On Par – All about golf in Australia

The US Open tees off shortly at Merion Golf Club, near Philadephia, Pennsylvania.   This is the fifth US Open hosted by the Club, previous winners including Hogan, Trevino and most recently Australia’s own David Graham in 1981.  One of the unique features of the course are the use of red wicker baskets on top of the pins instead of flags.   The baskets have been used for almost 100 years on the course.   Legend has it that course designer Hugh Wilson, was inspired by the wicker lunch baskets that Scottish shepherds used.  Why Wilson chose baskets instead of the simple flag is still a mystery but its reasoned that he believed the baskets could be seen from any angle on the hole, and provided an additional challenge by removing the guide to the direction of the wind.  One quirky local rule is if a ball happens to embed in the basket, the player can remove the ball and place on the edge of the hole for a tap in.

The baskets have become an iconic element to the Merion layout which features highly in the top courses in the world and received accolades from Jack Nicklaus - ”Acre for acre, it may be the best test of golf in the world.”

With the amount of rain that Merion has had over the last few days, the wicker baskets may be required to act as buoys to indicate where the greens are!

Official US Open Website

Adam Scott won the Masters.  An Australian has won the Masters.  For the first time in 77 years, a golfer from the land down under is wearing the Green Jacket.

Australians have historically played well at Augusta, the conditions often suit the Aussies, and there have been no shortage of challengers.  But an evil golfing demon has shadowed the Australians that walked Augusta’s lush green fairways for 77 years.   That golfing demon was at its worst for the Great White Shark.  Greg Norman had the perfect game for Augusta, he looked at home, and he would have looked fine in a Green Jacket.  Norman finished in the top 5 of the Masters eight times, some he lost through poor shots but it was the Larry Mize chip in the 1987 Masters that was the cruelest.  That golfing demon was a right bastard.

But fast forward to the mid way point of the 2013 US Masters where four Australians were right in contention.  The golfing demon was fading, could this be the year.  Marc Leishman, Jason Day, Adam Scott and John Senden were owning the Augusta fairways.  Now fast forward to the back nine on Sunday, after some amazing golf, Jason Day had hit the top of the leaderboard and fallen back, Marc Leishman has fought valiantly but was out of contention.  Adam Scott was playing flawless golf tee to green with Angel Cabrera posing the biggest threat.

With Cabrera and Scott tied at the top of the leaderboard, Adam Scott holed a putt on 18 that, at least for a short time, won the Masters.  Australia celebrated, surely, this time!  But the demon wasnt dead yet, Angel Cabrera played a simply amazing approach to 18 and sunk the short putt, scores tied again.  A playoff.

The demons of Masters past tried on the first playoff hole, Angel’s chip from off the green was agonisingly close to dropping, but both made par.   Then on the second playoff hole, two impressive approaches, Angel’s birdie putt burnt the edge but stayed out.  And then the moment that shook Australia…… Adam Scott’s birdie putt went in, the golfing demons were gone, Adam Scott won the Masters!  A great final round, a great winner, Great Scott

Watch out behind you Tiger, Australians are challenging for a Green Jacket!

The US Masters at Augusta has reached the halfway point already.  Hopes of that ellusive Australian Green Jacket rested with just four Australians teeing it up in this years event.   And it was Warrnambools own Marc Leishman who lead the charge on Day One heading the leaderboard with an impressive 66.  The other Australians, Jason Day, Adam Scott and John Senden were also well in the hunt.

Day two also had a Down Under inspired leaderboard with Jason Day shooting a 68 to lead at the halfway point (-6).  Marc Leishman is only one shot back (-5), Adam Scott is on 3 under, John Senden on 2 under.

Also in the running is the evergreen, ever young Fred Couples, and that man called Tiger who many seem to have already named as this years Champion.   There are four Aussies who are going to have a big say in that, and maybe, just maybe, this is the year that an Australian will wear that Green Jacket.

The Forest Resort – Creswick

Golfers can be a hardy bunch, they are often seen walking the course on sweltering summer days, or in torrential rain, even through fog and icy winters mornings.  But golfers dont mind the odd indulgent escape once in a while, a fine red wine, gourmet dining, five star accommodation and even the occasional spa treatment!

Victoria has an abundance of world class restaurants, wineries, gourmet produce and unique accommodation, and these can be combined with golf for the ultimate indulgent golf retreat.   Here are some of the Indulgent golf experiences that Victoria has to offer.

Mornington Peninsula
With some of the best golf courses in Australia, laid out across natural links landscape, Mornington Peninsula is already a golf destination.  Combine courses including the National, Moonah Links, St Andrews Beach, The Dunes and Portsea Golf Clubs with the regions wineries, local produce and boutique food experiences and you have an indulgent golf weekend.   Peppers Resort at Moonah Links provides the resort experience with two championship layouts, luxury accommodation complete with private putting green, restaurant and the Endota Spa.

Torquay – The Sands
West of Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road provides one of Australia’s iconic coastal drives.  The road winds along seaside cliffs past the 12 Apostles and features more links style golf including Barwon Heads, 13th Beach and Port Fairy.  For an indulgent golf experience, stay at the Peppers Resort at the Sands in Torquay, featuring a Stuart Appleby designed 18 hole layout.

Creswick – The Forest Resort
Daylesford and Hepburn Springs is the Spa capital of Victoria, and there is no shortage of gourmet produce, cafes, and restaurants.  Not far away, the Forest Resort at Creswick features a Cashmore designed golf course in a native bushland setting.

Healesville – RACV Country Club
Yarra Valley – Heritage Golf & Country Club
Only an hour from Melbourne, the Yarra Valley has an abundance of wineries, breweries, farm produce and locally made food experiences.  The RACV Country Club in Healesville includes resort and spa with a Mike Clayton designed championship golf course.   The Heritage Golf & Country Club has two golf courses, including a Jack Nicklaus signature layout, with resort accommodation and a day spa.

Golf does mix very well with wine, food and good company, give Indulgent Golf a try!

The Golf Boys aka Bubba Watson, Ben Crane, Hunter Mahan and Rickie Fowler are back. Golf Boys “2.Oh” is the latest ‘rap’ epic from the four touring PGA golfers. Not sure that its going to knock Macklemore out of the charts but its fun, its funky and it shows another side of professional golfers who are often only seen completely focused on the course. These guys are obviously enjoying some time off, totes, foshiz!

Popular online commentary website, Mashable has recently posted a story, ”Kangaroos invade Australian Golf Course”,  about a fantastic pic of Kangaroos taking over the fairways during the Australian Womens Open at Royal Canberra.  The picture has gone viral across the internet showing the world what many Australian golfers are quite used to, sharing the fairways with these unique mammals.   Anglesea Golf Course on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road has shared its fairways with a large troop of Kangaroos for many years, the kangaroos laze around casually watching the golf providing a uniquely Australian experience.   Other golf courses with large kangaroo populations include:

• Royal Canberra, ACT
• Growling Frog Golf Course, Melbourne
• Yarrambat Park Golf Course, Melbourne
• Kangaroo Valley Golf Course, NSW  (Of course!)
• Barnbougle Dunes & Lost Farm, Tasmania (Wallabies are common)
• Any other suggestions?…..

Popular misconceptions from overseas have kangaroos roaming the city streets in Australia, and whilst this is an urban myth, they definitely roam our golf fairways.

Viral Pic – Kangaroos take over the fairways at Royal Canberra

Kangaroos at the Growling Frog Golf Course, Melbourne

Kangaroos are a key feature of the Anglesea Golf Course on the Great Ocean Road

Located near Bridport on the North East Coast of Tasmania, Barnbougle Dunes and Lost Farm Golf Courses have quickly become a world golfing destination.  With both courses ranked in the Top 100 world courses, and with Australia’s top 10 best courses, Barnbougle offers public access to the type of course that most often is behind a Members Only sign.

Getting There

Barnbougle is about an hours drive east of Launceston, so most golfers will access the course having flown into Launceston Airport, and either hire a car, or transfer with Rexy’s bus transfers.  The other option is a charter flight with Vortex Air, their 8 seater planes leave from Moorabin Airport in Melbourne and land next to the second fairway at Barnbougle Dunes.

Which course is better?

Previously Ive been unable to identify a favourite of the two courses, my compromise has been a composite course featuring my favourite holes from both layouts.   Having played the two courses over three trips now, discussing the merits of both with other golfers and further thought, I now rank Barnbougle Dunes slightly higher than Lost Farm.

Barnbougle Dunes is a golfers golf course, the layout glides effortlessly through the terrain and sand dunes and challenges can range from the sometimes brutal such as the long 8th hole, to subtle such as the short yet very challenging 4th and 12th holes.  The layout works the prevailing breeze perfectly, 10 holes play into the wind, 8 holes have the wind in favour.
Not to take anything away from Lost Farm, the Farm has some simply stunning holes, the stretch through 4 to 8 and 12 to 18 is golf at its best.  Lost Farm is more fun to play, fairways are slightly more generous and approaches a little more forgiving.   And the two courses go together hand in hand perfectly, dont plan to play one without the other!

The Relaxed Barnbougle Experience

One of the best elements of the Barnbougle golf experience is the relaxed and unpretentious atmosphere.  From the comfortable, yet understated Barnbougle Dunes clubhouse to the gravel paths and minimal signage.  There is no strict clothes policy and no captains car park spaces.  Great meals are served at the restaurants at Barnbougle Dunes and Lost Farm, plus there is a Sports Bar at Lost Farm with pizza.  Staff at both clubhouses are fantastic, service is always excellent.

Stay & Play

Accommodation options range from the excellent cottages at Barnbougle Dunes which offer shared bedrooms for four golfers with balconies overlooking the course and clubhouse, even your own chipping green.  Lost Farm has hotel accommodation and spa as part of the clubhouse facilities, or nearby Bridport has more options ranging from hotels, B&Bs and self contained houses.

Relaxing at Barnbougle Cottages after a great days golf

More Information

• Barnbougle Dunes Website
• Lost Farm Website
• Review of Barnbougle Dunes
• Review of Lost Farm
• Top 100 Australian Golf Courses 2012

Barnbougle Dunes – 18th Hole

I was lucky enough to return to Barnbougle Dunes and Lost Farm Golf courses this month on my third tour of these brilliant World Class layouts on the remote North East Coast of Tasmania.    This time I joined Greeny, the man behind aussiegolfer.net (Do yourself a favour and follow his excellent blog), and his mates Cheese, Peeky, Butter and Leigh.

Greeny sizes up the short but challenging 7th at Barnbougle Dunes

We played Barnbougle Dunes twice and Lost Farm, and whilst I was content with 56 holes over the weekend, the rest of the field played a further 38 holes, an impressive effort indeed!  Barnbougle threw some serious wind conditions at us over the first two days, and whilst its slightly masochistic of me, I felt that such an epic links course is a better challenge and a more ‘authentic’ experience to play with the wind!  I was 10 shots better off playing the holes with the wind than those into the wind!

The Barnbougle experience is a golfers dream, world class golf, good food, drink and mates to share the endless stories with.  Do yourself a favour and book a weekend there!

Tom plays the great 15th hole at Lost Farm, Nice Shorts!

Were the Mayans right?

If the Mayan’s were correct, their calendar points to the end of the world on the 21st December 2012.    So what will golf be like in a post apocalyptic world?  The Royal, Ancient and Undead would need to make significant changes to the rules of golf and golfers will need to adapt to new hazards.

Possible changes to Golf Rules by the Royal, Ancient and Undead following the Apocalypse include:

• Number of clubs will extend from 14 to 17 to allow golfers to carry machetes and medical equipment
• Due to the dangers in searching for a lost ball, the Mayan drop rule will be introduced allowing a lost ball to be re-hit without penalty
• Lava, crevices, fallen buildings and general apocalyptic obstructions will all be treated as GUA (Ground under Apocalypse) and a free drop allowed
• Where a hole has been completely obliterated by tsunami, earthquake etc, a par can be added to the card and proceed to next hole

Changes to the game could include:

• More urban golf courses will open through deserted cities, Royal New York,  Paris Links and Sydney Lakes will all be played through empty city streets
• Dinosaurs could again begin to re-emerge on the golf course (oh wait, thats already happening in Queensland)
• Should the apocalypse bring with it a Zombie outbreak, zombie golfers will have the rights on the first tee

Of course, the Mayan’s werent able to predict their own demise and the end to their whole race, so Im pretty sure that our tee time on the 27th of December will be fine!

In 2009 Queensland tourism ran one of the travel industries most successful campaigns ever – The Best Job in the World.  The “job” was caretaker at Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef for a year.  The campaign is estimated to have generated over $200 million in global publicity and went viral across social media channels.   The success of the campaign has inspired many new versions over the last few years, the latest one is focused on the golfer!

A job in the job site,  Seek.com.au was brought to my attention last night.  Titled “Easily the Coolest Job in Golf” it was a role I was more than interested in from the start.  The job advertisement from Callaway Australia is looking for a golfer to independently test and review Callaway’s new range of golf equipment.  There is no monetary compensation however the successful “candidate” receives a shiny new set of Callaway clubs.

The Job advertisement links through to the Callaway Facebook page which encourages the now engaged golfer to “Like” the page to find out more.   The qualifications include a passion for golf, knowledge of Callaway’s technologies, a requirement to hit a lot of golf balls, ability to review the clubs in an engaging manner, promote Callaway and have good technical golf skills “we’re not looking for Mrs Havercamp from Caddyshack”.  The remuneration package includes $5,000 worth of Callaway equipment and accessories, and a day at the Callaway testing centre in Melbourne, reviewing soon to be released equipment.  To apply, potential employees need to submit a video application.

The campaign will appeal to the fanatical golfer and whilst not receiving the global coverage of the Worlds Greatest Job, this smart campaign will no doubt benefit from social media engagement and PR.   A key objective of the campaign is obviously to build Facebook ‘Likes’ for the Callaway page,  it will be important for Callaway to work on engaging with this group of obsessive compulsive golfers that they attract.

I’ll be submitting my application!!