club, designed by The Great White Shark, and rated by those ??In-The-Know?? as one of the top 10 tracks in Aussie.
And then we played golf. Again! Slick greens and a pure conditioned course meant that even with the poor weather it was enjoyable. Although a dozen or so guys barked at us as we were heading to the first tee in the pouring rain ?? ??you??re bloody mad!??.
Adding to the drama, my upper back seized up somewhat in the cold ?? not helped by my golf bag which had become significantly heavier with the water (and is already far from the most comfortable golf bag going around). So the bag was ditched with the cart girl and I continued on with 5 clubs under my arm. The Moonah off the tips in the rain with wet grips and 5 clubs is not easy. Fortunately each blow from the tee with the 2 iron was a good one and I could still see, and enjoy the course.
The design is a good one by Norman. Probably his best of his courses we have played as he mixes gruelingly difficult holes with some friendlier features so that when you walk off you??ve actually had some fun. We jumped around the holes a bit (in a quest to play fast golf and not be stuck in the rain enduring the 4 hour Aussie Open style pace that is the norm downunder). So the stretch from 14 to 18, which is one of the most demanding finishing stretches in Aussie Golf was actually during the middle of our round as the weather was starting to clear. Have a look at some of these great holes below:
Many of the new Aussie courses seem to have these contraptions dotted across them? But see the sandy land in the background - some of the best golfing land in Australasia is down here on the Mornington Peninsula.
The par four 14th hole. Not the large bunkering which is a common feature of Norman courses.
Above is 15, a great par five where you can hit your second, blind over the hill on the left to the green. Driving into the National you look out across 15 and 16 and across the huge acreage of golf below and out to the ocean. It is truly one of the best drives into a golf club in the world.
Above is the par three 17th which you approach from the left. The bunkers are all at the back of the green. On the hill are some opulent properties.
Above - looking up the 18th hole where you need to drive between the Moonah trees which give the hole a great sense of atmosphere as you walk through them. The huge and rather corporate looking clubhouse is in the background.
After we finished on the 18th I picked up my bag again and we went out to play the remaining 6 holes we??d skipped out ?? 8 to 13. As you do. Turned out these holes were very playable, and made both JP and I wanting to play more upon completion of round 332 on the 13th green. It??s always a good mindset to be in at the end of the day, and knowing we had ??Metro?? the following day we did the smart thing ?? 18 is enough ?? and headed back to base camp.
It is a privilege to be able to write about our day at Royal St Georges as day 301 of puregolf was one of the very best days in a year of great days of golf.
Our day began with a 2 minute drive from the Dormy House at RCP across the private road demanding a 6 quid toll which, I think, if you??re off to the golf course you needn??t worry about. But, of course, a 2 minute drive across narrow country roads becomes more like 10 when you??re stuck behind a tractor and the postie. Wonder if they have to pay the toll as well?
Upon arrival two gentlemen were waiting by the clubhouse for the kiwis to straggle on in, the tanks engine blaring like a lawnmower ruining the serenity of this links land such that the secretary almost had to come out to tell us to shut up.
Our two hosts today were of the Lucifer clan and go by the names of Paul Mitchell & Bertie Shotten. Both men were incredibly welcoming to us and a huge thank you to them for having us here. Being lucifers, they both have connections with Commonwealth countries and both chaps are heading out to New Zealand in the new year for the annual Lucifer tour. After todays hospitality we??ve got quite the task at hand to reciprocate in Wellington! Paul??s Lucifer connection is particularly strong. Follow carefully - his wife is the sister of the wife of Peter Costain our host from Rye. The father in law of both Peter and Paul is now ??The Senior lucifer?? and at the age of 99 I believe has only recently hung up his sticks.
So into the clubhouse we went where we changed our shoes, but first inspected the rich tapestry of golfing history that drips from the walls of this traditional and elegant clubhouse. Many an Open Championship have been held here and famous names such as Walter Hagen, Bobby Locke, Sandy Lyle and my childhood golfing hero Greg Norman, feature.
Without getting too carried away with the memorabilia out we went to tackle the course on a fresh but clear day with Bart kindly on my bag and also on the camera taking the imposing challenge of photographing this links off our hands. But don't get me wrong I think Bart was, along with all four of us, like a pig in mud just walking around this hallowed links land.
The match was laid down, Bertie and I taking on Paul and JP in a foresomes match. From the outset it seemed like this was more of a ??golfers club?? than some we have visited of late. Both Paul and Bertie were both incredibly proud of their golf course and were both fairly competitive golfers. I??d need to do more research but I wouldn??t be surprised if St Georges had a high proportion of members who really know how to hold a club ?? a bit like Pine Valley. So despite playing a foresomes, for the entire round each shot was talked through and generally well thought out and we all got a great look at the course. Throughout the round the craic flowed and both Paul and Bertie had a fantastic warmth about them. I??m sure that most members of RSG are ??upper-crust?? but these lads were down to earth, very supportive of our quest and really good fun!
I am now going to unashamedly talk about the Royal St Georges golf course which is the best golf course in England and is the host of the next Open Championship. For those not interested in the golf, feel free to skip this part and go back to your latte and find another procrastination tool to get you through your morning at work. For those golf lovers, please read on.
First, the flags. They are cool. The St Georges cross stands out on a small white flag, making depth perception difficult but most crucially being as distinctive as the big greens of The Old Course.
[the old coal fired power station in the background which is now too costly to remove because of asbestos]
Early on the round the class of RSG makes itself known. After a strong start you stand on the 4th tee with some of the most ghastly bunkers eyeing you right in the face. Legend goes that Robert Allenby failed to clear the sand during the 2003 Open here and took 3 shots to get out en route to making a quintuple bogey 9. I know Robert is a reader of our blog (yeah right) so, for his sake, there is a friendly reminder about his favourite bunker below.
The par fours at RSG as a grouping stand out. Numbers 2 and 4 require immense drives which can, played well, set up a birdie opportunity. The 5th hole is a fantastic hole where the green is nestled behind the dunes leaving a blind second if you don??t place your drive well. On the 5th Vijay (surely downwind) took aim 35 degrees left of the sane man and bombed it over the dunes and some 400 yards onto the green. The 5th hole is pictured below.
Taking a pause from the fantastic par fours, the front nine is bisected by the signature hole, ??the Maiden??. A par three nestled amongst the dunes and surrounded by bunkers and, like a maiden, a pleasure on the eye. The Maiden used to be a blind hole played over the sand dunes, but RSG has adapted and there are now very few blind holes ?? a feature which pleases the R&A and the professional golfers as opposed to the more ??quirky?? traditional courses that have remained the same (i.e., Prestwick). The ??Maiden?? is pictured below.
There are only a couple of par fives on the course. The first long hole (the 7th) JP hit a remarkable shot, yet to be seen in 301 days of consecutive golf, when he holed out from the bunker some 25 yards away by hitting the top of the flag and riding the flagstick down into the cup on the fly. That gets the adrenaline pumping. Lucky for he and Paul, that was for the half (in birdies) after y??er man Bertie had left me a mere 220 yards for my second shot in. The second par five is the famous 14th and, along with JP??s celebrations, is pictured below. The suez canal plays alongside the boundary by Princes with O.B. staring you in the face all the way down the right hand side, a burn at driving distance, and bunkers everywhere. I gave an offering to the Princes rough from the tee, leaving Bertie displeased and stopping our run of quite a few consecutive pars, whilst JP and Paul played signature golf to take the hole. I look forward to seeing how many of the pro??s succumb to the OB next year when the wind is howling from the left.
Back to the par fours in the middle of the round, which, for me, turned a good golf course into a truly great one. You see, this course is not a traditional out and back style links and throughout the entire round the wind is constantly hurtling at you from all directions. Add to this the constantly challenging green complexes on the 8th, 9th, 10th,12th and 13th holes and you walk off from that stretch truly impressed. Both the 9th and 10th holes are the type that make you stand there, wedge in hand, hoping for the life of you that you can keep it on the green and be spared the task of trying to get up and down. The 12th and 13th holes could on a good day seem like simple birdie chances yet on a bad day ruin your round completely. And the stroke one 8th is sublime. I??ve photographed a couple of these holes and they are below.
[one of the most written about holes on the course the par four, stroke 1 index, 8th hole. The green is off in the distance between Bart and Bert and protected by both bunkers & dunes]
[Paul on the par four 9th hole]
[12 - one of my favourite mid length par fours. If you can drive it over the ridge it's an easy wedge onto the green. If not, you need to exhibit some local knowledge like Bertie did!]
[The 16th. A par three where Thomas Bjorn famously lost the Open in 2003 from the bunker on the right (hidden, but right next to the pin)].
The round finishes with a incredibly strong par four lined with bunkers but which is like ??links stadium golf? because of the wide expanse along the fairway and green for the grandstands to go. It will have great atmosphere next year and Paul and Bertie, as club members, will have the best seat in the house as stewards on the 18th.
Into the clubhouse the RSG experience continued to improve as the tankards of beer came out and we were entertained by not only Bertie and Paul but by the senior Lucifer Fergus and his mate Robin ?? two accountants who had qualified many moons ago. Fergus, an incredibly lucid chap, shared with us about his life running the family company including during his time in the South of Ireland where he had great time but missed RSG. We had a sparkling lunch, meeting not only members but visitors who were out to play the future host of the Open. The visitors were chatting with the members in the sprig bar and we were introduced to a couple of Japanese businessmen out from the city. Of course, our day finished with the customary Kummel, pints of the stuff no less which brings me to my closing plea. The Wolfschmidt brand of kummel is closing down and I know many a golfer who would be keen to invest in this company and continue to supply the golf clubs of the UK. I??ve googled it without luck ?? anyone know anything about the Austrian spirits trade?
A three page essay on RSG later I??m sure that no amount of writing can do this day justice. So for those who have made it this far down I??ll leave it that, but to again put a huge thank you out to both Paul and Bertie and the entire Lucifer clan for entertaining us during a week of golf that will be forever etched into the memory.
Doonbeg. Great name isn??t it? Long before the Americans at last managed to acquire the commonage upon which Doonbeg GC is built, the site had been earmarked by British Garrisons for development. In time however they realised that Lahinch ?? half an hour up the road ?? was a more suitable site, given the railway took you right to it. Old Tom Morris was commissioned to come across (later Dr. Alistair MacKenzie too); and so Lahinch GC came to be. It would be over a century before the golf course at Doonbeg was built. When the time came, it wasn??t Old Tam that was brought in to do the design work (unfortunately he was long gone), but a fair haired Australian Shark by the name of Greg Norman. Thus you have an American owned Irish links designed by an Australian. How cosmopolitan.
The village of Doonbeg itself is an ancient one and a tiny one. You might say its economy ?? pre-Doonbeg GC ?? was of modest proportions. Then the big guns came along with a grand plan and, lo and behold, created employment for over 100 locals. Doonbeg??s now on the map, firmly cemented as one of the ??must do? stops on the West of Ireland golf trips that the Americans in particular so love (for good reason, if you ask me). Being so proximate to Lahinch and Ballybunion is ideal, particularly from a marketing perspective. Indeed they all get together, along with another few clubs further down the Kerry coastline, to form the SWING collective. Strength in numbers and all that.
You won??t be surprised to hear that when the Americans developed Doonbeg, they Developed it (emphasis added). Yes, folks, there??s not just a golf course on the site; more a golf village, and a tastefully built one at that. These lads obviously know what they??re doing. So you have (5 star) The Lodge (with all the trimmings) and a bunch of 4 bedroom cottages (which the developers sold off even before the course was built). It??s class.
We were due to tee off at 10.00, according to my laptop. However. When I consulted the laptop the night prior ?? while we were still up in Sligo ?? it told me the tee time was 1.00... (Obviously the first zero after the one had gone AWOL in a display of mischievous trickery). The long and the short of this improbable anecdote: upon waking up I/we realised that the 4 hour drive to Doonbeg would have to be completed in less than 2 or, more plausibly, our tee time would have to be shifted. Happily Brian Shaw the Head Pro down the road was happy to oblige, thank heavens.
Every road worker on this Emerald Isle then conspired to dig up as many roads and create as many sitting-frustrated-at-temporary-traffic-light delays as is humanly possible on a stretch of road of such length. The drive then seemed almost as long as the one we did from Scottsdale to Dallas (which took 22 hours). And the road wasn??t quite so straight... However, I??m not one to complain about the infrastructure or the weather here ?? unlike an Antipodean couple I met the other day, who upon being asked how their holiday was could only recite such complaints and not find a positive word to say at all... Ludicrous. You??re in Ireland for goodness sake!
The Tank pulled into Lahinch en route to our destination, in the name of sustenance. A bonnie wee village it is too. Michael pulled together a staple meal of brown bread, shaved ham and coleslaw; soon we had ingested a couple of sammies each and were suitably equipped to take on this tricky proposition that is Doonbeg. Or so we thought! (As it turned out, to be ??suitably equipped? we would??ve required the further: 16 energy bars, 24 Panadol, a caddie that??s happy to run down and kick your ball into the fairway, and a proper golf swing. Not to mention a devilish sense of humour. Yes, Doonbeg??s a rather challenging beast (from the back markers, at least).
We were down on the (amended) tee sheet to be playing as a 2 ball. But that??s no fun. So we asked of John The Starter (distant relative of John The Baptist) whether another pair might be brave enough to join us. As it happened a pair of members from Limerick way were taking coffee and scheduled to be playing 12 minutes behind us; and they were sociable enough to agree to join ??a couple of Kiwis?. Our 2 became 4. Michael and Brian (pronounced Bree-an) turned out to be a pair of characters and very interesting ones at that. Both have a background in accounting (gasp!), but fortunately were not of the I-like-numbers-and-not-much-else flavour. No, on the contrary, their craic was of a fine vintage, thanks be to God.
Zee course? Lots of good holes and one or two nearly good ones. I understand Monsieur Norman and his cronies were somewhat constrained in what they could build by swathes of conservation red tape (the worst kind) marking the boundaries of a native snail habitat (don??t those little slimy things always get in the way?). Nonetheless they??ve crafted a challenging and at times terrifying 9 out: 9 back links on a spectacular piece of sand. (I must emphasise that our experience was from the back tees, which not many people are stupid enough to take on.) Contrary to the odd rumour I??ve heard, I have it on good authority that The Shark Himself did spend a good bit of time over here during the build process, rather than rubber stamping someone else??s design. The authority comes from a canny friend who ?? during a Q+A session held in the US for potential investors ?? asked Greg which pub in Doonbeg village pulls the best pint of Guinness (read: have you spent enough time in town to know the name of at least one of the pubs?). He passed the test (the answer is Comerfords, which incidentally is a family pub that??s been there since Rameses was taken down to his tomb).
There are five par 5s, five par 3s, and eight par 4s, if the accountant in me is doing his job properly (he seldom does). The 1st is a striking par 5 ?? on this occasion, playing more like a long par 4, down wind ?? to a green cut in the shadow of a huge dune behind. Our pal Gents rates it as his favourite opening hole in the world (and he??s played a few crackers).
By the time you reach the 2nd green The Norman Influence starts to reveal its menacing self. What looks like a green is actually an inverted V-shaped ??wingnut? of closely mown grass, the inner apex of which (does that work?) has been cut out into a deep round hole filled with sand. Of course ??someone? was sadistic enough to cut the pin right behind the pot bunker, just above a deathly ridge that splits the green in twee. The tremendously candid folk Turnberry brought in to scribble captions for each hole on their strokesavers would??ve had a field day with this wee chestnut!
Ancient whitewash cottages tucked behind even more ancient stone walls pepper the landscape and provide temporary distraction from a messy scorecard. Like this one:
I loved the 5th hole, a short par 4 that in different conditions could be played a number of different ways. It??s a tunnel like number, with a grassy hollow that??s driveable when the wind??s helping or not doing much. The tee shot is uphill and ?? if you??re long enough ?? blind, so there??s a certain degree of feel involved. The Big Boys could I don??t doubt smash one with a helping wind over the ditch and down to the green. If the wind??s into, as it was, it??s a good drive and a mid-iron (or a duffed drive and a 3 wood in my case...). Just a lovely hole.
It??s followed by a gnarly little short par 4 that created problems for the lot of us. The view from the tee (below) gives insight into what lies left and right for those who are human enough to err. You don??t even need to stray left or right, in fact ?? there are enough bunkers guarding the gauntlet to frighten even the most accomplished of golfers. The back portion of the green slopes sharply away from you too, so even if you??re pitching there??s no guarantee that you??re getting a short birdie (or even par!) putt. I??d like to watch the pros play this one.
From the 9th green ?? the farthest point on the course, as is traditional ?? there??s a stirring view right back along the strand to the clubhouse. Even from back here there are echoes of The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, which has a similarly spectacular clubhouse casting a great shadow off in the distance. See for yourself:
The ninth, incidentally, is one of a couple of hair raising par 3s (the other being the signature hole 14th) that are cut right on the edge of the dunes. On a windy day you could almost putt down to the beach if you weren??t careful (and if your ball picked a canny route between the tussocks lining the banks). Not for the faint hearted. They almost need one of those Warning signs like they have at Bethpage in New York.
Several friends had warned us to beware of the 12th green, which like the 5th at Riviera has a bunker cut in the middle of it. Yikes. The difference here though is that the bunker??s not visible from the fairway ?? unless my eyes were deceiving me ?? so you??ve got to trust either the strokesaver or the locals. The pin was cut back left, not 10 yards from the out of bounds wall. So the line was a precarious one to say the least. Not only that but, lamentably, the pin had been cut right on a severe knife edge ridge, so two putting from 20 feet was no easy task. A shame really, because the hole is nearly done well, but falls on the wrong side of ??tricked up? in my humble opinion. If you??re going to have a bunker in the middle of a green, at least make it visible from the fairway, and make the green surrounding it relatively flat; otherwise good shots aren??t very much rewarded (Michael hit a good tee shot and a good approach in but still had no real hope of making his par). Och well.
The 14th which I mentioned before is one of the more spectacular short par 3s we??ve had the pleasure of playing this year. It??s simple but treacherous. Either you hit the green or you don??t; as simple as that. At only a shade over 100 yards it??s only a pitch in still conditions ?? although I??ve heard reports of 3 irons being hit when the sea wind is Up. Gets the blood pumping.
By the time we reached 18 green the wind was a??blowin?? and the rain was a??tumblin?? down. A spectacular setting nonetheless, very much arousing memories of Day 160 at Kiawah. Breen and Michael got showered up in the sheds while we went back to do the same at our plush little cottage (which boasted the most marvellous marble shower the size of a small Pacific Island nation). Then the lads kindly took us into the village to have The Real Doonbeg experience: dinner at Morrissey??s and a pint at the world-famous-in-Ireland Comerfords pub. Class.
When we arrived at Comerfords at 8pm, the proprietor (who must be in her late 60s or early 70s) was just arriving to open up, with a fragile looking gentleman on her arm. Thomas is deaf as a post but comes down to the pub every evening for 3 pints; like clockwork. 2 other patrons arrived within half an hour or so, obviously as part of a regular routine if you know what I mean. One of ??em was a character and a half, and burst into song impromptu. Before then he could hardly get a sober word out, but his singing voice was clear as Katherine Jenkins ?? remarkable. Only in Ireland...
Slainte
JP
Chisholm Park
12 holes bart cape kidnappers christchurch christmas doak ed bayley hawke's bay heretaunga jane poole napier golf club new zealand puregolf2010 rangiora rarangi gc royal royal wellington the first tee the interislander waiohiki
