Lake Karrinyup Country Club

Lake Karrinyup, currently home of the Perth International Championship and designed by Mackenzie's companion Alex Russell is a fine course on the outskirts of the city. My overall impression was almost of a "Sunningdale of Australia". Not quite in the same league as Harry Colt's gems but not too far off.

The first is a fantastic opener, in theory a very straight forward short downhill par four but with an angled green that narrows the further back the you go and can lead to very tricky approaches. The second is probably even better, requiring a long drive to get over the crest of a hill ( a common theme here) where you then look down to a very well protected green that's hard to get on with the long iron you will be hitting in.

The quality approach to the second, above.

The Strong start continues with the par 5 third, a great risk reward tee shot with a watery grave all the way along the left and a well positioned bunker for those bailing out to the right.

The 4th is an uphill par four that bends to the left with a well protected green. I fine hole but a style that is possibly repeated too often throughout the round and what I though was one of the small weaknesses of the course.  

The 6th below is another example of the fine bunkering but was one of those uphill, bend to the left par 4s. Still very attractive though..

After the mammoth par 5 7th we get to the signature 8th, all carry par 3 over the lake and a real challenge before the front 9 finished with the uphill 9th ending at the clubhouse.

The 8th hole below.

The back 9 starts in a similar fashion to the front with a straight away par 4 down the hill before a relatively short but uphill par 5 with a central fairway bunker to be avoided.

The 11th is a lovely short par 3 with a postage stamp green that if missed provides a tricky approach over some well contoured slopes and a bunker on the front left.

The 13th is a lovely dogleg short par 4 and the 15th is equally strong, only 300 meters but with great cross bunkering requiring a bit of thought from the tee.

The last 3 holes offer a very stern test when coming home. The 450 yard 16th is followed by the tough but beautiful 220 yard par 3 17th with the well protected green below.

The 18th almost as expected, finishes with a decent uphill par 4 that again tends to the left and finished below the impressive clubhouse. 

Overall it really is a fine course, only let down slightly by some repetition on the par 4s. A strong track..