Real estate has long been a feature of golf course development
with one of the most perfect golf estates being the Wentworth
Club just south of London. Beautiful houses lie unobtrusively
amongst the sprawling holes of one of the best known courses of
the London Heathlands and the St Georges Hill club close by
emulates the perfect mix of golf and housing.
Both courses were designed just after the turn of the last
century by the legendary architect, Harry Colt and one must
assume the golf was the priority and there was ample room to
ensure the real estate had no impact on the golf. Indeed, playing
amongst the awesome estates is almost an enhancement of the
experience.
The Americans have taken real-estate developments to a level
unimagined by Colt and architects of his generation and many of
the attached golf courses are simply adjuncts to the real estate.
One friend once said cynically said of them ësome are simply
ways to sell the real estate but the bad ones are just ways to
drain it.
In Australia, golf estates are a relatively new phenomenon and by
definition they are built on pieces of land chosen by developers
for their location rather than how conducive the site itself
might be for golf.
When Greg Norman and Bob Harrison first visited the old Cheetham
salt works at Point Cook, south-west of Melbourne they found a
tract of land about as unsuitable for golf as one could ever
imagine. It was horrifically flat, the soil was terrible and the
site about as miserable and windblown as a golfer could ever
imagine.
Nevertheless, their masters had recognized the site as one of
great potential in terms of profit and it was Harrisonís job
to fashion a golf course amongst the streets and houses of the
estate.
He did a masterful job of shaping tones of imported soil, and the
only clue to the nature of the original shapeless and flat site
is gleaned by observation of the surrounding acres stretching
toward the city to the east and Port Phillip Bay to the south.
One could argue Sanctuary Lakes in not a real course in the
traditional sense, as the walks between green and tee are long
and most fairways are lined by houses although none encroach
close enough to suspect golf balls might find their way through
the nearest kitchen windows.
Many courses are rated above where they perhaps might be, simply
because of reputation or setting but Sanctuary Lakes has no such
advantage. It cannot be divorced from it's surroundings but
an individual assessment of the holes has it rated, in my
opinion, much higher than many of our traditional clubs.
The short holes are terrific and it is the wind which determines
which is the most difficult. Into the south wind the 11th demands
a long iron played perfectly to the long narrow green and when
the wind switches to the north the 17th is equally demanding of
an accurate long shot.
The par fives are strategically amongst the most interesting in
the country. The 4th features a bunker right in the centre of the
fairway with clear options to the left or right although Steven
Bowditch in the 2005 Victorian PGA gave it no thought as he
crashed huge shots straight over the sand. The elevated green is
reachable but heavily guarded at the front and shots long and
left slide easily off the back edge of the green and leave a
difficult long pitch back up the hill to the flag.
The monstrous eighth is over 550 metres with its diagonal bunker
arrangement down the right of the drive and players make the
appropriate decision depending of their clubhead speed and that
sets up a long second with a landing area guarded by a huge
bunker embedded into the hill on the left. Only players of
Bowditch's length can hope to reach in two shots and in this
day and age a true three shooter like this is a rare thing
indeed.
The final par five, the 16th features a wetland down the left of
the long second that creeps across the front of the green and
forces a decision from those long enough to consider risking
reaching the green in two.
There is a fine mix of two-shot holes from the little drivable
15th to the fearsome finisher with a long second across the water
being the final test.
It is far from the prettiest course in Melbourne, it is an
awfully windy site but one without the outstanding natural beauty
of Port Fairy or Barnbougle Dunes and the housing is the master
or as some would say, the necessary evil.
None the less, it is a fine golf course full of both stimulating
shots and interesting holes and judged on that alone it is one of
the best in Melbourne.
For Bob Harrison it is a triumph on one of the poorest pieces of
land any golf architect has ever had to work with. Certainly, God
didnít ever intend it to be a golf course although some may
believe he might one day have envisaged houses on the barren
land.
Either way, Sanctuary Lakes is a course worth playing and for
those prone to criticism, just ask yourself what you would have
done with such an inhospitable piece of ground.
(4.5) | Add A Review
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24 Aug 2010
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21 Aug 2010
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11 May 2010
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06 Oct 2003
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1. davenic | Rated
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21 Oct 2011
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Add A Review
Played Sanctuary Lakes recently and what a pleasant surprise this course was.
As mentioned, the course is a challenging mix – and you need to be on your game. Wayward tee-shots or irons are gobbled up. The ’rough’ (the proper rough) is thick. You may find your ball but it is definitely a punishment.
But stay on or near the short stuff and a low score can be had.
They had cored the greens before we played (a necessary evil) but the fairways were in great nick and the bunkers were phenomenal with really coarse sand but plenty of it.
Overall an excellent experience and a course I will return to if the opportunity presents.
PROS
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