Sydney....getting better, but still a bit of a wilderness for world class golf (with one obvious exception)

The journey continues to the most populous city on this gargantuan island continent

Sydney is a place very dear to my heart, however, from a golfing perspective it can and must do better, recent renovations and improvements means it is trying though…. with the obvious exception of Mayor Clover Moore who appears to want to turn the historic municipal Moore Park Golf Course into a bloody park or something #handsoffclover #munigolfmatters #integration #yes #annihilation #notonyournelly.

Knowing that I would spend some time at Royal Sydney I secured a great Airbnb in North Bondi which meant a cruisey stroll down the hill to Rose Bay was assured, coming back up the hill however, in the Eastern Suburbs humidity, was an altogether different matter.

Royal Sydney Golf Club

“I thought I was going to collapse walking back up that hill”

As always, the location of Royal Sydney Golf Club at Rose Bay never fails to delight...the grandeur and scale of the clubhouse, the proximity to the Sydney Central Business District and the attention to detail in the presentation of the golf course. I have visited here a number of times and have always felt the experience somewhat austere and aloof.

The previous comment must be contextualised, in that previously I did not have the opportunity to interact with any of the members directly. I can confirm that when you do, the experience changes dramatically for the better.

Once upon a time this site was the preserve of the flora and fauna that you would expect in this part of Australia. Banksia scrub (NSW heathland grasses and plant matter for all non Aussies out there) and indigenous scribbly gums abounded no doubt.

When european settlers finally got around to golfing pursuits in Sydney circa 1893, they found a sand based site at Rose Bay, perfect for golf, free draining and bereft of anything other than what nature intended.

The formative days of RSGC are linked to, what in hindsight must cause sleepness nights to members of the club who understand the historical importance of the dynasty creating two month trip that Dr Alistair MacKenzie made to Australia in 1926.

The letter below details an invitation to RSGC to consider retaining Dr Mac’s services to consult on the course, history will show that in declining this offer they missed a pretty significant boat.

The letter of invitation that Royal Melbourne sent to Royal Sydney offering to subcontract (50/50 deal Dr Mac/RM) the great mans services

Trees should be part of the scenery, not part of the stage - Harry S. Colt, Course Designer (arguably the first professional golf course architect)

The best forms of golf have always and indeed always will be played around hazards on the ground, not in the air.

With the advent of colour tv in the 1960’s many clubs around the world initiated ill-informed and injudicious tree planting programs seeking to beautify their surroundings (non indigenous trees, placed in the wrong places create a stilted type of golf that can often be deleterious to the optimum conditions for growing grass).

Royal Sydney was no different, an arsenal of gums from QLD, VIC and WA were introduced and have choked the playing corridors removing much of the underlying strategy.

The club is currently (January 2022) waiting on a long overdue verdict from the Woollahra local council regarding permiting to remove a significant number of non-indigenous gum trees. In addition to the above, a Gill Hanse course redesign will see the current iteration revised in creating more interesting and fun golf for members and guests to enjoy.

This plan has met significant resistance from both local residents and the environmental lobby despite the plan also detailing the re-planting of over 700 indigenous tree specimens and Harley Kruse’s extensive re-vegetation plan in an effort to return native areas to the condition that the first fleet would have encountered when they first arrived in New South Wales. The conversation continues....,

I was in attendance twice during my sojourn Sydneyside: Firstly to figure out how to correctly chip and pitch off the blasted Santa Anna Couch, which confounded me so on the Melbourne Sandbelt.

The second time, to get a final look at the existing layout prior to the bulldozers getting stuck into the site as the precursor for the emergence of the new Gill Hanse-designed layout. Without a permit the big machinery has yet to crank into gear as 2022 begins.

Please see the image below for routing of the proposed new and improved RSGC. This will ensure that this grand old lady of Australian golf can reestablish itself as one of the standout golf clubs in the greater Sydney area and beyond, rediscovering and improving on some of what once existed at Rose Bay.

St. Michael’s Golf Club

“What are you doing wearing the Queens Crest in the Catholic Club in Sydney?”

This was not my first visit to Little Bay, having graced its fairways on many an occasion while resident in Sydney some years ago. It was great to see the course conditioning much improved from what I remember.

However, greenness and good conditioning is unfortunately not a substitute for good routing and considered design.

Hmmmm! Lovely hurling

I am much indebted to my mates Seamus and John for arranging the excursion and for inviting the course convenor Derek to join us. The round was mainly notable for the fact that I saw the only snake of my antipodean adventure, a bush dwelling red-bellied black snake, basking beside the 17th fairway.

St Michael’s is a step below the main event on offer at La Perouse, however it represents very good value and is eminently playable, sharing some of the fine vistas that are available over the fence at NSWGC.

You just cant help feel that although some aggressive bush clearing has been completed, the site does miss a trick with some relatively uninspired routing and agronomic legacy issues (the choice of non native kikuyu grassing - a weed for all intents and purposes) which practically eliminates the ground game.

Overly penal landing areas, drives through chutes of bush and seemingly out of control vegetation complete an admittedly subjective assessment.

The par 3 5th with an overly awkward teeshot

The par threes are a bit out of kilter and I’m really not a huge fan of the 2nd or indeed the 5th, both of which, it may be argued, are somewhat contrived.

Bar that, I had a great day (I’ve just re-read that, I hope my friends understand it’s nothing personal). I don’t expect that the club will be inviting me back any time soon!

At the time of my visit the course was about to host the New South Wales Men’s and Women’s Amateur Championships. As you might imagine St Michaels was presented as you would expect for a course holding a tourney of that magnitude.

My mates thought very highly of the place and I appreciate the pride that one feels for your home course, but suggesting that it was better than NSW was rather outlandish! You play golf on grass, not on colour.

The 8th hole promises much from the tee box

St. Michael’s is undoubtedly the second-best course in an area replete with average public access or semi private facilities that have some modicum of ocean frontage. This is unfortunate, as it is on a relatively good site with some topographical movement that is just not maximised to its full potential. It plainly isn’t part of the same conversation as NSW…. sorry to burst your bubble boys.

It’s probably unfair to compare the two, however, it lacks both that extra bit of variety, in the questions it asks and the comparative strategic factor that is offered in spades next door. I’m probably being a wee bit too critical...the golfing snob in me perhaps or the “West Brit” as my republican friend might say.

Notwithstanding the above, if you’re looking for big views and a cooling breeze you could do an awful lot worse than to take a trip out the Anzac Highway to the oasis that is St. Michael’s.

As an aside, I recently (September 2021) spoke to one of the aforementioned mates, who finally had occasion to tee it up at NSWGC, he was effusive in his praise for the worldy interloper over the fence and I think sees the error in his former pronouncement…. there is a god after all :).

Bonnie Doon Golf Club

“Marmite and holes that never were.”

I was very fortunate to be introduced to an esteemed Bonnie Doon and NSWGC member, Greg Hall, through a mutual friend in Adelaide. Thankfully for me, Portsmouth native Greg had just begun a six-month sabbatical in a quest to reach scratch. He was to be my guide through two days at Bonnie Doon with New South Wales GC sandwiched in the middle. I could not have asked for a better host!

Despite incorrectly addressing him as Geoff at one point (it happens to the best of us….right!?) we became firm friends and he has an open invitation to visit me in the Northern Hemisphere, whenever his drive to scratch allows it over the coming months.

Update….during 2021 Greg reached his goal of hitting his target…well done big lad!

He is also currently (January 2022) planning a golfing trip to the UK and Ireland for the northern hemisphere summer, I look forward to reciprocating his efforts for me Sydneyside.

‘The Doon’ is a fantastic members’ course that has been augmented through the involvement of the design consultants OCM (formerly OCCM), with Mike Cocking the lead designer on the project.

There are plenty of template holes to get stuck into, a nod to the origins of the game, surely Mr. Clayton had some influence here also with significant nods in the direction of Kingston Heath (13th green), Hoylake (14th tee shot), Riviera (14th green) and Augusta (14th green also). Bonnie Doon is a true masterpiece with thrills, spills and undulation a-plenty on a relatively compact site. Take a bow O(C)CM...you deserve it.

The variety that pervades throughout is an absolute delight with the real standouts holes being those of the half par varietal, where punchbowls await to play havoc or harmony. I vividly remember the vast majority of holes, that’s never a bad complaint.

Having had the benefit of playing 50 holes here, over two days, it is a real grower that gets better the more you play it.

A great welcome awaits you from the boys in the pro shop, Dennise Bonnie the teaching pro and indeed from the few members that I met while sheltering from the insane temperatures that built throughout my last day in Sydney.

If you are golfing in Sydney, Bonnie Doon GC must go on your itinerary.

New South Wales Golf Club

“I was hot and just went down there for a swim mid round to cool off.”

It’s always a delight to get a game at La Perouse and even better still to be facilitated as a members’ guest. This visit was a tale of two halves, with the morning competition showing us this expansive cliff top beauty, laid bare, without the merest zephyr of a breeze. I believe that Peter Lonard posted -9 that very morning...unfortunately I wasn’t quite able to match his endeavours.

The afternoon’s spin around the coastal holes presented a completely different challenge, with a constant NSWGC gale of circa 45kph. I even managed to play the relief par three, which was in play during the renovations and repositioning of the iconic 6th green (thanks Greg!).

The money shot (in more ways than one) 5th hole, approach shot from top of the hill

Both the mid and post-round experience at New South Wales is sublime, with a strictly-brisk 12 minutes to enjoy the offerings of the halfway house and then a cheese board with assorted crackers and fruit-flavoured water to sustain your post-round conflabs.

The members are “bonzer” too, not quite what you would expect if you listen to some of their near golfing neighbours. A big shout-out to both Noel Ratcliffe the ex-pro golfer and octogenarian David Furlong (who’d pass for 60) who regaled me with great stories and anecdotes mid-visit.

Mr. Goffin now driving… 6th tee shot to newly repositioned green

The real delight at NSW is to be found on the truly mind-blowing coastal holes that bob and weave through offset and funnelled fairways, directing you hither and thither around the northern shore of Botany Bay. I’m glad to report that I finally managed to birdie the iconic 5th hole that cascades down to the glorious Pacific Ocean.

Tom Doak’s repositioned 6th green, which was moved at the behest of Botany Bay local authority due to the public walkway that skirts the boundary between holes 5 and 6, is no easier to find than its Eric Apperly-designed predecessor.

Word of warning, often on a sunny Summer’s day you can find people sunbathing on the ledge directly beneath the green, these hardy souls are apparently completely oblivious to the thinned tee shot from the tee perched upon the rocky promontory behind the 5th green.

On the day of my visit (January 2020) the effects of the NSW drought were evident in the yellowy tinged rough that presented itself. Despite what onlookers over the fence at St. Michael’s suggested, I felt it gave the Santa Anna couch ground conditions a welcome “linksy feel.”

Tom Doak is currently engaged in a process of suggesting further enhancements and potential reviion to some of the original MacKenzie and Apperly playing corridors, while possibly amending the Norman and Harrison work on the 1st and 18th, which the members appear none-too-keen on. 

If you like clifftop seaside golf, then New South Wales should be right at the top of your list.

Check out this video link for a birds eye introduction to NSWGC.  

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