"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
For the record, Nambour is a par 68 and I shot 79, +11.
The course was very wet. I lost a number of golf balls on the middle of the fairway in puddles. I am now running low!
Thanks to Mel and Nambour GC for hosting puregolf2010 on day 115 (I'm losing count already!)
Henry here, Mike's brother and Queensland resident. As Mike continues on the PureGolf 2010 odyssey, I've been given the honour of writing a guest blog;
After an emotionally intense twenty-four hours for PureGolf, Mike, Bryan (fellow Medical Student & good friend) and I rolled up to Bribie Island's Pacific Harbour Golf Club.
We were greeted by the immensely friendly staff, treated like VIPs and were very well looked after. In particular, the Pro running the show, Chris, did a stellar job of keeping us informed and catered for. It was a particularly nice touch that the staff badges had not only their full names, but also home town.
Pacific Harbour is managed by Troon Golf, a company that runs more than 200 courses in 26 countries. PureGolf's first Troon course for the year; certainly not the last.
Mike, having played a good 113 more rounds this year than either Bryan or myself, was charged with determining the haggle. He wisely waited for our drives on The First Tee before appointing handicaps and explaining split sixes. We all pared the opener, a 501m par 5 with a broad fairway, and a splash of water to the right.
The course, Mike tells me, has matured nicely from his previous outing here - with our parents and Grandfather Ernie - four years earlier. The scrub and native regeneration feels decidedly natural, given it was likely flattened by earth-moving equipment upon the course's creation. The bunker also had a distinctly desert-island sand-dune feel, without being overstated or facetious.
By the sixth hole, the match was rolling along nicely, with Mike holding a narrow lead over Bryan and myself. As we played our approach shots, the grey skies made good on their threats and opened wholeheartedly. This has been par for the course all week, unfortunately, and in this case would have done little to ease the flooding on several holes.
Water, the big lake (dam) type - as opposed to the casual-water-free-drop type - is certainly a feature of Pacific Harbour, and as a high handicapper, it's supposed to scare the heck out of me. That there's water on almost every hole, however, certainly makes it easier to mentally block it out. I'd say ignore, but I'm now thirteen unlucky balls poorer for my troubles, so I shan't get too confident.
At the twelfth, Mike had surged to a fourteen point lead in the split sixes, and he suggested that for holes 13 through 17, the part-timers points count for double. At eighteen, all points were doubled. Bryan's pendulous driving and iron-play netted him wins on thirteen and another of the next three holes, with another halved. In fact, Bryan lipped out for what would have been PureGolf's first associated Ace on the 140m par-3 thirteenth, before clinching a solid par for the win.
I claimed sixteen and seventeen after finally deciding my driver was more foe than friend. Seventeen, indeed, a 200ish-metre par 3 (across a beach & lake) and well defended by bunkers, saw me take full advantage of my many extra (but needed) shots.
As we stepped onto the eighteenth tee, Mike mentioned that Bribie's finishing holes were particulary memorable, from his previous outing, and that the course is easily in the top couple he's played in the Maroon State. The Pacific Harbour website says that it's just been rated as the Number 1 Public Access course in Queensland.
The picturesque 408m par-4 eighteenth runs along the opposite side of the 17th's lake, gently breaking around to the right. Now, a brief tangent; Some summers previously, I met with Mike and some friends for a day at the beach and an afternoon of solubrious banter. As one thing led to another, arm-wrestles began. That day, Mike beat me in an arm-wrestle for the first time. Today, I claimed the eighteenth hole and my maiden golfing victory over my younger brother. To be fair, he had given me more shots than those consumed at a 21st birthday party. For twins.
Bryan, almost-Ace and all, gave it a red-hot go, what he missed in putting, he recouped in goodwill with a sterling meal of shark and taties on the Bribie esplanade.
It was a pleasure to be a part of the PureGolf experience. Playing every day certainly has some unique stressors, but by gum, it looks like fun; meeting interesting folk, unique opportunities, blogging and international travel. As we drove home, Mike and Bryan slipped into the land of nod as Sgt Pepper's clicked over to A Day in the Life.
On day 113 Jamie and I played golf at Headland GC. Headland is shaping up for the Queensland Amateur Championships this week and was in fine nick. The gents in the pro-shop were incredibly hospitable and enthusiastic about us playing the track. Indeed, it was in fine condition in particular the greens which were as good as any up on the Sunny Coast.
Said gents also made us aware that Headland GC was the best Club in the region. It has a strong membership, is obviously up to the standard to host premier tournaments and it had a good feel. Accessible for all as well.
The holes itself were often tree-lined ala Royal Canberra so placement was really key. It benefitted from some serious undulations to knock distance control around, and with a number of elevated greens it was often difficult to take enough club.
One thing that makes scoring really tough in these parts is the broad-leafed grass that grabs your bal around the green surrounds. Often it looks like the ball is sitting up nicely but then it is seemingly impossible to control how it’s going to come out. Some times the best option is to splash it out like a bunker shot, other times you need to exhibit some touch. I seem to get this all wrong, probably not helped by my poor ballstriking, and consequently am making very few pars when I miss a green in regulation.
I look forward to seeing how the gun’s get on at Headland this coming week. I think if they hit it straight the scoring could be red hot..
Day 112 was a special day for the Patton family at the Hyatt Regency Coolum. It was April 22 which is the birthdate of Mike Patton (Jamie's father). Every year, the 22nd of April Jamie and Mike play a golfing match, in the matchplay format, for a trophy that is named the Portnoo Trophy, after the holiday venue that the Patton family used to visit.
So today we were joined by Mike and Lesley (Jamie's mother) for this annual battle. Since the inception of the Portnoo trophy, Mike receives an extra shot from Jamie each year. This year was the 8th year of battle and so Jamie was giving up 8 against his dad. But I guess this was always going to be the year that Jamie was adequately warmed up and the red hot favourite to take out the trophy (which incidentally had been left at home in NZ!).
The Coolum resort is one of the golf courses in Australia that everyone knows. It has featured on tele annually over the last few years as it is the home of the Australian PGA tournament, one of the leading tourny's on the Australasian Tour. Winners line the clubhouse and many a famous golfer have played here in the event. One famous story goes that John Daly threw his putter into the lake on the 18th after another dissapointing day on the greens. The putter was recovered and now is framed in the clubhouse.
It must say something about the course that generally the best players seem to come out on top and names such as Allenby, Parry and Lonard line the walls that are reserved for past champions.
The Hyatt is renowned for it's water hazards. Holes such as 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 etc etc are lined by water. Come to think of it, playing the entire backnine, you don't want to get off the fairway. The par three's, in particular on the back nine are memorable. 11 requires a carry entirely over water to a green that climbs out of the pond courtesy of a pleasant looking retaining wall. 14 is more subtle with a creek running short of the green and to the left catching any shots that may draw too much, or get pushed that way by the prevailing wind off the nearby ocean.
The first 6 holes at the resort (which, may I add had brilliant service, facilities and restaurants, and would be nothing short of a superb place to base any trip up this way) are all new. They only came into play last December but are already quite settled. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jnr, as the rest of the course also was, they were far from a blight on the course. The first is a cracking par five which is surrounded by water and has good reward for the well placed drive. The third and fifth are also par fives, and the third probably is a real scoring hole for the pro's. Interesting, the new 6th hole is barely 100m long, and played across a flat expanse. Quite unusual for a short hole to be so seemingly straightforward. This is where Lesley found her rhythm and hit a beaut iron to about 20 feet. The new holes also allow the developers to add more property to their stables, and from the golfers persepective, they remove the need to travel across the David Lowe Way, a busy road that used to run through the course.
Anyway, I'll keep this brief, but the annual Portnoo match went through to number 17. After a strong start by Mike, JP found himself dormy four up. But then he missed a couple of 10 footers to put the nail in the coffin. But then, on 17, his match fitness kicked in and he took out the 8th Portnoo trophy 2&1. This proved a timely victory, becuase Mike made a spectacular par on the 18th which would have claimed the half had the match made it past 17. Speaking of the 18th, what a cracking hole it is, and great fun to play after watching so many championships come down the wire. I was fortunate enough, after a scrappy day, to knock it to 10 feet for two (but unfortunately missed the putt!).
P.S Check out the "Journey" section of the site for the latest plans - any suggestions welcome!
The wettest day of puregolf2010, without a doubt. But what fun we had at Club Pelican anyway.
The madness kicked off with a photo shoot for the local rag, The Sunshine Coast Daily. Brett had us in all sorts of compromising poses. Photographers have had real fun with us this year; we are but putty in their hands. Dean - the Pro at Club Pelican, who joined us on course - waited patiently and even lent a hand in procuring props for the photo shoot (cart, "USA?" sign, clubs, etc). Bless him. Eventually Brett had his shot, and it was down to business.
Dean's a Kiwi of Central Otago extraction, and has lived in our stomping ground (Christchurch) for the last few years. Christchurch being the big village that it is - with 2 degrees of separation - he knows a lot of folk we've grown up with, including one of our good mates, Dougie. What a small world. Anyway he only recently came to Club Pelican, some 4 months ago, but seems to be settling in nicely (he lives with his partner in a plush apartment in the adjacent Crowne Plaza Hotel, overlooking the 18th hole). He's also in the process of building his client base, so if you live in the area and are looking for a lesson (top value at $90 p/hour), drop him a line.
The golf was pretty slow; the group 2 or 3 ahead rather selfishly played at snail like pace and held the rest of us up. Initially this was aggravated by the torrential rain too. But once we were so wet that we no longer cared and indeed embraced our lot (this only took a couple of holes), nothing really fazed us and we just enjoyed each other's company. God we got wet. No umbrellas; waterproofs were about as effective as tissue paper; and the rain seemed to be coming from both sides and above. Hilarious. The cat that named this place the Sunshine Coast was having a laugh - and was probably a Scotsman.
The rain aside we managed to appreciate what a quality layout Club Pelican is. You may have heard of the designer - a chap by the name of Gregory Norman. Apparently he has blonde hair and can play a bit. Word around the traps is that his golf courses tend to be too hard, and can't be played with much enjoyment by The Average Golfer. Certainly we've seen glimpses of this at some of the other Norman tracks we've encountered this year, but I don't agree entirely with the murmurings of the masses. In any event it's certainly not the case with Club Pelican, which is very fair.
CP has some cracking holes too. Like the 16th, a par 5 that narrows and narrows and narrows as you approach the green. Or the 5th, a dogleg left par 4 that's bordered entirely on the left by water, has a stream guarding the front of the green and is patrolled by several officious looking kangaroos. Or the 12th, a short par 4 that's driveable off the members' tees in favourable conditions, is listed in some book as one of 1001 holes you must play before you die, and holds particularly fond memories for me because it was kind enough to give me a birdie.
Standing on the 14th tee (waiting, of course) the rain got as heavy as rain can possibly get. There was a lovely moment where we all stood there, looked at each other and laughed. No one moved a muscle. When the time came to step up and hit the wee white thing, there was a sense of anticipation among the others - none of us knew which way the ball was going to go (and whether the club was going to fly in the same direction).
On 16 I flew a 3 wood into the greenside trap, which is also home to a small forest (not small actually, just a forest). On this occasion it was also home to a lake. My ball was 10 inches under water and, under normal circumstances, I would've taken a casual water drop. But because I was so wet this was too good an opportunity to miss. Dean readied the camera; I waded into the middle of the "bunker"; and swung for dear life. Needless to say I didn't make contact with my ball; all I hit was H2O. Good clean fun.
By the time we reached the 18th tee green it was pretty well pitch black. If I hadn't been a guest of Club Pelican, I would've told the muppets in front just what I thought of their slow, selfish play. But I was and therefore I didn't. However I can name and shame them: Tom Wilkinson, James O'Callaghan, Phil Terry and Joe McLaughlin. (I read the timesheet). If you jokers are reading this, get your act together.
On a more serious note (those weren't their real names, I didn't think to look at the timesheet until 30 seconds ago), slow golf didn't tarnish what was a pearler of a day. Sure, we were glad of a hot shower at the end - but having embraced our soaked state early in the piece, we just got on with it and had a good time. 'Twas particularly nice to chew the fat with a fellow Kiwi on the way round, and interesting to compare notes on cultural differences between the humans on each side of the Tasman Sea.
Thanks Club Pelican (Dean, in particular) for making Day 111 a memorable one.
A soaked JP
Shinnecock
auckland dodgy donald ross links mackenzie melbourne mornington mornington peninsula new york queensland rain royal sandbelt scotland sunshine coast sydney the first tee tpc us open wow
