jimandr
21st February 2009, 06:48 PM
These are the courses I played on my recent holiday journey to and from Adelaide.
I won't do proper course reviews as I don't have the architecture knowledge to describe why I liked or didn't like certain things, but if anyone else has been to these places, feel free to add your observations.
All courses were in good condition considering the recent heatwave and on-going drought.
In order of playing, here they are:
Tocumwal: I played nine holes of the Presidents, and nine of the Captains. I started on the back of the Presidents, and couldn't find the first, so I went off the other first hole. From what I saw, both courses were relatively standard resort-style, with reasonably wide fairways, bunkers everywhere, a few water hazards and very large greens. The Presidents was dominated by gum trees, while the Captains was much more open, with smaller trees that are possibly still growing.
Both courses are ranked in the top 100 public access, but if they deserve it at all, it would be scraping into the 90's. Good, but not great. I'd compare them to a high B Grade course in Sydney, such as Cumberland or Cabramatta, or somewhere like Coolangatta-Tweed.
Green fee was good value at $35.
Murray Downs: This is a very high quality resort-style course that wasn't really as hard as it looked if you stayed on the fairway. I suspect the designer is big on deception, as the driving areas were often a bit wider than they looked, and there were a number of forced-carry bunkers set 20 or 30 metres in front of the greens, so the carry wasn't as daunting as it appeared.
I really liked this course. It is easily the equal of Terrey Hills or Macquarie Links in Sydney, and perhaps better than Ocean Shores (the closest equivalent I can think of near Qld).
Green fee was another $35 bargain.
Links Lady Bay: I haven't played many links courses, so I find it a bit hard to properly rate this course, but I really enjoyed it. Again, it wasn't as hard as it looked, but it helped that I hit virtually every fairway and therefore avoided lots of fairway bunkers, hazards and ugly-looking humps and hollows. The bunkers around the greens were very deep and plentiful, but I only got in one of them. If anything, the designers were too busy, putting hazards or bunkers anywhere there was a bit of dead ground. Most of the greens were absolutely huge. Fortunately, they give you a little sheet with the flag locations (like at The Vintage).
It was a bit similar to Magenta Shores without the impossible rough, but not quite as good, probably as good as The Vintage or Hope Island.
Again, a bargain at $40.
Albury Commercial (home of Oz, so he can say more if he wants): This course doesn't pretend to be as high quality as the others, but it was still fun to play. Not as long as the others, and much more straightforward, but still worth a game. The greens were really good, probably the best I played. It is perhaps comparable to a low B grade Sydney course like Woolooware or Strathfield, but with better greens.
The Scotch Fillet with mushroom gravy for $12 was pretty good, too.
I won't do proper course reviews as I don't have the architecture knowledge to describe why I liked or didn't like certain things, but if anyone else has been to these places, feel free to add your observations.
All courses were in good condition considering the recent heatwave and on-going drought.
In order of playing, here they are:
Tocumwal: I played nine holes of the Presidents, and nine of the Captains. I started on the back of the Presidents, and couldn't find the first, so I went off the other first hole. From what I saw, both courses were relatively standard resort-style, with reasonably wide fairways, bunkers everywhere, a few water hazards and very large greens. The Presidents was dominated by gum trees, while the Captains was much more open, with smaller trees that are possibly still growing.
Both courses are ranked in the top 100 public access, but if they deserve it at all, it would be scraping into the 90's. Good, but not great. I'd compare them to a high B Grade course in Sydney, such as Cumberland or Cabramatta, or somewhere like Coolangatta-Tweed.
Green fee was good value at $35.
Murray Downs: This is a very high quality resort-style course that wasn't really as hard as it looked if you stayed on the fairway. I suspect the designer is big on deception, as the driving areas were often a bit wider than they looked, and there were a number of forced-carry bunkers set 20 or 30 metres in front of the greens, so the carry wasn't as daunting as it appeared.
I really liked this course. It is easily the equal of Terrey Hills or Macquarie Links in Sydney, and perhaps better than Ocean Shores (the closest equivalent I can think of near Qld).
Green fee was another $35 bargain.
Links Lady Bay: I haven't played many links courses, so I find it a bit hard to properly rate this course, but I really enjoyed it. Again, it wasn't as hard as it looked, but it helped that I hit virtually every fairway and therefore avoided lots of fairway bunkers, hazards and ugly-looking humps and hollows. The bunkers around the greens were very deep and plentiful, but I only got in one of them. If anything, the designers were too busy, putting hazards or bunkers anywhere there was a bit of dead ground. Most of the greens were absolutely huge. Fortunately, they give you a little sheet with the flag locations (like at The Vintage).
It was a bit similar to Magenta Shores without the impossible rough, but not quite as good, probably as good as The Vintage or Hope Island.
Again, a bargain at $40.
Albury Commercial (home of Oz, so he can say more if he wants): This course doesn't pretend to be as high quality as the others, but it was still fun to play. Not as long as the others, and much more straightforward, but still worth a game. The greens were really good, probably the best I played. It is perhaps comparable to a low B grade Sydney course like Woolooware or Strathfield, but with better greens.
The Scotch Fillet with mushroom gravy for $12 was pretty good, too.