Bunkers. If ever one word summed up your initial memories of a
golf club, for Troon's new development at Twin Creeks,
"bunkers" is that word. From your first view of the
opening tee shot to the tough approach to the closing hole, you
just can't get away from the sandy monsters. And boy did we
have fun trying.
Twin Creeks is another in a series of new golf developments to
open in Greater Sydney and can confidently claim to be within an
hour of the CBD. Our Sunday morning drive from the Eastern
Suburbs took just 40 easy minutes, door to welcoming door.
Situated west of the city close to the small suburb of Luddenham,
Twin Creeks features a new Graham Marsh designed 18 hole course
plus a residential development.
In common with Troon's other properties, directions to the
course were well signposted and on arrival it was easy to find
the car park and pro shop. The new clubhouse unusually has views
of both the first and the eighteenth, but more of that later. We
were greeted with a warm welcome and with only a handful of
members on the course, (despite it being the Sunday morning rush
hour everywhere else); we were offered the full use of the
practice facilities before we started.
Twin Creeks is predominately a private club and the members here
have it good. There's a first class open driving range with
the luxury of good practice balls and tees in plentiful supply,
washed and ready to go. There's also a huge putting green and
separate chipping area, plus a huge practice bunker. Spoilt for
choice, we took the opportunity to hit some much needed iron and
wood shots in the vain hope of discovering our Sunday best swings
but stupidly didn't make time to take advantage of the
cavernous practice bunker. It was to be our first mistake of the
day.
Front Nine
Standing on the first tee, it was soon obvious why. Once
you've teed off at the par four starting hole, you realise
the landing area is quite forgiving, but from the tee, all the
eye can see is bunkers, left, right and far into the distance.
And these aren't your "Old Tom Morris" traditional
round potholes dotted across the fairway or small hazards like
you might find at Woodhall Spa, which famously has a bunker for
every day of the year. No, these are Bunkers with a capital B.
Big sprawling shapes with tentacles of rough eating into the sand
from all sides. It's common for a ball in the bunker to be a
ten metre walk or more from the safety of the fairway. This is
not a course for anyone with even the mildest form of sand
phobia.
It is however a course where you don't need to be overly long
off the tee and on the first hole a "safety first" prod
up the middle will open up a medium iron to a large green
fiercely protected by the first examples of some of the biggest
sprawling sand traps I have ever seen.
With two par threes and two par fives, the front nine offers
plenty of variety but the bunkering remains the distinctive
feature. The cleverly designed third hole for example is a touch
over 300 metres from the very back yet the adventurous drive
requires careful navigation of both a creek on the right and two
or more clumps of bunkers, depending on how wild your tee shots
are. With hindsight, another prod for safety off the tee would
have left a fairly simple wedge into an inviting green.
Unfortunately hindsight's of little use in golf, especially
when you're playing your third shot from one of a number of
areas helpfully signposted as "snake habitat".
Adventurous souls who choose to play off the plates will meet
their nemesis when they come to the par three sixth. For mortals,
it's a shot over the creek to an open green and one more club
than normal should see you safely home. Off the plates however
it's a wholly different story, with the tee position forcing
you to hit through a narrow opening in the trees with the creek
cutting right across your line. If you like your golf tough, then
good luck. I was more than happy with a two putt par off the
normal tees.
There's no respite as the front nine comes to a finish, with
the tough 8th hole requiring an unusually long uphill approach to
an angled green. The tricky par five ninth is a challenge of
navigation as much as anything through a veritable sea of sand.
The spectacular view from the raised tee offers a number of
possible routes and there's plenty of room to hit a safe tee
shot as long as you're not greedy. Straying off line however
means more of the sandy stuff and a struggle to make a much
needed par.
Back Nine
If you haven't been on the beach by the time you reach the
12th, the odds are definitely beginning to stack against you.
Brilliantly designed, this shortish par four tempts ambitious
hitters to take the tiger line over all the trouble whilst safer
players will hit away from the hole to the left. Trouble is, even
by Twin Creeks standards, there are bunkers literally everywhere.
Add in a green with a mound in the centre and you have proof that
in Graham Marsh's book "short" doesn't mean
"easy". I'm sure I won't be the only player to
hole out here having not once touched the fairway!
The character changes dramatically as you turn for home. The par
three 14th features a tough shot across a gully to a green
situated on a high ridge. The 15th is a narrow par five carved
through the forest and the equally tough 16th features water for
almost the full length of the hole. It's a tough though
enjoyable finish with a little relief at the pretty short 17th
before you reach the final hole.
I'd like to have another go at the 18th (albeit with the
benefit of a map this time) as my natural urge to steer the ball
well clear of the water off the tee left me with no real chance
of getting home in two. Putting out under the watchful eye of the
golfers finishing their lunchtime aperitifs, it's a memorable
closing hole, as long as you're not needing four to win!
For a course that's barely a few months old, Twin Creeks is
in terrific condition with greens, that whilst not lightning
fast, were fair and true. We saw a few members walking but for
most of us I'd recommend taking a cart, especially when the
weather warms up.
As all reviewers have commented, the bunkering is very striking,
but there are an awful lot of them and anyone having a bad day
will spend an awful lot of time raking sand. I'd rate the
closing five holes as the most enjoyable of the eighteen and by
the time I'd finally found my way to the putting surface at
18, I wanted to nip back to the 14th and have another go.
Talking about his views on course design, Graham Marsh once said
"golf's about an experience, to be with your friends and
have a challenge". This is definitely a course that
you'd approach more confidently with the benefit of a
practice round under your belt, but despite its newness, his
design here at Twin Creeks definitely qualifies as an enjoyable
challenge.
We were made to feel very welcome here and with just a handful of
people out on the course couldn't fault the service we
received from the pro shop or in the bar afterwards. Twin Creeks
is a private club so anybody wishing to play should call the club
beforehand to avoid disappointment. Once again, I'd recommend
that you do so now, before word gets out!
Although the course is private, Twin Creeks does accept social
and group bookings of 16 players or more.
(4.0) | Add A Review
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02 Jun 2011
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25 Feb 2011
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15 Feb 2010
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26 Oct 2007
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28 Mar 2006
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1. avernel | Rated
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20 Jun 2011
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Best course I have played. Shot a 68! Everything is maintained to perfection. Staff are professional and don’t mind having a chat. All golf courses should aspire to the same as this!