Fresh off its fourth consecutive stint landing on Australian Golf Digest’s biennial Top 100 Golf Courses ranking, the wonderful Cypress Lakes is enjoying the limelight at No.88 after undergoing a course renovation several years ago. That facelift accentuated the clever shaping that is a feature of Cypress Lakes, as is the dynamic changes in scenery and landscapes in the Hunter Valley. 

The entire 120-hectare resort has something for everyone, whether that be the golf course and country club, two restaurants, two bars, three pools and two tennis courts. At the heart of the Oaks Cypress Lakes experience is the onsite spa, the Elysia Wellness Retreat. Regarded as one of Australia’s best wellness retreats, Elysia is a five-minute walk from the resort. There are more than 50 spa treatments and therapies on offer. To top it off, the Hunter’s renowned wineries and attractions are at the doorstep of Cypress Lakes, so don’t hesitate to indulge in a little wine tasting, hot air ballooning or the region’s thriving gastronomy scene.

Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort
Previous 5 rankings: 90, 88, 85, NR, NR  
Address: Cnr McDonalds and Thompsons Rd, Pokolbin NSW 2320
Phone: (02) 4993 1555
E-mail: focypresslakes@theoaksgroup.com.au
Web: oakshotels.com  |  cypresslakes.com.au

The post Where We Play: Cypress Lakes Resort appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

There’s nothing better than a few days away with your golfing ‘besties’. Here’s where to take the girls on your next golf adventure. 

Hunter Valley, NSW

The Hunter Valley, a two-hour drive north of Sydney, is one of Australia’s premier wine-growing districts and the region is also spoilt for top-quality golf courses. Visit as many of the 80 wineries as you can, sample some of the finest cuisine in New South Wales outside Sydney, stay in beautiful country hotels and guesthouses or even go aloft in a hot air balloon at dawn. And for some golf? Our pick of the best layouts includes two favourites.

The Vintage Golf Club is a Top 100-ranked, Greg Norman-designed course that’s challenging, engaging and welcoming in equal parts. Playing here can be as leisurely or competitive as you like, and you’ll appreciate the meticulously manicured fairways, strategically placed bunkers and undulating greens. At the Legends Restaurant and Spike Bar in the smart clubhouse, fine cuisine is served throughout the day and into the evening where guests can surround themselves with breathtaking views over the golf course. Located on-site and overlooking the course, the award-winning Château Élan – one of our finest resorts – offers luxury accommodation along with a full-service spa. Visit thevintage.com.au

Another Top 100-ranked, must-play course is Cypress Lakes Golf & Country Club, a picturesque layout where each tee and green offers stunning panoramic views of the Hunter Valley’s famous vineyards and the surrounding Broken Back Range. Significant golf-course infrastructure investment by Oaks Hotels, Resorts & Suites is quickly catapulting Cypress Lakes to the top of must-play resort destinations in Australia. With its premium facilities and great dining options, including Oak & Vine Restaurant (inspired by Sri Lankan cuisine), Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort is the place to stay. Attached to the resort is Elysia Wellness Retreat, which offers spa, gym and wellness programs – perfect for unwinding from the stresses of the world. Visit cypresslakes.com.au

Gold Coast, QLD

The Gold Coast is famous for more than its Glitter Strip, theme parks and sandy white beaches. There’s also an endless supply of quality golf courses on offer all year round, making this the perfect getaway destination. You can play the Jack Nicklaus-designed Lakelands Golf Club, the Arnold Palmer-designed Pines course at Sanctuary Cove Golf & Country Club, the Greg Norman-designed Glades and many more.

At Links Hope Island, enjoy playing a meticulously planned, links-style resort course that’s the product of many disciplines – the locals say nature is generally pleased with the result! You can imagine yourself in Scotland or Ireland except that it is a whole lot warmer. While the course is there for serious play, it’s also everyone’s course. Dine in the Venetian Fountain Court or on the terrace at SOL Café and Bar. SOL is open daily for a la carte breakfast, lunch and light snacks plus open late every Friday for dinner – and live music too! Golf game over? Kick back and relax at the Champions Hair and Beauty Day Spa or indulge in tranquility at the in-house Yoga Now studio. Just across the road is the InterContinental Sanctuary Cove Resort, which features 251 newly refurbished rooms and suites. Visit linkshopeisland.com.au

Far North Coast, NSW

Known for its sensational beaches, World Heritage areas, quaint and quirky towns, and beautiful rural hinterlands, the Far North Coast of NSW is a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts and adventure seekers. Courses encompass everything from coastal links to parkland settings and cater to all levels of player.

Ocean Shores Country Club is a peaceful oasis away from the hustle and bustle of many coastal towns. The layout is carved through native flora, tidal lakes and rivers, with the Koonyum Ranges as a backdrop to the west and Pacific Ocean views to the east. It features a combination of large greens protected by extensive bunkering, the turf making them some of the purest and quickest around. When looking for dining options, Pacific Breeze Restaurant offers a wonderful range of Asian-inspired dishes supplemented with all the club classics. The clubhouse offers full bar facilities and welcomes functions to suit most sizes. There’s ample choice of accommodation too: Reflections Holiday Parks and Ocean Shores Motel are recommended options nearby. The club’s courtesy bus is also available (subject to operating times). Visit oceanshorescc.com.au

Riverina, NSW

From national parks to lakes and rivers, the Riverina’s natural assets are some of its most popular attractions. But the golf isn’t too shabby, either. From Wagga Wagga, Narrandera and Hay golf clubs to further south in Jerilderie and Deniliquin, picturesque courses populated with wildlife and great hospitality are sandwiched in between endless accommodation and restaurants, all awaiting the unsuspecting visitor.

Our tip for the golf? Head to CluBarham, a layout penned by renowned course architect Ross Watson. It’s a beautiful course, in great condition 365 days a year, that golfers of all levels of ability can enjoy. Key holes? The 14th, which is nicknamed “Gallipoli” and has a huge bunker in front of the green, and the 10th, which features two bunkers and a water hazard for players to negotiate left of the green. The club boasts two practice ranges and a practice putting green along with extras like 14 grass tennis courts, a bar with a TAB and beautiful resort-style accommodation with two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments plus a swimming pool. RV sites accommodate those with a caravan. And, especially for the girls, the pro shop specialises in women’s golf clothing. In fact, CluBarham’s general manager takes a great deal of pride in the array. Visit clubarham.com.au

Port Stephens, NSW

The “Incredible by nature” tourism slogan says it all about this stunning region. Port Stephens, a two-and-a-half-hour drive north of Sydney, is home to the biggest sand dunes in the Southern Hemisphere, idyllic beaches, pristine waterways, national parks, a vast blue bay, and dolphin and whale watching. Best of all there are great golf experiences at Pacific Dunes, Nelson Bay and Horizons golf clubs.

With natural bushland and manicured greens, Pacific Dunes Golf Club is a beautiful Top 100-ranked course set among a stunning residential community. The course meanders its way around lakes and along treelined fairways to keep players interested throughout. Surprises lurk at every corner, whether they be water hazards cutting into fairways or greens that hide super-subtle breaks. Grab a bite to eat at Pacific Dunes Greenhouse before, during or after your game and, afterwards, relax in the alfresco area in the afternoon warmth or catch the sun going down over a glass of wine. Stay at the four-star Mercure Airport Hotel, located five minutes’ drive from the course and just 300 metres from Newcastle Airport. Visit pacificdunes.com.au

Bellarine Peninsula, VIC

Boasting three of Australia’s finest golf courses right near the Great Ocean Road, the Bellarine Peninsula, south-west of Melbourne, is an amazing region to visit for the ultimate golf weekend away. With plenty of accommodation, restaurants and amazing beaches, you’ll need to mark this one on your calendar.

Curlewis Golf Club’s tag line is “Hip green fun!” Good reason for golf buddies to getaway to this renowned, incredibly dynamic club. Curlewis really has the lot. The course recently catapulted up seven places in our Top 100 Courses ranking to No.62 (one of the highest leaps of any course). A fleet of deluxe Club Car GPS carts will have you cruising the fairways in style. Aprés golf, award-winning Claribeaux Restaurant will delight with its French fusion menu and extensive beverage list. Relaxing in the Spike Bar is also a favourite pastime for guests and locals alike. When it’s time for bed, enjoy all the creature comforts in the contemporary, luxe eco-suites. Next-level thrills are on tap at The Range @ Curlewis – 18 indoor/outdoor driving bays, Toptracer range, auto tees, X Golf plus a very cool two-tier mini golf course. Great food (the best burgers in the region), cocktails and coffee are also on offer. Visit curlewisgolf.com.au

Mid-North Coast, NSW

Stretching north of the Hunter and Port Stephens regions towards Grafton, the Mid-North Coast provides a unique beachside holiday and lifestyle experience. Aside from having a hit, pristine beaches, lush national parks, beautiful waterways and plenty of leisure activities are on offer, including winery tours, deep sea and estuary fishing, dolphin and whale watching, cycling, bushwalking and more.

Golf clubs with 36 holes are rarities in Australia, and rarer still are clubs with multiple courses in different locations. One such setup is Forster Tuncurry Golf Club – a twin-course entity where the two courses are about seven kilometres apart by road (and connected via a courtesy bus). With its newly regained Top 100 Courses rating, Tuncurry is clearly the superior layout, yet the 18 holes at Forster, set in the heart of town, see roughly equal golfer traffic. The beauty lies in the difference. While the Tuncurry course is a strong test of a good golfer’s game (wayward shots are penalised), its layout means it is a good and fair challenge for female golfers. It is a preferred location of the two for many women, not just because of its beautiful, natural setting, but because a round can be enjoyed by female golfers of all ages and abilities. The Forster course, on the other hand, is short, largely open and more user-friendly. For fab food, check out Bukos Bistro and Sinny’s Café @ The 19th Hole. Stay and play packages are available for everything from cabins and motel rooms to five-star luxury. Visit forstertuncurrygolf.com.au

Further along the coast is Tallwoods Country Club, the only Australian course designed by the award-winning Dr Michael Hurdzan. Tallwoods is an arborist’s delight, featuring a mixture of majestic, high-canopy eucalypts with prolific native vegetation and extensive water features. Once you scale the side of a mountain on a meandering path, you are gifted with spectacular views above the treetops to the ocean. You can stay right onsite in one of the 15 beautifully furnished bungalows, all situated with great views across the course. In addition, Tallwoods is home to The Bunker Bar. With a relaxed, informal atmosphere and peaceful alfresco dining areas overlooking the course, make the most of the delicious food. Visit tallwoods.com.au

One of the most picturesque public courses in Australia, Nambucca Heads Island Golf Club is uniquely situated on Stuart Island and surrounded by the Nambucca River, making for a magnificent setting for a game of golf. The women’s layout is a challenge for the experienced player but enjoyable for an average golfer – and it’s a flat, easy walk. Boasting a delicious menu with lots of choices, The Island Restaurant at the clubhouse is open daily for lunch and dinner, Monday to Saturday. Don’t miss relaxing in the main bar, lounge area or outside deck. The views across the Nambucca River are sensational. Where to stay? The club’s recommendations include Cubana Resort with its spacious rooms dotted around the lily pond and gardens, the peaceful Motel Miramar sitting above the Nambucca River, the luxurious Beach Rooms, also perched overlooking the Nambucca waterways, Ingenia White Albatross, a caravan park at the river’s entrance, and Marcel Towers, with outstanding views. Visit namgolf.com

Just 10 minutes south of Coffs Harbour and sitting halfway between Sydney and Brisbane lies one of the great play-and-stay destinations in Australian golf: Bonville Golf Resort. In fact, this idyllic, championship course has been referred to as Australia’s answer to Augusta National almost from the day it opened in 1992. And the Top 100-ranked layout has it all: exceptional, award-winning food and wine, and super-comfortable accommodation. Cabins flank the first fairway, providing sensational views and easy access to play, the restaurant, swimming pool and other facilities. Available to in-house guests every day and social golfers on Mondays. Visit bonvillegolf.com.au

Sunshine Coast, QLD

Highlighted by Noosa Springs, Maroochy River, Pelican Waters and Pacific Harbour, here is a destination that well and truly fits the bill for anyone chasing sunshine, waves and birdies. With endless beaches, spa and health retreats, markets, restaurants and nightlife, it’s easy to see why the Sunshine Coast is one of the country’s leading holiday destinations.

Situated between Noosa National Park and picturesque Lake Weyba, Noosa Springs is just three kilometres from cosmopolitan Hastings St and Noosa’s famous beaches. With a spectacular golf course, renowned day spa, superb dining, fitness centre, tennis courts, heated lap pool, driving range and spacious self-contained accommodation, Noosa Springs Golf & Spa Resort is the perfect place for a golf getaway with the girls. The layout is set among tropical bushland and water comes into play on 12 of the 18 holes, making it an enjoyable yet challenging round. Afterwards, relax in the beautiful day spa, which features unique hydro-massage and flotation pools, infrared sauna, steam room, blitz shower, thermal capsule and treatment suites, as well as relaxation lounges. The self-contained luxury apartments overlook the first fairway and are spacious, well-appointed and just a short stroll to the resort’s clubhouse, golf shop and restaurant. Visit noosasprings.com.au/accommodation/packages-and-specials

Central Coast, NSW

Only a 90-minute drive from Sydney and an hour from Newcastle, the Central Coast is fringed by 40 beautiful beaches, and features a lush hinterland and extensive lagoons and waterways. It’s a haven for camping, boating, fishing, picnicking and swimming, along with being a foodie heaven with top-class restaurants and bars. There is also a vibrant art scene along with fascinating art trails. For golfers, Magenta Shores and Kooindah Waters are essential to play.

Magenta Shores Golf & Country Club, a Top 100-ranked, Ross Watson-designed links-style course, is set among some of the most inspiring and unspoilt surroundings, on a pristine peninsula between Tuggerah Lake and the Pacific Ocean. Playable under all conditions, the sand-based course provides a unique golf and lifestyle experience. For a quick bite, try Shallows Bar, a casual, family-friendly bar that features an indoor fireplace and alfresco dining. Barretts Restaurant, on the other hand, is the perfect place to relax and enjoy fine food and the stunning vistas of the course. All restaurant areas ensure there is something for everyone to enjoy. And then there’s the stunning, on-site accommodation at Pullman Magenta Shores Resort. Located on the beachfront, the resort features direct beach access, outdoor pools, spa facilities and much more. Visit magentagolf.com.au

South Coast, NSW

The coastline south of Sydney and Wollongong, and down as far as Eden, is lined on one side by the Pacific Ocean and on the other by the striking Illawarra Escarpment and, further south, by multiple national parks plus the Snowy Mountains. The region offers a plethora of golf courses in gorgeous settings, including Mollymook, Callala, Narooma, Club Catalina, Shell Cove, Bermagui, Moruya, Tura Beach, Bega, Kiama, Nowra… the list goes on!

Mollymook Golf Club is situated at one of Australia’s iconic tourist destinations on the South Coast. The club features two courses with the 18-hole Hilltop course set in a natural bushland environment, with each hole providing its own amphitheatre with heavily treelined fairways. The nine-hole Beachside course cut along the ocean provides breathtaking views and interesting challenges. Another unique feature of Mollymook Golf Club is that it has two separate clubhouses, with the Beachside clubhouse open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, featuring magnificent views overlooking Mollymook Beach. You can enjoy a quality meal in luxurious surroundings with full TAB and gaming facilities available. Both courses are available for the public to play every day with bookings essential for the Hilltop course. Mollymook is the perfect destination for couples or large groups, beginners to the accomplished player, with the choice of different courses and multiple tee options. Visit mollymookgolf.com.au

Bermagui Country Club is a beguiling golf experience that delivers postcard-worthy scenery while applying the squeeze to whatever golf game you happen to bring on the day. With views of the seaside town, Horseshoe Bay and Gulaga Mountain rising beyond the course’s western fringe, the setting for golf could hardly be more idyllic – yet the challenge it poses is compelling. Scoring opportunities are on offer at the par 5s, and the par-4 14th and 17th holes are gettable if your long game stands up to the test. The food is delicious at the Terrace Restaurant, which is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, while stay-and-play packages are available at either Seaview Beach Houses or Harbourview House. Brochures can be downloaded from bermaguicountryclub.com

Our picks for accommodation are Albacore Apartments and Bannisters Mollymook. Nestled in the picturesque coastal town of Merimbula and close to Pambula Merimbula Golf Club, Albacore Apartments offer an idyllic retreat for golfers seeking a perfect blend of relaxation and adventure. Boasting a stunning lakeside location, the property presents breathtaking views from private balconies, where guests can savour the tranquil atmosphere. Each of the 20 well-appointed apartments and two studios are thoughtfully designed to provide modern comfort and convenience, making it an ideal choice for golf groups as large as 50. After golf, visitors can explore the pristine beaches, indulge in water sports or discover the vibrant local shops and restaurants nearby. Visit albacore.com.au

Another top pick is Bannisters, a luxurious coastal oasis in Mollymook. This exquisite boutique hotel offers a quintessential beachside retreat with ocean views and sophisticated ambience. The property boasts a range of elegantly designed rooms and suites, each providing a perfect blend of comfort and style. Guests can indulge in delectable culinary experiences at the award-winning Rick Stein at Bannisters restaurant, renowned for its sumptuous seafood. Relaxation takes centre stage at Bannisters, with a serene day spa, sparkling infinity pool and access to beautiful Mollymook Beach. Visit bannisters.com.au/mollymook  

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Of the eight courses to earn their way back into our biennial Top 100 Golf Courses ranking on merit (as opposed to returning after previous omission due to renovation work), none jumped higher than the
77th-ranked Henley course at The Heritage. It also surpassed its sister course, the St John, for the first time since the Henley opened in 2006.

From day one, the Tony Cashmore-designed Henley established a striking point of difference to the Jack Nicklaus-penned St John, venturing high into the hills of The Heritage site compared to the almost-flat St John layout. Wilder contours led to wilder golf holes, especially on the inward nine where the Henley climbs and descends some seriously undulating property – especially at the par-4 16th hole, which plummets down one of the steepest fairways in Australian golf.

THE DETAILS

The Heritage Golf & Country Club (Henley course)
Ranking for 2024-2025: 77thPrior rankings: 94th (2014), 71st (2012), 72nd (2010), 76th (2008)
Where: Heritage Ave, Chirnside Park, VIC
Phone: (03) 9760 3200;
Web: heritagegolfclub.com.au

 Photo by: Gary lLisbon

The post Top 100 Spotlight: The Heritage G&CC (Henley) appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

In its 125th year, a new-look Killara Golf Club is making good on its promise to remain a focal point for sport, congregation and community on Sydney’s Upper North Shore.

The year is 1899 and there’s a little bit happening. The Australian Premiers’ Conference decides to locate Australia’s capital (Canberra) between Sydney and Melbourne, Victor Trumper bludgeons his first Test century (135*) against England at the fabled Lord’s, and a Boston dentist by the name of George Bryant introduces the very first wooden golf tee. Game-changer. But a year of landmark events wasn’t over yet. Tucked away on Sydney’s Upper North Shore, a sprawling property would be developed that would fundamentally change the life and times of thousands of residents. Starting out as a nine-hole golf course carved out of dusty land known as Archbold’s Paddock, Killara Golf Club was born. Some 150 locals managed its upkeep, aided by 175 sheep penned to its greens at night to keep the vegetation under control. Further land purchases over the ensuring three decades and Killara would eventually be transformed into an impressive 18-hole offering that came with an impressive slice of history: it was the first golf club in Australia to own its own land. But from the very outset, the vision here was never just about golf. As glorious as its art-deco style clubhouse would become, it had a greater purpose than merely housing weary golfers. It was a meeting point for all forms of community congregation – and congregate they did. Expanded in 1937, 1954 and 1966 with the addition of a billiard room, card room, squash courts, buggy shed and lower bar, the club would construct its own bowling greens and add two tennis courts. It was a tell-tale sign that this was a club not afraid to pivot and move with the times, all in the name of its people.

Fast-forward to 2024 and the transformation of Killara continues. To mark its 125th anniversary, the club is in the process of signing off on a major redevelopment of that storied clubhouse and aging off-course facilities. 

Already reaping the benefits of a multi-million-dollar makeover of its course in 2018/19 by renowned designer Harley Kruse, the club is now ready to initiate Stage 2 of its masterplan: lifting all those tired, old, dark nooks and crannies with more light and ambience, and finding more practical ways of utilising the abundance of space that was designed very much with the early 1900s in mind.

Led by new general manager Josh Madden, along with incoming president Stephen Healy and vice-president Karen Wood, Killara is on a mission to once again “move with the times” without forgetting its past, and what better time than in another milestone year.

“To get to 125, we’ve proven you’ve got to be adaptable and move with the times,” says Madden, who knows a thing or two about adaptability, having managed the country’s largest public golf facility – Wembley Golf Course in Perth – prior to arriving at Killara.

“We want to have another 100-year birthday so we’ll continue to look internally at what we can do to evolve, innovate and adapt. Our members are incredibly proud of the club’s rich history and incredible journey, as they should be, but we can’t rest on our laurels. The best clubs we see are the ones that are robust, adaptable and embrace change. Like everyone, I’m excited by that challenge.”

Bringing in the big guns

Madden was a shrewd appointment by the Killara board, who had big shoes to fill when David Gazzoli vacated the top chair. A pro golfer by trade, Madden spent eight years at the PGA of Australia overseeing its International Golf Institute and WA/SA Division and remains a member director of the PGA of Australia’s board. Madden also spent 18 months as the general manager of Toowoomba Golf Club in Queensland before opportunity came knocking in WA. While in the west, Madden took on a management role with Town of Cambridge, gaining valuable insight into the inner-sanctum and workings of local government. It’s experience he will surely lean on when it comes to overseeing Killara’s redevelopment plans.

“We had a terrific general manager in David Gazzoli, who the members just loved,” says Healy, who joined Killara in 1994. “He was a very personable guy and did a great job at the club. We wanted to replace that sort of personality and warmth, which I believe we got with Josh. But we also got a full range of skills. He’s been a golf pro, he’s been a teaching pro, he’s been a GM of a private club, a GM of a public facility. He’s young and energetic and excited to be with the club. The quality of the candidates we got was incredible and there were a number that we’d have been very happy with. But Josh stood out from the rest and the committee was unanimous in saying ‘he’s our man’.”

Healy’s appointment as club president wasn’t the worst decision, either. A property development lawyer in a large firm, Healy was president of Tennis Australia for seven years, overseeing the Australian Open and other significant administrative duties. 

“I’ve had a lot of involvement in sports administration and a lot to do with property development, so that’s really why I joined the board, to assist with things like the clubhouse project,” Healy says. “It’s old and it desperately needs some money spent on it. The reality is we would have to spend some money just on upgrading compliance because it’s so old. With that reality looming, our thinking was: Aren’t we better to do that work as part of an upgrade that increases the amenity of the clubhouse and improves it and actually modernises it?”

Part of the club’s vision will include providing more expansive views of the course and a complete overhaul of its spacious but very outdated locker room facilities. Gone are the days of members coming off the course, showering and getting changed into their jacket and tie for a drink at the bar. A health and wellbeing facility is among the many concepts being put forward to the membership.

Elsewhere, a new state-of-the-art driving range facility on the property’s northern perimeter remains a top priority. No more hitting warm-up shots off worn rubber matting into deteriorating wire nets. Think more of a closed-in facility like Swing Factory or Swing City, fully equipped with bays, lighting, TV screens and ball-tracing technology, even additional food and beverage options for members, who can arrive in style straight from the carpark. 

“We’re going to do some really smart upgrades to complement the golf course,” Madden adds. “We’re coming into a time when we’re going to steer some big change. The members are so proud of their golf course, and they want to be proud of the overall experience when they bring guests to the club. When we’re done, that overall experience will have everyone talking.”

Justifying the expense

As far as identity changes go, altering the playability and maintenance of the golf course was a big one. 

Prior to the club’s course renovations, the consensus was Killara had begun to resemble a botanical garden more than a golf course. Fairway widths on some holes had crept in to as little as 12 metres. Not only did tree canopies affect lines of play, they also reduced sunlight, absorbed moisture and made turf maintenance problematical. It led to a full overhaul of the putting surfaces and fringes by Kruse and his team, who took a punt on Pure Distinction greens and Zoysia surrounds in a bid to eradicate many of the issues.

“The choice of Zoysia for the green surrounds meant tight surfaces could be achieved in full sun and partial shade of this treed course,” Kruse says. “Short, fine-turfed green surrounds have added defence of par and brought fun short-game shot-making back to Killara that couldn’t be achieved with the Kikuyu fairways grass. I’m looking forward to getting the Zoysia even firmer and faster.”

That combination of Pure Distinction and Zoysia – a first for a Sydney golf club – won over Australian Golf Digest’s Top 100 Courses ranking panellists. In May, Killara came in at No.73 on the list, a significant rise of 10 spots from its 2022 ranking, putting an exclamation mark on those many years prior when it failed to make the cut at all. It’s also a doff of the cap to the $1.2 million the club recently spent on upgrading its irrigation and drainage system that has seen it fare much better than many other Sydney courses during what can only be described as an unseasonal deluge of rain over the past 12 months.

“[Our latest ranking] is a huge coup for the club and something extra to celebrate in what is a year dedicated to commemorating our rich history,” says Madden. “It further justifies what we’re doing as a club and the people we’re bringing in to do it.”

Something that can never be replaced

Golf clubs around the world are benefitting from the sport’s post-covid surge in popularity. Participation rates are at an all-time high, member waiting lists are overflowing and getting a tee-time when you want it can be an impossible task. Yet Killara didn’t need a global pandemic to change its fortunes. Member retention has never been a problem for one simple fact: its members never want to leave.

“Our head professional, Greg Hohnen, has been with us for 51 years,” says a gobsmacked Madden. “Why? Because of the culture we have here, from the moment you enter the front gates. Our membership is full but when we get approached by those interested in joining, it’s never about me putting forward a sales pitch to them. I simply get them to play a round of golf with our members and take in the whole Killara experience… the camaraderie and true sense of community – that’s what sells this place.”  

Having a great course and state-of-the-art facilities is costly. Having a great culture and camaraderie is priceless. It’s a bond Killara shares with fellow 125-year club Concord and Newcastle Golf Club up the M1 motorway. First played in 1907, the annual Killara versus Newcastle showdown – the Rankin Cup – is the oldest continuously held golf interclub event in the world. The world! 

While there are too many planned celebratory activities to mention, it’s the little things that matter when you’re commemorating 125 years. Killara offers many ways for members to enjoy the club. They have been running women’s introductory golf clinics since 2008, resulting in a large intake of enthusiastic women golfers, many of whom now play in pennants teams and are leaders in the club. Junior scholarship and cadet programs have a long history and are well supported. The children’s Christmas party and the Easter egg hunt as well as the family sports day are important dates on the calendar. The bowlers and bridge playing groups offer extra alternatives to mix with friends in the club. For season 125, the creation of specially labelled Killara Golf Club beverages will add a personalised touch for those out on course or at the bar. The process to select these commemorative tipples involved recruiting a conga line of members to form the ‘beer selection committee’ – tough gig! Such measures go a long way to explain why, when you join Killara, you really do join for life.

“The best clubs have a really strong identity of what they are,” Madden says. “We don’t pretend we’re going to host the Australian Open anytime soon, but what you get when you drive through those gates is a really enjoyable members club.”

Adds Healy: “It’s an extraordinary thing, 125 years. We’re here because it’s just a great club full of great people that create a terrific culture based around having fun. That alone is something that should be celebrated and we’ve got a fantastic committee working on that with some great events planned for later in the year. 

“It’s truly a privilege to be the new president in the middle of the club’s 125-year celebrations.” 

THE DETAILS

Killara Golf Club
Where: 556 Pacific Hwy, Killara NSW
Who: Josh Madden (general manager)
Phone: (02) 9498 2700
Web: kgc.com.au

The post Course Review: Killara Golf Club, Sydney appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

In the ongoing search for sand, we find the ancestral spirit of the game. These are must-play links courses on both sides of the Tasman. 

Debate surrounding the best golf courses in Australia tends to favour those layouts with links-like qualities. Hard, fast, bouncy and true. Certainly, Australia’s fascination with links golf stems partly from the fact the Open Championship accounts for 10 of the nation’s 18 men’s major triumphs.

Five of those belong to Peter Thomson who subdued the Americans on what he called neutral ground – the bouncy links courses of Britain. Local folklore has it that Thomson would prepare at Flinders Golf Club on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula prior to departing for what was dubbed by
Mike Wolveridge as ‘The annual slaying of the lambs’.

Kel Nagle pipped Arnold Palmer to win the centenary Open in 1960. Greg Norman produced two of the finest rounds in major-championship history during his triumphs at Turnberry (1986) and Royal St George’s (1993). Ian Baker-Finch tore apart Royal Birkdale over the weekend to claim the 1991 title. And who can forget Cam Smith’s sublime back-nine finish to thwart Rory McIlroy at the 2022 Open?

For a comprehensive insight into our record, Aussies At The Open details our tales and triumphs. The book’s authors, Tony Webeck and Steve Keipert, have listed every Australian who competed in the first 150 years of the world’s oldest major championship.

Yet for the majority of last century, the local trend in golf-course architecture had steered towards treelined parkland layouts. Club presidents, captains and committees became preoccupied with beautifying golf courses with the planting of trees and lush vegetation.

It was in stark contrast to Australia’s golden age of course architecture from the 1920s during which Alister MacKenzie influenced the design of clubs in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and New Zealand’s North Island.

Three significant developments could be attributed to ushering in an exciting new era of golf-course design about the turn of the century: the renaissance of links golf.

Firstly, Norman’s assaults on The Open captured the imagination of Australian golfers. His flamboyant style and daring shot-making on the links of Britain were vividly brought to life on television screens across Australia.

The second of Norman’s Open conquests in 1993 coincided with the opening of Links Hope Island. Rarely has an Australian golf venue attracted the hype achieved by Hope Island [feature image]. Boasting the imprimatur of five-time Open champion Thomson, Hope Island featured the rounded, pot-shaped bunkers synonymous with the great links courses of Britain. Thomson even paid homage to the idiosyncrasies of links golf: a pot bunker or two in the middle of a fairway.

The concept was a fascinating dichotomy: a links-style layout in a humid subtropical climate amid the waterfront canal living of the northern Gold Coast, the home to the white-shoe brigade of flamboyant property developers.

Links Hope Island had a magnetic appeal with golfers, especially those from southern Australia during the winter months when mean daily maximum temperatures on the Gold Coast hovered near 21-22 degrees.

Now ranked No.51 on Australia’s Top 100 Golf Courses, the Hope Island resort has since been rebranded Links Golf & Wellbeing to acknowledge how it is much more than a golf destination. Facilities include a contemporary day spa, fine dining, conference facilities and tranquil lakeside settings for hosting weddings.

The third and most influential factor in the links golf renaissance was Tony Cashmore’s redesign of The Dunes Golf Links on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula in 1997. It spawned a plethora of links courses on the Mornington and Bellarine peninsulas during the next quarter of a century. Meanwhile, leading clubs on the Melbourne Sandbelt embarked upon renovation work, seeking architects who were capable of restoring the linksy elements of the original design (Yarra Yarra Golf Club, Woodlands Golf Club, Commonwealth Golf Club).

EMBRACING LINKS GOLF

Elsewhere, the links-inspired layout at Pullman Magenta Shores Resort on the NSW Central Coast is a remarkable achievement, partially transformed from a former rubbish tip into a superb golf experience rated 35th on the Top 100.

On a relatively flat site, course architect Ross Watson threaded playing corridors through artificial sand dunes on a narrow isthmus of land north of The Entrance, just 90 minutes from Sydney’s CBD and 45 minutes from the Hunter Valley. Fast-running couch fairways, deep bunkers and fescue rough enhance its linksy character.

With 2.3 kilometres of beach frontage, tropical outdoor lagoon pools and the luxurious Vie Spa, the 5-star Pullman resort is NSW’s most lavish seaside golf resort. Hotel guests and residents at Magenta Shore have access to all the resort’s facilities.

The Tuncurry course at Forster Tuncurry Golf Club on NSW’s Mid North Coast fits the classic description of a links – a strip of sandy terrain from which the sea has receded to form a rolling piece of land conducive to the game. While native bushland obscures the immediate foreshore, most holes at Tuncurry are in such proximity to the water that the sound of crashing waves are a constant reminder of the vast Tasman Sea.

Professional-turned-course architect Craig Parry is responsible for ongoing work on the original layout designed by Kel Nagle and Mike Cooper and shaped by volunteer members (1984). Much attention has focused upon reducing the amount of overgrown vegetation (banksia and tee tree), which had been allowed to flourish and restrict the width of playing corridors. It’s a vast improvement to the 6,209-metre, par-72 layout, reflected by the fact it has re-entered Australia’s Top 100 at No.97.

REMOTE LINKS COURSES

Making the 290-kilometre trek west from Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road is a small inconvenience in order to play Port Fairy Golf Links on Victoria’s Shipwreck Coast. This hidden gem has achieved somewhat of a cult following after a 2007 renovation that now sees it ranked at a career-best No.50 on Australia’s Top 100.

Originally laid out by club members in the early 1960s, Port Fairy had the foresight to engage the team of Michael Clayton, Bruce Grant and John Sloan to enhance the links experience. It’s a terrific blend of holes through unspoilt sand dunes that Mother Nature gifted this enchanting part of the world. Although relatively short in length at 5,887 metres for a par 72, Port Fairy’s challenge is compounded by exposure to ever-present winds off the ocean.

The most remote golf course you’ve never been to is surely Albany Golf Club in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. It’s a 405-kilometre journey south-east of Perth – the world’s most remote capital city – however a longer scenic route affords an opportunity to discover red tingle forests, ancient Karri trees and the ‘Valley Of The Giants Tree Top Walk’ near Walpole.

Albany is thoroughly quirky with several raised ‘hogs-back’ kikuyu fairways and the squarish, flat greens with steep runoffs. William Henry Angove is credited with designing WA’s oldest course located on its original site (1898). The routing of the 6,068-metre, par-72 layout changed in 2001 after the opening of a contemporary clubhouse.

Now ranked No.99 on Australia’s Top 100, the panoramic views from Albany’s highest vantage points are breathtaking – especially so if you’re lucky enough to catch Southern Right whales breaching as close as 100 metres offshore in the waters of King George Sound.

ACROSS THE DITCH

The magnificent Tara Iti at Mangawhai on New Zealand’s North Island became an instant bucket-list course when it opened in 2015. The windswept links on a former pine plantation, about 100 kilometres north of Auckland, might just be the greatest accomplishment by revered American architect Tom Doak, who took advantage of the mesmerising scenery of Hauraki Gulf. While the exclusive Tara Iti is members-only and their guests, visitors can experience the Doak layout by applying for a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ pass on the club’s website to play and stay at the property.

The success of Tara Iti was the catalyst for Te Arai Links, which boasts two pure-links courses on the beach just beyond its neighbour. Bill Coore constructed the first 18 in natural sand dunes where 16 holes feature ocean views, while eight holes have direct ocean frontage.

Doak’s Renaissance Golf Design added a second course at Te Arai, which opened last October. The North course is routed inland with seven of the 18 holes featuring ocean views. The green fee for Australians to play either course ranges between $NZ300 and $NZ425, depending on the season. One of the two courses is open to the public each day on an alternating basis.

For a fraction of the price, Muriwai Golf Links on the Auckland region’s rugged west coast offers superb value with a green fee of $NZ150 (for non-New Zealand affiliated golfers). Known for its black-sand surf beach emanating from the rich volcanic soil, Muriwai features the humps, swales and pot bunkers synonymous with links golf.

While not a classic links in the purist sense because of its kikuyu fairways, the turf maintenance is such that it plays with the hard, bouncy feel of a true links. Just 42 kilometres north-west of the Auckland city centre, Muriwai’s greatest virtue is an all-year playability due to the fast-draining nature of the sandy property. Away from the course, the local gannet colony draws visitors from afar. Piha Beach, horse riding and zip-lining are alternative tourist attractions. 

The post In Pursuit Of Links Golf appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

In our latest installment of “Ask an Architect”, in which we bring a topic in the world of course design to an architect, Drew Rogers fields our questions on the value of bunker liners.

Rogers worked with the late Arthur Hills for 18 years, and since 2010 has consulted with dozens of clubs across the United States on their renovations. Various makes of bunker liners have also become prevalent on Australia courses.

Ask A Super: Why are you coring our greens when they’re in perfect shape?

Question: Drew, bunker liners – barriers made of polymers, concrete or other materials that protectively seal bunker sand from the underlying soils – have become widely used during the past decade but can add major cost to construction budgets, perhaps $250,000 to $1 million depending on the product and course’s overall size of bunkers. What do you tell clubs about the value of bunker liners?

Rogers: The short answer is that bunker liners are just another tool in our arsenal. At best, they can potentially solve a variety of maintenance and architectural issues. The first liners were developed several decades ago to help manage bunker drainage and to prevent contamination when underlying soils leech into the sand, which is going to happen at some point. When this happens, you eventually need to replace the bunker sand.

I try to explain to clubs what liners do and how they can be helpful. First, many clubs spend an enormous amount of money on specialty bunker sand that needs to be transported in, often from long distances. Liners can protect this investment by keeping the underlying soils from infiltrating the sand. Second, they help with erosion and irrigation. The premium liners we use now allow water to pass through the sand without destabilising it, and this can save countless hours of labour that would otherwise be spent pushing and raking the sand back up into faces after heavy rains. Third, because of their unique properties, they allow architects to do more with our bunker shapes. We can design bunkers with the sand flashed high on the face for added visibility and aesthetics. We can get a little more creative without worrying about washouts or collapsing faces, which in the past would have been a concern on certain sites.

I really fought bunker liners for a long time. The old versions weren’t as effective and had shorter lifespans, and I didn’t feel like I could trust them. But they’ve come a long way in the past 10 or 15 years, and now they’re just damn effective.

For clubs that are willing to invest in these expensive products, will they see a return on their investment?

In most cases I believe so, but it also depends on the existing conditions and other factors like the number of bunkers a course has, the type of soils, the style of the bunkers and the amount of precipitation the course typically receives.

They’re not right for every site. If a course has sandy or free draining soils, liners are probably not worth it. A dry climate without a lot of rain isn’t going to be committing major hours of labour repairing bunkers after weather events, and courses with flat-bottomed bunkers with grass faces probably won’t benefit from them either, though they will help with contamination.

In other places, the benefit of keeping sand stabilised on the bunker face after downpours can save a course a tremendous amount of money. Bunkers have become probably the most expensive and most labour-intensive part of golf-course maintenance. Superintendents do the cost-benefit analysis: some estimate they can save up to 70 percent of their budget by eliminating the need to devote significant labour to bunker repair. I’ve got to think after four or five years the bunker liner investment is paid off in those situations.

One downside, other than the initial investment, is the cost to tear them out and replace the liners when that time comes, which will happen at some point. [Note: Most liner warranties are for 10 years.] What is the cost and scope of the deconstruction process? We haven’t gotten far enough in their lifecycles yet to know what that looks like, but overall I’ve come around to believing liners are a welcome tool that gives architects and clubs options they didn’t previously have.

The post Why some courses invest up to $1 million in this sneaky genius bunker feature appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

The owners of The Vines have unveiled the next phase of major plans to take the leading West Australian golf resort into the future.

Initially, the plan sees the opening of an upgraded 18-hole championship course this month, with plans for a 14-hole short course and state-of-the-art driving range.

The new-look Vines reflects the global trends driving golf course sustainability and design. The revamp and upgrade of the Championship course has included an $11 million sophisticated reticulation system and other works that will eventually bring the course up to championship standard. The more efficient irrigation system will result in a 25 percent reduction in water usage.

The renovated Championship course is the former home to the Heineken and Johnnie Walker Classics, using nine holes from each of the Lakes and Ellenbrook layouts.

The proposed 14-hole short course will use nine of the holes on the Lakes course, transforming them with creative new designs.

A new two-storey, $4 million driving range will rival existing driving ranges in WA by offering more bays, better amenities, and a sheltered, more comfortable setting.

Planning applications to utilise the existing driving range area for single-storey housing options catering to local ‘over 55’ residents, as well as premium townhouse-style homes are being developed for consideration by the City of Swan and final approval by the WA Planning Commission.

Both options will provide future residents with easy walking access to upgraded community facilities within the resort.

Vines WA director Mark Hohnen said the changes reflected a commitment to offering an attractive and sustainable golf and recreational experience.

“We are securing the future of golf at The Vines for decades to come,” Hohnen said.

Hohnen said the resort’s owners had also listened to golf members and residents as part of the planning process and would keep the Ellenbrook holes (the third to 11th) as a stand-alone nine-hole layout. Previously, those nine holes were slated to be lost to the new development.

“These changes confirm The Vines as a complete golfing experience by offering 27 traditional holes, a short course, and a modern driving range, in addition to the mini-golf already offered,” he said.

Hohnen said experience in Australia and overseas confirmed the rise in popularity of short courses – either stand-alone or linked to an existing 18-hole course.

“Golf facilities are reinventing themselves to remain viable. The reality is that for golf courses to remain viable they have to have a whole of community context and be a broader recreational destination where families want to go.”

Golf legend Gary Player said in Golf’s 2020 Vision Report that, “For golf to grow there will have to be ways to play that will not take nearly as long to complete a round. Time is of the essence to everyone.” Champion players such as Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Australia’s own Geoff Ogilvy are now involved in designing short courses.

“The inaugural Australian Golf Strategy sums it up perfectly – all golf is golf and all of us can be golfers. This is an exciting and essential upgrade which will continue to make The Vines an attractive and modern destination of choice,” Hohnen said.

The post The Vines Resort to downsize from 36 to 27 holes, plus add a short course and driving range appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

A new No.1 is indicative of an ongoing tight tussle at the top in our 19th biennial ranking of Australia’s Top 100 Golf Courses.

In the period spanning our previous ranking two years ago, a queen headed the Commonwealth. Today, a king sits on the throne for the first time since 1952. In a similar monumental shift, we have a new ruler atop our nation’s golf courses.

The difference here is that this is a succession rather than the passing of a monarch, and it may well be temporary. For just the second time in our ranking’s near-40-year history, a course other than Royal Melbourne holds top spot as Cape Wickham Links on Tasmania’s King Island ascends to No.1 for the first time.

It’s a result that will turn heads, induce eyerolls and, no doubt, draw criticism. How can any course other than Royal Melbourne be considered our best? you might ask. There are a few reasons – and none of them are to do with Royal’s revered West course slipping in any way. In fact, the average score returned by our judging panel for the West has gradually risen in the past four rankings. On this occasion, it was simply passed – and by the barest of margins.

Part of it is our fault in that we stopped ranking Royal Melbourne’s Composite after the 2008 list. That instantly diluted its stranglehold on No.1 even if the West course still held it every time bar one. RM viewed as the Composite course alone is almost certainly never unseated from the top, however our decision 15 years ago to separate it into West and East gave it vulnerability.

Save for 2010 – when Kingston Heath rose to No.1, essentially on the back of a period of prolonged drought and water issues at Royal Melbourne – the West course has remained untouched until now. Yet the writing was on the wall. In the 2018 ranking, the scores separating the top four courses were exceptionally close. There was no change in order then, but there easily could have been.

Cape Wickham didn’t become No.1 overnight and this is far from an inflated ranking based on novelty and newness. We saw this coming.

“Perennial bridesmaid Kingston Heath and newcomer Cape Wickham are breathing down its neck,” we wrote in the space six years ago, “and, based on the average points they accrued this year and last time, either one could usurp mighty Royal Melbourne in the future. It might be a one-off or a permanent coronation, but we’ll flag here that it can most definitely happen.”

Even two years ago, we posed the question about the chances of a new No.1. Yet this is less a case of Royal Melbourne sliding, rather a slowly percolating appreciation of Cape Wickham. Its scores from our panel have mostly risen each time since it opened in late 2015, while it has required time to permeate the Australian – and international – golf scene. That a public course is ranked No.1 for the first time is another accomplishment to celebrate.

The criteria debate

Is there too much emphasis placed on scoring according to our seven judging criteria? That will be the reaction of some who don’t agree with the new No.1. And indeed this was a usurping performed largely through the Aesthetics category, where Cape Wickham brings to the table the one thing Royal Melbourne can’t: an out-of-this-world location. It is just one measurement out of seven, and worth a mere 12.5 percent of the total score, but it has an impact.

We’ve also been here before. When Kingston Heath took top spot in 2010, we earned some scorn from within the golf fraternity for having the perceived audacity to demote Australia’s best golf course, but I distinctly recall phoning Royal Melbourne’s then general manager – the late, great Paul Rak – ahead of the on-sale date to break the news. His response? “I couldn’t believe we’d stayed No.1 last time.”

There was more change in this ranking, although in a much more behind-the-scenes way. In the wake of the COVID-impacted 2022 ranking – when our panel generated only just enough scores for a valid outcome – we drastically expanded the size of our judging panel and ordered them to see more golf courses, and not just the incumbent leading 100. If there’s been a lingering criticism of our ranking process, it’s been a lack of visitation in places. That cry is thrown out the door this time. A panel of 277 collectively visited 809 different Australian golf courses – that’s more than half the 1,603 we have – and returned 7,026 total evaluations. There is more data behind this ranking than any before it [see panel, page 79]. As such, what we call “The Next 100”, those courses ranked 101 to 200, will be far more comprehensive when that list is revealed in the June issue.

Elsewhere on the 2024 ranking, 49 courses improved their position compared to 2022. That’s partly due to the deliberate omission of a record number of courses as substantial redesign projects remain in vogue, promising a series of compelling returns in 2026. Another nine courses returned to this Top 100 after periods of varying duration spent on the outer.

It’s a moment to be proud of for all 100, although we know the focal point of this result will be at the summit. This particular queen’s reign has ended; how long the new king rules becomes the next question. 

The 2024 ranking, by the numbers

• 277 panellists
• 809 courses scored
• 7,026 total evaluations
• 72.62 score for the No.1 course (out of 80)
• 0.22 the gap between No.1 and No.2
• 10.32 the gap between No.1 and No.50
• 4.88 the gap between No.51 and No.100

The post Top 100: The King Rises appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

Insights gleaned from playing our top two courses in two days. 

As short golf trips go, this one tops the lot: playing Royal Melbourne’s West course and Cape Wickham Links on consecutive days. The two top-ranked golf courses in the land, toured on back-to-back afternoons in early April.

Australian golf’s equivalent of swilling a bottle of Grange Hermitage then following it with Hill Of Grace was among the more enviable assignments I’ve undertaken, yet there was meaning to the sojourn. I hadn’t seen either course since 2019 and hadn’t played Royal Melbourne in almost a decade, so I was overdue for a reacquaintance with both. I sit on our panel of judges, but only as a single voice, however I also administer the Top 100 Courses process and collate our panellists’ evaluations. My scores for the two courses did not count towards this latest ranking, although I did feel the need to see both in quick time to understand how and why our panel voted for a switch at the top.

Royal Melbourne was my first stop. I arrived at the great dame of Australian golf on a cloudy but otherwise perfect autumn afternoon for golf. After Melbourne had experienced its driest March on record, 60 millimetres of rain fell in the two days before my visit. In many ways it was a good time to be there – I saw the course as the members do, rather than in a tournament setting where the associated infrastructure, hordes of people and general lack of access pollute the view. The rain had compacted the bunker sand across the West course, which was the only visible clue to the downpour. Famously, surface water doesn’t last very long on the Sandbelt, even after heavy falls.

In all other ways, the course looked in pristine shape. The switch to Wintergreen couch through 2020 and 2021 has improved turf coverage and resilience, and the attractive contrast between the fairways and rough peaks in April. The greens were firm – not tournament firm, but still firm, which was remarkable considering the rain. Pitch marks were difficult although not impossible to elicit from the greens, yet they were shallow. Playing the course was also a tremendous reminder of the shot choices on offer from the fescue aprons wrapping each putting surface. The strategic nature of Royal Melbourne presses your grey matter every time you stand over the ball, but the variety of options ringing the greens remains a hallmark.

Away from the maintained surfaces, the level of care and attention shown towards the vegetation across the property is evident. It is now incumbent upon golf clubs to manage everything within the fencelines, and what is often lost on casual golfers – at Royal Melbourne and elsewhere – is the dedication shown to the parts of a course that aren’t in play. Golf courses are living, breathing, ever-evolving entities and while the management of foliage and vegetation might appear secondary to the playing surfaces, in the grand scheme of things they are equal.

There’s a subtly pulsating rhythm to the flow of a round on the West course. The start is a touch docile on the difficulty front, but that doesn’t last long. As our group walked towards the fifth tee, a jovial staff member driving a drinks cart offered complimentary apples and quipped, “Now the hard holes start.” The way the supposedly easier holes intertwine with the tougher ones is part of the journey of the West course, as a hard-fought par on certain holes can inspire the same sensation as a birdie.

There’s a school of thought that suggests the West loses momentum with the crossing of Cheltenham Road to play holes 13 to 16. While the land there lacks the grand contouring of the “main paddock”, the holes are hardly weak. The little 13th, for instance, dovetails nicely with the 16th, which surely ranks among the best long par 3s in the land.

If Royal Melbourne has a weakness – with an emphasis on if – it’s the obsolete nature of some bunkers for top golfers. I played alongside a fit young man in his early 20s who smashes the ball, but in reality he hits it no further than many accomplished golfers of his age and physique. He took some amazingly aggressive lines off tees that made a joke of some of the West’s longer par 4s. He played sand wedges or half-pitches into multiple 400-plus-metre par 4s and devoured the par 5s on a windless afternoon. However, if that is indeed a criticism, it’s one levelled at the unbridled equipment side of the game rather than the architecture of ‘Royal’. Yet even the longest of hitters need to negotiate the nuances of those genius greens, which is why the course remains a genuine test for the expert golfer and 18-marker in different yet eternally beguiling ways.

Walking onto the West course’s 18th green in the day’s gloaming, I peered first to my right to look up the hill towards the majestic seventh green complex then to my left down the last fairway of the East course and finally towards the setting sun back along the hole I was playing. For four hours I’d been reminded of the magnificence of the West course, however my appreciation for the overall treasure that is Royal Melbourne matched it in that one serene, closing moment.

Catching Cape Wickham on a near-windless afternoon the next day was a first for me. The blanket of grey cloud may have obscured the sunshine, but it also helped keep at bay the whipping winds for which King Island is notorious. There was barely more than a club of breeze for all 18 holes, something I had not encountered there previously. 

Such benign conditions allowed me to play the course in a more conventional fashion, with less shot manipulation required. The holes into the prevailing wind were not as fearsome, while still offering ample assistance on the downwind ones. My left-veering tee shot that rode the breeze on the eighth hole was saved by the fairway contours instead of flying into oblivion, and I had a mere half-pitch for my second into the par-4 10th, where the sharply downhill drive ordinarily needs to be struck with as much penetration through the wind as possible. The friendly conditions diluted the difficulty of the challenge without shortchanging the experience.

Ah, yes, the experience. It’s a word you won’t find in the definitions of our judging criteria yet it’s one that golfers frequently refer to when appraising a golf course. The question, What was it like out there? rarely means anything other than how the conditions were or what the experience was like. Break that down a touch further and your assessment naturally evolves from the physical attributes to the overall location and setting. That’s where any Royal Melbourne–Cape Wickham dichotomy becomes tricky – one is ringed by suburbia while the other lies on the edge of a rock in the middle of Bass Strait. Such starkly different settings – just 204 kilometres apart – is part of the magnificence and mystique of any side-by-side evaluation of both courses.

Whether architecturally or as an experience, Cape Wickham feeds the soul. Royal Melbourne does too, just in a different fashion. Playing RM is like walking through the pages of one of golf’s best architecture manuals – you learn something more about the great arena with every interaction. Whereas Wickham is more of a four-hour thrill ride with cresting and troughing levels of frenzied adrenalin. You take in a lot there, too; it’s just that you walk away with your eyes a lot wider and your brain a lot fuller for differing reasons.

Comparing the current condition of the two courses is not a fair fight. Superficially, Royal Melbourne has Cape Wickham well and truly covered, however that’s perhaps not true when you consider the size of the respective fleets of grounds staff and maintenance budgets. There’s something of an arms race waging among the top metropolitan clubs when it comes to the latter, and it’s not a healthy one in a broader context. The fact that our new No.1 course is cared for by a team of just three and on an annual budget of about $350,000 is to be commended. It’s also due in no small part to the grass.

The fescue surfaces had hardly suffered from a dry summer across King Island and all of Tasmania. The fairways and greens were healthy and just lush enough to allow firmness to rule. Cape Wickham highlights the benefits of adopting wall-to-wall fescue in the right climate. It’s a hardy strain and one that just works as a surface to play from.

Some upkeep elements have slipped in recent times. A few bunkers were in need of TLC, but nothing that couldn’t be rectified in quick time. It mattered little. As one person connected to the Cape Wickham project from the start told me, there’s never been a single complaint about the shape of the golf course. Not one.

Then there’s the setting. As I stood on the seventh tee debating which iron to use on the par 3, the unmistakable sound of a distant wave crashing against the rocky shoreline over my shoulder broke my concentration for a welcome moment. You don’t hear that sound in suburban Black Rock. Which raises the argument: should the surroundings count when appraising golf courses? They’re not technically part of the canvas, yet they’re impossible to ignore.

In saying that, part of Cape Wickham’s appeal is the section of the course away from the rugged coastline. Holes like the short seventh, semi-blind eighth and cascading ninth are out of sight of the ocean and lack nothing for it. You can still hear it, though.

I came away from the whistlestop trip enthralled by the twin excursions although unable to pick a clear favourite. It’s like comparing Da Vinci to Rembrandt, Mozart against Beethoven, Porsche with Ferrari. A faithfully cared-for classic and a modern seaside wonder. If offered 10 games across the two courses, where travel and access were not considerations, I would probably split them five apiece. The in-the-ground features are indisputably superior at Royal Melbourne, yet the sensual experience is greater at Cape Wickham.

If there’s one part of this debate that should be unanimous, it’s how blessed we are to have two such outrageously good golf courses as Australia’s best. 

The post Top 100: The Ultimate Double appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

It’s one of the most spectacular courses in the world yet confusion reigns over who actually designed it. Cape Wickham on Tasmania’s King Island is at the centre of a dispute between American Mike DeVries and Australian Darius Oliver. To solve the mystery, we asked Duncan Andrews, the man who funded the entire construction of Cape Wickham, to set the record straight. 

Course photography by Nick Wall

The opening of Cape Wickham Golf Links in 2015 heralded a new dawn in course construction. The spectacular coastal layout built on the foreshore of Tasmania’s King Island has influenced the way we appreciate golf.

Wickham won instant approval with its inaugural ranking at No.3 on Australia’s Top 100 Golf Courses. International acclaim followed when it was ranked No.24 on the World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses by our sister publication, Golf Digest (USA).

The recognition was a wonderful acknowledgment for the two men credited with Wickham’s design: American Mike DeVries and Australian Darius Oliver. DeVries was a rising star in golf-course architecture circles. Victoria’s Oliver was a noted architecture buff and author of the Planet Golf series of books.

Controversy surrounding Wickham arose in 2021 when two American publications – Golf Magazine and Golfweek – chose to credit DeVries as the sole designer. DeVries’ design company (Clayton, DeVries & Pont) appeared more than happy to perpetuate this narrative with multiple posts on social media failing to acknowledge it as a co-design. However, it rankled Oliver that his substantive role at Wickham was being wiped from history. To add fuel to the fire, Australian professional Mike Clayton sided with his American counterpart with whom he had entered into an architectural partnership (CDP).

To coincide with this issue’s publication of Australia’s Top 100 Golf Courses, we sought to learn the truth about who really designed Cape Wickham Golf Links. And who better to ask than the man who funded the entire construction of Wickham: Duncan Andrews [inset].

The 75-year-old made his name by founding the capital services company Australian Ratings, which later became Standard & Poor’s Australia. In later life he has become known as a golf-course developer, outlaying more than $35 million of his own money in three
major projects.

It was Andrews’ passion that led to the redevelopment of The Dunes on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula in the early 1990s. He commissioned Tony Cashmore to redesign the layout, which became the catalyst for the renaissance of links golf across Australia. In the late 1990s, Andrews invested into a 36-hole residential development at 13th Beach on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula where layouts by Cashmore and Nick Faldo are the cornerstone for one of the best golf communities in Australia.

But his pièce de résistance is Cape Wickham on King Island that has redefined Australian golf. Incidentally, it would be remiss to omit the role played by Programmed Turnpoint, the company founded by Andrew Purchase that was responsible for all the construction, shaping and landscaping carried out at Wickham.

As for the controversy surrounding DeVries and Oliver, Australian Golf Digest sought an interview with Duncan Andrews to set the record straight about how Wickham came to fruition: from site identification, selection of architect, routing and design of individual holes.

Australian Golf Digest: We’re keen to set the record straight about what actually happened with the design of Cape Wickham Golf Links. Just establish that you funded the entire construction.

Duncan Andrews: A brief point of history. A guy called Andrew Purchase, who owned the golf-construction company Programmed Turnpoint, found this land on the northern tip of King Island. He thought it was pretty good. And he bought it. He talked to Darius Oliver about it and Darius looked at it.

Darius rang me and he must have rung me on and off for six months, saying: “Come and have a look at it. It’s the best land I’ve ever seen in the world…” Darius has a pretty good view of what’s good golf-course land and what’s not. Eventually I relented.

We got a helicopter down on a beautiful sunny day, probably it might have been late February 2013. We
landed on what’s now the 18th fairway and within about 10 or 15 minutes I was sold. It was as good a parcel of land as you would ever see for a golf course. I went back to Victoria and sort of lay awake at night for about two weeks thinking, Will I or won’t I? It’s a pretty odd place to build a golf course. In the end I decided, Bugger it, I will do it. This is probably the one chance in your life you’ve got of building something that will be in the World’s Top 100.

So I went to Andrew Purchase and said, “What do you want to do with this?” And he said, “I want to sell it to you.” We agreed on a price in about 10 minutes. Literally. Then the hard work started.

What was the selection process for choosing a course architect to design Cape Wickham?

So I put a team together of Andrew Purchase for construction, an irrigation guy and we also needed a superintendent to manage the grass growing. Darius was helping me. Ten years ago Darius was primarily a golf-course author with an obsession for golf-course design plus an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of various golf holes around the world. He and I felt we needed a course designer from America – and this is the critical point – I needed a known name in the US because world rankings are very New York-centric. Whether you like it or not, if you don’t have an American designer, you’re starting behind the eight-ball to get world recognition.

We had a look around and it was decided this younger guy called Mike DeVries was potentially a bit of an up-and-comer. We talked to him and he desperately wanted to do the job – because naturally an architect wants to work on wonderful land.

Concurrently, I was talking to Bill Coore [of Coore Crenshaw]. I think I made a terrible error. I sat for possibly two hours with Bill on the deck at my beach house in Flinders. I really enjoyed his company and liked him very much. We talked about what I wanted to do. Then I said to Bill, “How much would you charge for this?”

The fee was substantial.

I went “OK. Now Bill, I’m going to want to have an input if we’re going to spend that sort of money with you.” And there was silence for about two minutes and then he said, “No.”

Then I said, “Bill, that’s impossible. I cannot spend that sort of money with you and not want to talk to you, and sort of agree with you about what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it. And query you.”

And he said, “Well, it’s going to be my course.”

But I realised later – because he’s a really lovely guy – he was just making a position statement. If I had proven that I knew a bit about what I was talking about and worth listening to, we would’ve got on fine. I regret it because he is a great architect.

Who was responsible for the routing of Cape Wickham?

So we ended up with Mike DeVries. Mike came out to Australia from Michigan. He spent a month there on King Island looking at potential layouts. The problem with laying out an 18-hole course at Wickham was that there were at least 100 terrific golf holes. And probably 10 different routings for the golf course you could have. At least 10, maybe more.

This is the delicious thing about a course like this: there’s no right answer. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle. If you put in that hole because it’s gorgeous, you can’t fit in the other equally gorgeous hole. We wanted to make a course that was walkable and one hole that fed into another. We weren’t going to have 500-metre walks between tees and greens.

Anyway, Mike put together a routing that was good, but it changed considerably in the end with input from Darius and me… There’s always in these things, an element of disagreement. Routing a course, architects would say it’s their skill, but I don’t entirely agree with that. Darius and I are as competent for routing a golf course as somebody else. Once you’ve set your rules – let’s say, for example, where is the first hole going to be or will there be returning nines – it becomes easier. Cape Wickham was hard because there were so many choices and that meant compromises all the way along.

You mentioned Andrew Purchase was responsible for identifying the site on which Cape Wickham was built. Could you expand upon that?

Andrew Purchase from Programmed Turnpoint was the guy that found the land and bought it. I bought it from him. I paid $2 million for it, subject to a few conditions.

Andrew didn’t have enough land in my opinion. We needed to get some extra land from the neighbouring farmer. And we had to get approvals from the Tasmanian Government so we could put about eight greens on the foreshore, right on the coast. Cape Wickham is remote, and it seemed unlikely we could get enough visiting golfers unless we did something genuinely different. And that meant greens right on the water – right on Bass Strait. That’s why it’s so rare and different.

So $2 million was subject to getting an extra 100 acres and getting the approval from the Tassie government. That was a bit of a pain in the neck, but we got there in the end.

How much did you pay for that extra 100 acres?

Andrew Purchase had to pay for that. That was part of the deal. The farmer told him he could have it for a song because it was in sand dunes. When he got wind that Andrew needed it, then he held him to ransom. But that’s another matter. I won’t tell you what occurred, but it was pretty outrageous.

The battle with the Tasmanian Government took maybe six to nine months. It wasn’t the government, it was the [Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania] who didn’t want us to build a golf course on the site and came up with these bizarre statements. For example, if we had any lighting on the course it had to point to the ground in case the mutton birds flew into buildings. It was such errant nonsense. The biggest lighthouse in the southern hemisphere was on our boundary. And there was no evidence of dead mutton birds on the ground around the lighthouse. This was the irrational level of these people. They did whatever suited them to try to stop it. They weren’t interested in golf or any development whatever. The Tasmanian Government wanted the course, but their department was running their own set of rules.

We got there in the end. But not before I threatened and, in fact, started taking machinery off King Island. I actually transported some machinery back to Victoria, which made people realise I was absolutely serious: “You either do this or you don’t.” Anyway, we got what we needed… It’s very hard to deal with people when they have the authority and they’re zealots. I can say that now because I’m not involved [anymore with Cape Wickham Links].

Who was responsible for the routing of Cape Wickham? Mike DeVries or Darius Oliver?

I get asked that question a lot of times. I’ll go 40-40-20 [percent]. I think I was about 20.

Who was responsible for designing the individual holes at Cape Wickham – the tees, fairways, greens and bunkers?

It’s pretty simple. Mike DeVries did basically the first three, overall, maybe four holes. There were differences with Mike and the construction crew, and with Mike and myself. In the end I said, “Mike, here’s your fee in full. We’re going to leave it now to Darius. You can stay involved but more at a distance.”

He was very strong-minded. I guess, so am I. But you’ve got to compromise on stuff. He wasn’t very good at compromising… Mike was building a course for Mike and for scratch golfers. I was building a course for me and all golfers – scratch and 25-markers. It’s harder to do, by the way. Much harder. You’ve got to make a course playable for the higher markers. Because after all, they’re your bread and butter. They’re the ones who make it work commercially.

I’ll give you a good example. His view was: “This course is going to be too good to have golf carts on it.” And I said, “Well, it’s going to be good, but it will have golf carts.” And we had a total impasse over it.

The bulk of people who come to Cape Wickham are going to be over age 50 and they’ve got the resources to come down here. Knowing what golfers are like – blokes going away on a golf holiday – after the first day they’ve had a big night and before long they want a cart. That’s just the reality. And if you didn’t have carts, I think you hurt your market. You could say probably fewer people would be able to enjoy it.

A path for a golf cart is not a big deal. It can be done sensitively. I don’t think we’ve affected the image of it at all. But he really felt it had to be a totally traditional golf course. I simply disagreed.

Let’s talk about Darius Oliver’s role once he took over from Mike DeVries.

Well, he took over when we were building the par-3 17th green and going nowhere. Andrew Purchase would ring me and say, “This is hopeless. We’re not going anywhere. We’ve been on this green for 10 days and nothing’s happened.”

We just had to say to Darius: “You take it over.” Darius did, and I reckon he did the detailed design work for the guts of the course. I got involved in the routing. I don’t claim too much involvement in each green. That’s not something I’m very good at doing.

But Darius did it with no practical experience but with lots of support from Turnpoint. That’s what impressed me. He used to talk to me: “Why don’t we do this?” “How about we do this?” We’d talk about things. We spent hours, for example, working out what the 10th green would look like. And hours, frankly, on every hole. I don’t make a claim to be too involved in all of that stuff, beyond being a sounding board.

In 2021, Golf Magazine in the US came out and gave Mike DeVries sole design credit for Cape Wickham.

It was unfair to Darius, and it was untrue and misleading. I made an arrangement with Mike DeVries: “I’m going to pay you out in full on the condition that this will be a joint collaboration between you and Darius publicly.” And he agreed to that. He failed to honour the agreement.

So from a marketing perspective, how important was it to have a distinguished American golf-course architect involved with Cape Wickham?

My gut feeling was it was very important because this was a world-class site. I’m not suggesting Americans are better designers, merely that unless you had an American name involved, it was very hard for you to be rated appropriately.

For example, I used Tony Cashmore at The Dunes. I always thought it was given a bit of a rough deal. The same course by a famous name would have rated higher. It just influences the perspective of the so-called ‘raters’.

How much money did you put into Cape Wickham?

I’m not going to tell you that. I did it because I wanted to. Then I sold it.

I sold it because I just found operating on King Island inordinately difficult, or operating where we were on King Island – much more difficult than I had hoped it would be. It’s certainly expensive, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was logistics. For example, if the chef called in sick, you had no one to cook the food. You had to dig up someone from a very small population base [approximately 1,500 residents live on King Island] to drive 40 kilometres to help you out. That is tough. Staffing was a bit of a nightmare. We ended up with staff mainly from Victoria. That was the problem: the staffing issues. Golfers were paying 150 bucks for a round of golf. For $150 they expect certain things to happen and that was easier said than done.

The fun had been building it. I’ve had my fun and we got a great rating. At one stage, Golf Digest [USA] had us 24 in the world… It was making a profit and that was also important.

It’s been reported you sold Wickham in 2017 for almost $16 million.

I sold it to a Vietnamese group. I never could quite work out why they bought it. And unfortunately, they didn’t want to spend any money on it… They appear to have run it on a shoestring. That’s the way they did it. I understand it’s now for sale.

It needs another course to give it critical mass. It needs a proper clubhouse. It needs good accommodation and it needs staff quarters. And it needs its own little runway and private airport. They’re all doable. But it’s all serious money.

Is there anything else you would like to say about the design controversy at Cape Wickham?

Well, it shouldn’t have happened. It needn’t have happened. And it’s disappointing. But the truth of the matter is they were both involved. But I think Darius played the more vital role. Not only was he the one that convinced me to come and buy it, he was the one that did the bulk of the detailed design work. He certainly also had a great deal of input into the course routing, which is pretty important.

The business in golf-course architecture is somewhat cut-throat. Everyone claims to be a disciple of Alister Mackenzie and da, da-da, da-da. There’s a lot of clichés. But in the end, I needed someone I can work with comfortably because – as an owner – I was very different to the average golf-course committee. Committees tend to, I think, hand over to the architect and wash their hands of what’s going on. Whereas I don’t work that way.

So DeVries had problems because he couldn’t just do what he wanted to do, he had to deal with me as well. I gave you that little story about the golf carts as being an example. In the end, it’s my money and I call the shots on important issues.

I expect consultation. No more than that. I don’t try to make any or all the decisions. But some things are – in my opinion – my call. Darius understood that. Probably Mike didn’t.

But why he couldn’t stick to the arrangement? I guess egos are egos.

You mentioned the future of Cape Wickham. I take it you would like to see someone come in with deep pockets and passion?

I’ve always felt that. I’ll say this – he won’t mind, I’m sure – Tom Doak came down, virtually begging me to build the second course. There’s great land north of the lighthouse. I said to Tom: “But why would you want to build a second course when you probably will rank second?”

And he said, “That’s why I want to do it. Because I think I can do something better. This land’s just as good.”

And he’s probably right. 

When’s the best time to visit King Island for golf?

Making the trek to King Island is well worth the effort given Cape Wickham and Ocean Dunes are both ranked inside the first 15 of Australia’s Top 100 Golf Courses. But given the somewhat fickle nature of weather off Bass Strait, it’s important to time the visit for that bucket-list experience.

Cape Wickham developer and former owner Duncan Andrews selects February and March as the ideal time to visit because the weather is most conducive to golf: “I would say November through to Easter, roughly. You can go into May. November through May, and within that February and March.

“If I did it again, I know what I’d do. I’d only open it for six months of the year because in the winter months it just gets a bit too windy. Too many days when it’s not pleasant enough.

“There are plenty of courses around the world that are only open for part of the year. Golfers would simply have to adjust their schedule to do it. It’s a bit like going snow skiing. You can’t go to Perisher or Mount Buller when it suits you. It’s when you get a window.”

The 18-hole green fee at Wickham is $225 ($180 in low season), however visitors can play unlimited golf for $275 ($220). Cape Wickham offers on-site accommodation in 16 villa-style rooms. The standard rate for a king or twin room is $280.

For 18 holes at Ocean Dunes, the green fee is $205 ($160 low season) while for unlimited golf it’s $250 ($200). A variety of accommodation is available within and around the township of Currie.

Daily flights to King Island are from Burnie (Wynyard), Launceston, Hobart and Melbourne. Visit kingisland.org.au for more information.

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