Australian Open at The Lakes

[olddogmike]

Quad bogie for Davis on the first, not a good start

[chappy1970]

Antonio Murdaca cards a 10 on the first @ The Lakes, in the 1st rd. Makes for a long Thursday and Friday for him

[Steve57]

Peter Senior and Cameron Davis both had 8's!

[mrbluu]

Matthew Giles had a 10 as well

[Steve57]

Is it THAT windy out there today?

[pt73]

Adam Blyth had a 10 on the 11th, his second hole.

[olddogmike]

Is the Lakes supposed to be a Links coarse or a formal coarse? Not greatly impressed for a major golf tournament, glad its not my home course.

[Captain Nemo]

Lol....

[Captain Nemo]

Is it THAT windy out there today?

Blowing a gale mate, worse than it looked on tv.

[3oneday]

What’s a formal course?

[olddogmike]

Augusta style, with trimmed bunker edges and a bit more landscaping, rather than a rough paddock with mowed areas for fairways and greens.

[thecollective]

The links is a course not coarse of course

A horse is a horse of course....

[Daves]

If it is coarse course it isn't going to be manicured, is it? Looked OK to me. Augusta gets enhanced for TV. They used to dye the grass and water (and bunkers?), not sure if that is still the case? And the Azalea blooms are "tricked" up.

[3Puttpete]

If it is coarse course it isn't going to be manicured, is it? Looked OK to me. Augusta gets enhanced for TV. They used to dye the grass and water (and bunkers?), not sure if that is still the case? And the Azalea blooms are "tricked" up.

No paths or bins on the tv coverage either

[thecollective]

Perhaps doggy can approach Mac on installing waterfall features and blue dye into the lake

Like my dad's old chemistry videos it will be like 'wow, look @ the reaction!'

[pt73]

Is the Lakes supposed to be a Links coarse or a formal coarse? Not greatly impressed for a major golf tournament, glad its not my home course.

It's a long way from the coast so not a "links course" by the formal definition.

Clayton did a major re-design in 2007 which exposed a lot of the sand dunes and made it look "links-like" and in the opinion of many (including me) didn't improve the course at all.

Many greens are now very undulating compared to the previous layout.

[Steve57]

If it is coarse course it isn't going to be manicured, is it? Looked OK to me. Augusta gets enhanced for TV. They used to dye the grass and water (and bunkers?), not sure if that is still the case? And the Azalea blooms are "tricked" up.

How are the azaleas tricked up Dave?
I can assure you that they are real and in full bloom!
Yes Augusta is immaculately manicured but it is even better than it looks on TV!

[Steve57]

No paths or bins on the tv coverage either

What are these paths you talk about?
The only paths are well away from the playing areas so no need to have TV cameras there, and the bins are in the catering areas, again well away from the playing areas.

[thecollective]

It's a long way from the coast so not a "links course" by the formal definition.

Clayton did a major re-design in 2007 which exposed a lot of the sand dunes and made it look "links-like" and in the opinion of many (including me) didn't improve the course at all.

Many greens are now very undulating compared to the previous layout.

Pt: im curious to know why you disapprove of the re-design

the land that the golf course sits on should form its character with little human interaction; Mac achieved this during the re-design, its rugged sure, but isn't that just the natural land that the course sits on?

if the re-design was not done im unsure whether leaving gum trees on the edges of lakes that obstruct playing lines was giving the course the best playing experience it could be.

If the mac re-design was no good, what would have been a good alternative? given the site and the playing conditions?

[Matt 3 Jab]

It's a long way from the coast so not a "links course" by the formal definition.

Clayton did a major re-design in 2007 which exposed a lot of the sand dunes and made it look "links-like" and in the opinion of many (including me) didn't improve the course at all.

Many greens are now very undulating compared to the previous layout.

Agree re the layout. Played the new a lot. Walked the old.

The back 9 is more the 'old' lakes and I much prefer it. The front doesn't fit the back but I know little.

They said on the coverage yesterday that the 14th green needed to be rolled back a bit as the original redesign was too severe and unplayable from the back to the front.

[olddogmike]

The view I see on TV is what the rest of the world sees, its like viewing a public course where the ground staff have gone on holidays,

[Daves]

How are the azaleas tricked up Dave?
I can assure you that they are real and in full bloom!
Yes Augusta is immaculately manicured but it is even better than it looks on TV!

I gather they use some Nursery tricks to get them to bloom exactly on time, though nature being what it is that doesn't always work.

[Steve57]

I gather they use some Nursery tricks to get them to bloom exactly on time, though nature being what it is that doesn't always work.

Ok that would not surprise me at all.
There is so much technology built into that place such as under green heaters etc, they probably have similar in the garden beds as well.

[Pickles]

Cameron Davis, started with an 8 on the first yesterday and today he's had an 8 on the par 5 11th.

Then went birdie, birdie, eagle

[Sydney Hacker]

Ok that would not surprise me at all.There is so much technology built into that place such as under green heaters etc, they probably have similar in the garden beds as well.

Apparently if they were going to bloom too early they would have dry ice around them to slow down the blooming, and conversely if they weren’t going to bloom at the right time heat would be applied to speed it up.No idea how true that is, and can’t even remember where I heard it from!