PDA

View Full Version : Sandhurst Club



Judge Smails
20th May 2004, 07:25 AM
I played there last Tuesday and the weather was atrocious yet the course stood up to it amazingly well. The only really wet spot was the 10th fairway and some parts of the green, something they could easily fix but you wont often play in weather that we experienced on Tuesday afternoon! The greens are as good as anywhere I have ever played. I thought the greens at Ranfurlie were good, they are as good if not a little better at Sandhurst. Then again, lets see them in 6 months and how they stand up to 600 rounds a week and people not repairing pitch marks :evil:

They must have moved mega tonnes of earth to build this course, from what was very very flat, they have bumps and hollows everywhere but not a single hill, as a consequence, there are no blind drives and the par 3's are pretty bland.
The main strategy is to avoid the bunkers, there are a few of them as well, but once in them they are no problem to escape from although you are highly unlikely to reach a green from a fairway bunker without playing a career shot. I didn't find a fairway bunker all day yet my partner, who hit it a bit further than me, found four or five, some with long drives, some with average shots.
The signature hole is the 181 meter par 3 3rd with the stone wall around the left hand side and the rear of the green. All in all if there was no wall, it would be a very average par 3 and I'd like to tell you what type of shot is needed but I stuffed the hole so badly (nearly put my tee shot on Thompson's Rd) that I would need to play it again as I didn't even pull the putter out of the bag.
Most holes are pretty much straight and if you can avoid the bunkers in the fairways you wont find too much trouble. The rough is very short so errant drives are not really punished and anything that lands on the fairway is guaranteed a good lie.
The best holes are the par 5 9th, drive over water which flanks the entire LHS of the fairway that gently bends left and then the water runs through the front of the 2 tiered green.........you wont be going for this green unless you are sure you can carry the water, there is no room for error short of the putting surface!
The 14th is a good short par 4, if the wind was behind you you could easily drive the green but you need to take on a huge set of fairway bunkers......I laid up short with 4 iron and had about 120 left to the middle of the green.
11 and 17 (both par 5's) share a massive, and I mean massive, double green which looks great and 18 is a really good finishing hole demanding a long accurate drive and a mid iron into another big green.
One criticism, the two shortest par 4's are 14 and 16 and there are par 3's at 12 and 13. It seems a strange way to route the holes, par 3, short par 4, par 3, short par 4.
There are 3 sets of tee's for the Men and another for the ladies.
Blacks (Championship ACR 75) 6478, Blues (Medal which we played off ACR 73) 6089 Whites (members ACR 71) 5856 and red (Ladies) 5305
I liked the course, it's fair (unlike Moonah Open) and an easy walk. Not sure if I'd be paying $60 a round to often but once in a blue moon it would be fine. I'd be happy to play there each week as a member but it's not nearly as challenging as Ranfurlie, I doubt there is room for it in the Top 100 courses but it's a long way from the worst course I've ever played.

Golfgirl
20th May 2004, 03:37 PM
Thanks for the review Judge, I hope to get down to see some of these course later in the year.... :D

May even manage a trip down to the Trade Show in July.... :wink: So might sneak a peek then...