New South Wales Golf Club

IN: COURSE REVIEWS | BY: Mike Clayton | | REGION: Sydney, NSW DATE: 20 Aug 2004 | Rated

Hole 5

(Photo: David Scaletti/Sportscapes)

If exhilaration is what you want then there is no better course in Australia to satisfy a yearning for golfing thrills than The New South Wales Golf Club at La Perouse. High up on the cliffs above Botany Bay it is one of the most severe tests of golf in a high wind and only on a rare day do the flags lie still.

The credit for the course goes to Alister Mackenzie and is simply another wonderful example of the debt Australian golfers owe him and those he left behind to carry out his plans. In this case it was local Eric Apperley who was entrusted with the construction of bunkers and greens.

The course opens with a short four followed by a long three with a green altered from the original concept that reflected the difficulty of the shot the player was asked to hit. It was not a big green but it was receptive and it fitted admirably with the rest of the course. The newer version, elevated with edges that sweep the ball away, is not, sadly, a green that does credit to the hole or the course.

The oddest hole on the course is the third, a sharp dogleg to the left with a huge dune to the left of the tee. The correct line for the better players is straight over the dune covered with low growing vegetation and the ball washer gives the unsure the best reference as to the correct line. Like the previous green it is a negative feature that could be improved upon.

Of course, one must always be aware of the jigsaw that is a golf course and how all the pieces fit into the puzzle. There are times when an architect has to introduce a negative feature or put up with poor design concept simply to fit the whole course together or to get to a great piece of land and open up a fine hole.

The fifth is the world famous par five and the first time a player is introduced to the view from the top of the hill out across the ocean is a moment of true wonder. The fifth, too, is somewhat of an odd hole. Short hitters cannot drive far enough to reach the plateau more than two hundred meters from the tee and face a blind second straight up and over the steep hill. Downwind, balls that reach the far edges of the plateau topple over and roll and additional eighty meters down the hill, leaving only a pitching club to the green.

The next hole is the most stunning par three in the country. The tee is out on a rocky promontory and the middle iron shot is fired across the ocean to a small green favoring a shot moving from right to left. It is not the most difficult short hole, nor are the greenside bunkers particularly remarkable when compared with the best work in Melbourne but it is a hole one could never tire of playing.

The best holes on the course come in a five hole stretch from the thirteenth to the short par three, seventeenth. The thirteenth is a dogleg left and the approach down then up to the elevated green is in keeping with the exhilarating nature of the NSW experience. The fourteenth is a quirky short four hole with a huge shared fairway with the fifteenth hole. There is a diagonal ridge to carry with the tee shot and the further left the drive flies, the longer the carry but there is the obligatory reward of a shorter approach and a better angle into the small green perched up on the holes highest and most dangerous point.

The tee shot up through the shute at the fifteenth is, in my opinion, the most difficult tee shot in the world. The first half of the hole plays uphill, the fairway is uncommonly narrow, and both sides of the driving area are lined with unplayable lies in the indigenous scrub. If the drive is missed left there is no alternative but to head back to the tee and try again although the right is a little more forgiving because it offers a reasonable place to drop if the ball is unplayable.

The sixteenth is a longer and more dangerous version of the left turning thirteenth and one of the most demanding and least forgiving shots on the course comes at the 140 metre seventeenth. The long thin green falls off sharply on both sides and into the wind only a fine shot will find the target.

New South Wales stamps itself as easily the finest course in the countries biggest city. What is somewhat remarkable is that in the early eighties the famed layout was in terrible condition and its unfashionable location saw the club advertising for members in the local newspapers.

Verdict

That it recovered its reputation was a matter of importance to golf in Australia because it is such a significant course and as conditions improved the club became the most sought after membership in Sydney. It is the closest we have to the brand of golf made famous by the links at Pebble Beach and for those who love raw golf where the chances of fighting a battering wind are high, it is the greatest thrill in Australia.

Access

The New South Wales Golf Club is a private members only golf club and does not offer 7 day a week public access times. Subject to special events, they do, however, allow limited public access during weekdays only. No weekend times are available unless invited by a member. Bookings are essential.

Write Your Own Review