The Dunes

The Dunes, seen as possibly the 3rd best public access course behind Barnbougle and lost farm,  is located in the Mornington Peninsula roughly an hour form Melbourne. It's very decent stretch of land with a few other notable courses nearby. It was a toss up between playing Doak's St. Andrews beach and the Dunes though being the tight scotsman ( having reciprocal rights for the dunes) and more favourable tee times available prior to catching an evening flight back to sydney, it was off to the Dunes. 

If anything it exceeded my expectations and also provided some good material to play around with the camera. It's certainly in the links style with the rolling hills/dunes being fairly similar to what we see back home. It's set back from the sea and doesn't have the view of the tasmanian courses but as a golf course I'd rate it pretty close, only slightly behind the Lost farm.

It begins with a decent and testing dogleg par 4 that runs between a set of dunes. The second is an excellent par 4 with rolling farmland to the left and a great waste area before a tricky elevated green.

The 3rd below was a tricky mid short/range par 3 with a very tough cross wind to negotiate on that day,  there was a nice contrast with the dry rough compared to the lush green and surrounds.

This leads to the 4th that is an absolute cracker of a risk reward short par 4 though I struggled to get a decent shot of it at the time. just over 300 yards, downhill to sloping, sideways ( nicklaus esque) green. at the 230 mark are a set of bunkers that certainly came into play with the 3 club wind that was around at the time.

The 5th continues the fine run and is an initially blind par 5 leading to a  fairway with numerous waste style bunkers running up to the green.

The 9th completes the first loop and ends down at the clubhouse. An interesting dog leg of sorts, down hill with all the room to the right and a huge waste bunker out of site from the tee to the left. ( below)

Highlights on the back 9 would be the run of holes from 12-15.  A quote from Nick Faldo in the strokesaver reveals his appreciation of the par 5 12th that features a great option for the second to bite off as much of another huge waste area ( roughly 150 - 200 yards long) to maximise distance to the green,

Below the view looking back down to the 12th fairway.

13 is an excellent par 3 that really has a scottish feel to it with a green perched below a large dunes and well protected by a couple of bunkers at the front and one at the back. The 14th is very reminiscent of the 10th at Barnbougle with a generous fairway to the right of a huge bunker, although in this version there is a tricky fairway bunker on the driving line that improves the strategic nature of the hole ( and one that Barnbougle would benefit from too).

The 14th bunker to be avoided and green up the hill.

The course then has 2 new holes, developed after the owner purchased some extra land to prevent an apparent housing developement. Not sure what the old ones were like but the current run is very strong.

The 17th is interesting in that there is a plaque on the tee from Tom Watson who described it as 'exquisite' on his visit here. Its roughly 200 yards to an elevated green surrounded at the front by numerous bunkers. I didn't actually rate it that high but here is the green none the less.

after the relative let down of 17 ( for me anyway!) the course finishes with an excellent par 4 finish. lying between the most grand dunes on the course, the bunkerless fairway leads to a very tough elevated green that is not to be missed on the short side.

So overall this was a very good track, really struggling to find a weak hole out there and provided a lot of decent photo opportunities. Lost farm pips it only with the scenery and one or two more 'wow' moments. I'll have to return to Melbourne to sample the more fancied National as well as the sandbelt courses that I felt a bit let down by on a previous visit.

Kauri Cliffs

So its been a little while but I have been able to sample a few old favourites as well as a couple of new additions from the top 100.  Basically this trip ticked off my favourite courses in the southern hemisphere and probably 3 of them appear in my all time top 5 right now.  Kauri Cliffs ( ranked 53 ) was probably the most memorable experience of the lot. If you look at the course on it's own then yes there are better tracks out there but if you take the conditioning, scenery, 'number of memorable holes' and service then it becomes a place to be reckoned with.

After getting in passed the locked gate, a rural drive of a km or so leads you to this very well appointed club house where the pro was waiting to see us.

We arrived on a crisp bright morning and were the first ones there ( and only 1 group of a handful using the course all day). Immediatly you turn round to the front of the clubhouse and are greeted by probably the most scenic putting green and practice range on earth. ( below)

The greens were reading 12 on the stimp that day, with the 2 club wind providing a more than suitable test off the tips! The Pyramids of balls were lined up and untouched on our arrival to what initially, and for most of the day felt like our private golf course.

Dare I say it, not even Castle Stuart could live up to this scenery and Kauri is probably the most photogenic course I have been to thus far.

So after this whets the apetite, the opening few holes are actually pretty conservative. The first is only a mid length straight par 4 but the adrenaline is pumping because you know that a real treat is in store. walking down the fairway you know it certainly isn't overplayed, there is barely a divot and the definition is fantastic. 1st green below.

From here follow the second that plays downhill to a well contoured green and the 3rd that initially seems non-descript but the second shot is an interesting approach with some lone trees ( maybe almost pebble beach/ cypress point like i'm guessing). The 4th is the first world class hole and if a decent drive gets far enough, offers a tempting risk reward strategy to hit the green in 2.

The Stretch of holes from 4-7 in my view is outstanding. The 5th is an excellent par 3 roughly 190 yards demanding a controlled fade to end near the hole, and yes it crosses over an 400 foot gorge which is a bit of a recurring theme here!
Below the 5th green and 6th fairways. The undulations are marked throughout the course and its possibly the toughest walk around a course that I've had, especially that last holes on both 9s but I'm glad we opted against the buggies.Walking I feel is necessary to appreciate a course fully in my opinion though if you have a dodgy knee here you could be in trouble.

The 7th is probably the most memorable par 3 on the course for me, being 220-230 yards from the tips and all carry over the cliff and 2 bunkers. The green is pretty generous to account for this and it is certainly better being long than short..

The 8th is a monster par 5 that leads to a tough uphill par 4 9th that involves a huge carry if taking it from the backs as we did. You then finish at the clubhouse, exhausted after a big climb and ready for a break before hitting the back 9.

10-13 are very different beasts to the rest of the course, playing without the views but each are great holes in their own right. Above is the island green on the 11th.

After this brief reprieve from the awesome views onto the bay of islands it's on to the last 5 holes.. 4 of which run along the edge of the cliffs which purists may argue lessons the 'routing' quality of the course but when you see the views, there is no way on earth you just couldn't build golf holes on them.

I think this is the tee on 15, a par 5 with cliff all the way down the left, and the more you cut off with the drive the better rewarded you are for your second. The green is actually a bit too severe here, one of the few little flaws that do actually exist on the course.

16 and 17 are excellent par 4s that again tempt you to bite off more than you can chew from the cliff edges. 18 is similar to 9, involving a mamouth carry over a gorge to the fairway that then plays all uphill ( very very uphill)

By the end we were absolutely knackered but equally impressed as to call it the most memorable experience of the 6 top 100 venues we got to. Its still not the perfect course, in particular the first couple      of holes are only good, if not great. Similarities do exist between a few holes and the scale of the hills does make walking a struggle at times.

Comparing it to Cape Kidnappers, its very different. Much more manicured and visually spectacular here compared to Doak's minimalist philosophy that appears more rough around the edges, but obviously there were two designers with different philosophies. I would actually rate Kinloch as the best course of the 3 we got to on the North island so I suppose it depends on what you are after. Anyway,  who cares about rankings they are all very special places!