By Rob Willis
ON the back of an Australian golfing publication coming out with its biannual rankings of Australia’s best courses, this month our esteemed panel of journalists were given the task of rating their favourites – not necessarily those courses they consider to be our country’s best.
The reason for the slight tweak in the assignment had something to do with the fact our group doesn’t get out that much these days, rather they happily prefer spending most of their spare time playing their golf close to home. That makes it difficult to give an educated opinion on which courses might be ‘better’ than the others.
Peter Owen, a Sunshine Coast local, loves his home club at Maroochy River and, without putting words in his mouth or for that matter into his column, Victorian Michael Davis apparently prefers to venture down to the Mornington Peninsula than to take to the fairways of one of the many stunning private courses on the Melbourne sandbelt. Mick Court has ventured far and wide during his golfing travels, but the truth be known he is a very parochial New South Welshman. And Larry? Well, he’s just Larry! Who could predict what might float his boat when it comes to his golfing preferences.
That being the case, their responses were always likely to be interesting and varied. Beauty, or in this instance golfing enjoyment and preference, is in the eye of the beholder.
Rather than sing the praises of his home track, the relatively new but impressive Maroochy River, if Peter had one game left in him, he expressed he would venture back to his golfing beginnings and to a public course in Melbourne.
Our Victorian Michael, admits his best days on the course are possibly behind him, nominating the relatively modest Eagle Ridge on the Peninsula as his favourite. Of course, there is no surprise if NSW Michael had his choice he would be happy to venture across town from his north-west Sydney home to the magnificent NSW Golf Club to play out the rest of his golfing days.
And as we thought – surprise, surprise – Larry was alerted to Port Fairy Golf Club while enjoying a few beverages at a Warrnambool pub with his subsequent golfing experience, and the quality of the seaside layout, forever etched in his memory.
For me, the course I would have rated my favourite was New Brighton, now Brighton Lakes, which doesn’t really exist in the form I most fondly remember due to redevelopment and course changes. Perhaps not quite as it once was … and even it its heyday may never have rated in any list of top 100s, but it was my happy golfing home for many a year.
However, the point to this editorial, or the moral to the story, is highlighting the difficult process of rating one course above another.
Design, conditioning, setting and location, the challenge and variety of holes, perhaps uniqueness, just some of the factors to consider in making a rating or offering an assessment.
But how much does a panelist take into account their personal experience at a particular venue?
Who doesn’t love a course where the holes tiptoe spectacularly along a coastal cliff face, until we’ve deposited two or three balls into said ocean. Or putting on perfectly presented surfaces rolling as fast as a linoleum floor, at least before half a dozen three-putts have crushed any confidence you may have had.
I’ve never played East and West Royal Melbourne separately, only the composite tournament course during my days as a touring professional. And for whatever reason, Royal was a course I never warmed to, always struggling to produce my best golf. Take me down the road to Kingston Heath, Victoria or Huntingdale and no problem, enjoyed them, played okay, but Royal was a different beast. As a result, if I had ever been asked to sit on a panel rating our best courses, I might have found a few to sit ahead of Royal Melbourne.
Does the golfer who travels to Tasmania to tackle Cape Wickham or Barnbougle have their opinion swayed by whether or not the wind is whipping across the course at a gale force, or if they tee it up on a day where the sun is shining and the weather gods are looking after them?
Good, better, best golf courses are a great talking point, but a very subjective topic.
I say, enjoy them all, play as many different courses as possible and make your own mind up. Enjoy your home course and keep close the best memories from days gone by.
We always love to hear from our readers. So, which course is your favourite? And all the better if it is one which sits towards the pointy end of a rankings list, but just as good if you wouldn’t swap it for your home track around the corner and the club you call home.
We’ve declared our favourites. Where are yours?
Email: rob@insidegolf.com.au
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