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Private course and current host of the ANZ Championship
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19 Jan 2012
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Played in the recent open day on the 16th of Jan.
The front 9 with a deconstructed sandy waste feel, which i thought suited the course very well. The green contours great fun, however like any great course local knowledge is a must to score well. relatively wide fairways, which was a nice surprise and some really deep bunkers and long rough for the miss hit shot.
Easier than i expected, but thoroughly enjoyable.
Back 9 saw the North Easter hit us which started increasing the difficulty level. The 12th a very long par 4 into the wind and an unusual short par 4 13th. The highlight is of course the par 5 14th with the 2nd shot water carry all the way, you just can’t resist having a go!
I really enjoyed the contrast of the 2 nines and maybe even enjoyed the front 9 more… can i say that?
Course was in excellent condition even though they were reseeding the greens.
Service fantastic.
This is what great golf is all about!
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31 Oct 2011
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WOW, what a course! With the Aus Open a week or so away the fairways and greens are in top notch condition.
This course is a tale of 2 nines: the front 9 looking like someone dropped some grass on a beach and the back 9 looking like someone dropped some grass on water.
Both the front and back 9 are challenging though, especially into the kind of wind we had to play in, you could surf some of the waves on the lake!
Do yourself a favour, play a round at the lakes!
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13 Sep 2011
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What a fantastic course. Thoroughly enjoyed playing there. Greens and fairways were in perfect condition. Can’t wait to watch the pros take on this beauty this year in the Aus Open.
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24 Jan 2011
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Perhaps I expected too much from the course having recently hosted the ANZ open. However this was an excellent test of golf. Well manicured apart from renovations. Proshop staff seemed to be above welcoming guests.
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12 Jan 2011
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I arrived at the course with my partner’s father and brother during the Christmas holidays full of excitement at getting to play The Lakes!
I had booked a month in advance to ensure we got a good tee-time but when we went into the pro shop and advised of our arrival the man behind the counter said we did not have a booking. This was very frustrating and the man was very rude about the situation, he said that he could, "Fit us in", but then tried to discourage us by informing us of the price, of which I was fully aware. I handed over my credit card without even a second thought. As he had failed with this attempt to stall our game he then preceded to tell us that we needed to buy more balls because we would more than likely lose lots, especially on the back nine. I had intended on buying my father a golf shirt with The Lakes logo but needless to say, we did not buy a single thing!
Onto the golf . . . SPECTACULAR! We all played in fits and starts but the course was superb, and commanded a lot of respect. It was playing short with the tee’s quite far forward and very little wind but still a very interesting course that I would love to play again.
P.S. I only lost one ball!!
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03 Nov 2008
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love it!
will be even better after the construction is finished – the first hole is finished and it is fantastic
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04 Feb 2008
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An absolutely fantastic golf course. What a pleasure to play a course where your golf game receives a thorough test. There is an excellent variety of holes at The Lakes, consisting of excellent and varied par fours, long and short par fours and testing par threes. Among my favourite Par 4’s are the 3rd, 10th, 13th and 16th – all of which offer very different challenges in terms of length and layout. It is great to play a true par four where a long iron is truly required to reach in two. This is the case on the 3rd at The Lakes when played into a north-easterly wind.
Among the par 5’s, the highlight must surely be the 11th, although 14 is excellent too. A giant lake hugs the entire left hand side of the 11th and dare I say it collects quite a few stray slices in the course of a day’s play. this hole is an excellent example of a risk-reward hole where the brave can either be rewarded or punished.
Finally, the par 3’s are also excellent and it is quite hard to pull them apart. However, the new look 18th at the foot of the stunning new clubhouse will surely be a magnificent amphitheatre for major golf events in years to come.
All in all, The Lakes is probably my favourite course in Sydney and I look forward to seeing the completely revamped course when work is completed. I am told the course work will start in April and take between 12 – 18 months to complete. I expect the end result to be absolutely spectacular!
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05 Dec 2007
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yeah played this course just recently…... awesome views…met p lonard there too…
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03 Dec 2007
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Sensational course, really challenging, you need to think you way round the course.
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25 Jun 2007
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well like a few others i waited a long time to play here , the first time was with a few friends who are golf pros and i agreed with them that this is a great 9 hole course and an ordinary 9 hole course , the front nine is (other than the first hole) pretty bland while the back nine is great , the second time i played here was on a corporate day with over 100 players paying 110 each only to find they had deep cored the greens and top soiled them , not a light sanding but top soiled , it was the most disgraceful thing i have seen and the way the organisers were treated by staff etc when they had the hide to complain just re-affirms the reputation this course has and its not a good one , unless its free i wont be back there and even then ill walk to the greens to check
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06 Oct 2006
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I played here several weeks ago after phoning and booking for 4 visitors. Enjoyed the range, chipping and putting areas before hitting off and thorouhly looked forward to playing the course.
Hit a nice drive and chip at the first only to find that the green was cored and under and extremely uneven spreading of sand that made reading the break, speed and any confidence over any put impossible.
The layout of the course is as expected from what we have all seen on TV and I'm proud to say that I did not make any donation to any of the great water carries.
I would love to play this course when it is playing to it's normal standard & I feel that I have to mention that on booking (2 days before) or in the proshop the stroppy staff member did not make us aware of the greens and was all too happy to have us part with our $130 odd bucks without a mention of the fact it would have been impossible to shoot any form of score that you would be happy with.
A great day still but could have been so much better.
I'll rate as a 4.5 out of 5 for the course as I would imagine it plays in normal conditions.
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09 Aug 2005
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I am privileged enough to play in a corporate day here every year. As Tiprat says, the course is as good as it looks on TV (just without the spectators and ropes!!). Be prepared to have your golf ball stock a little depleted by the time you finish the round. The new clubhouse is brilliant, stunning, fabulous, you name it. Once they finish the rest of the renovations to the clubhouse surrounds and practice range, this club will be even more phenomenal!!!
There are a number of holes that are my favourite when playing this course.
1st - Standing on this tee and seeing massive water left, you need to aim right and stay safe.
8th - Long par 5, elevated tee. OOB and Wentworth Ave to the right.
11th - Par 5 around the water. You can visualise the car on display in the middle of the water during tournament play...
14th - Norman had a 13 or 14 here one year and yes, you have to have a go at hitting the green in 2!!!
17th - Double water carry par 5.
18th - Testing par 3 at about 180-190m. Big sloping green from back to front with a ridge across the middle of it.
This course is very, very enjoyable regardless of how good or bad you play. Do whatever you can to be able to say you played a round at The Lakes.
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21 Jun 2005
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well i finally got to play here, after years of attending tournaments & watching on tv. what can i say but i thouroughly enjoyed my round & yes i did donate a few balls.
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07 Jul 2004
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I've never played a course with such a contrast between two sides of the course. On one side of the freeway, you're playing a parkland-style course, admittedly with flora typical of seaside courses (wispy grass and ti-tree), and your shots are played with certain targets in mind. On the other side the wind is more of an issue, with water in play regularly and a dune-type landscape making you play a more links-style of golf.
The course is also unusual in that both nines finish on par threes. This would often detract, but it doesn't here, as both are strong holes requiring mid-iron proficiency (long irons if a sou-easter is up) and strength of mind to putt on the slick, well-kept greens.
Many a score has looked good at the turn, only to find a few watery graves. The famous par 5 14th can make or break you - a good drive sets up the possibility of a long water carry to the green for your second. I don't recall how many shots Norman had here one year, but it's one of those temptations you can't resist, irrespective of your ability.
Clearly a tough course (especially the back nine) on a windy day, if you set your expectations right you'll thoroughly enjoy the experience.
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12 May 2003
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The Lakes is one of Sydney's best golf courses. The course is split into two very different nines by Southern Cross drive. The front nine is a challenging 'traditional' course that I have heard can be harder to score on than the 'lakes' back nine.
The front nine starts off with a reasonably straight forward par 4 which you can try and drive over the water to get a little closer for your 2nd into a reasonably small green. It then winds through some reasonably heavily bunkered and mounded terrain until you hit the par 3 9th.
The back nine is the one for which it is famous. Water comes into play for most of the back nine, including the 17th which has two water carries - if you are not a pro :)
A great course with some excellent holes. Get out there anyway you can.
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1. MickF82 | Rated
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23 Feb 2012
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WHat a great track!
Played on 21 February and the wind was howling out of the South. 40-50km/h of more all day made for an extreme test of golf – but there were still opportunities to score well if you played smart and straight.
Just about every hole is memorable, but my highlights were the Par 5s, all of which have water in play off the tee and are reachable in 2 but have serious consequences for a miss.
The greens were being reseeded which made them a little bumpy, but you’ve got to expect that a few months after a major tournament. The rest of the course was in immaculate condition, with the fairways looking and feeling like carpet.
Service and facilities were first class all the way.
I can’t wait to play The Lakes again.
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