SELDOM do you get the opportunity to say ‘world-renowned’ about any golf course in this country.
So Cypress Lakes Golf and Country Club in the Hunter Valley is entitled to be blowing their trumpet at the moment.
From a star-studded field including all our major resorts, Cypress Lakes has been named as Australia’s Best Golf Hotel in 2022 in the World Golf Awards.
Naturally it’s something the resort is proud of and should ensure a capacity field of some of Australia’s best male and female professionals when their biggest event of the year, the TPS Hunter Valley, is played there in the last week of February.
It’s an ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and WPGA Tour of Australasia event which will see the top pros competing for the same prize purse, made all the more attractive now that it is being played at one of New South Wales’ premier courses.
An added attraction is that three-time major winner Jan Stephenson and three-time European Tour winner Peter O’Malley will act as co-hosts for The Players Series (TPS) Hunter Valley.
Scaled tees will see men and women compete against each other for a share of the $200,000 prize purse and there are places in the field reserved for our leading amateurs while top juniors will compete for the TPS Junior Series across the weekend rounds.
Cypress Lakes also earns a gold medal rating as one of our best ‘public access’ courses.
It has won so many return golfers and holidaymakers being the only Oaks Hotel chain with its own golf course while also retaining its ranking alongside the best resort courses in Australia.
Business Development Manager at Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort, Cameron Johanson, has used six years of experience at the highly-rated Killara Golf Club in Sydney, to oversee some refreshing changes at Cypress Lakes, since arriving there almost 12 months ago.
“We’re just two hours from Sydney, so people love coming here and making a weekend of it,” he told Inside Golf.
“It’s not too far and not too close for the majority of Sydneysiders.
“The turf surfaces here are good for every golfer and it always a pleasure to be here.
“The clubhouse has been undergoing a refurbishment to keep it fresh.
“Monday to Thursday is traditionally a bit quieter than the other days of the week and is the perfect time for a visit.
“We have a burger and beer deal for $109 from Monday to Thursday and that has been so well received by the golfing public – especially those who just want to have a social round.”
And when you do play golf at Cypress Lakes, you will never leave disappointed.
It may be a cliché, but it’s true when they say you will use every club in the bag and there are places you need to stay away from if you hope to score well around the Steve Smyers-designed layout.
Each tee and green offers stunning panoramic views of the Hunter Valley’s famous vineyards and the surrounding Brokenback Mountain Range.
The championship layout boasts some dramatic fairway shapes and elevation changes, which have become something of a feature of Cypress Lakes.
There are 60 strategically-placed bunkers and generous greens that are usually in superb condition.
The shape and slope of each hole is impressive to say the least and with decent rainfall over the past few months the course now boasts some seriously fast fairways and greens.
Continually ranked in the top 100 in most golf course rankings in Australia, Cypress Lakes has undergone several upgrades since 2016.
And Cypress Lakes has hosted a string of major events over the years and did a healthy stretch as the host of the long-running Jack Newton Celebrity Classic, a charity event which raised money for diabetes, with some of Australia best golfers joining an end-of-year party alongside celebrity golf fanatics, including the late, great Bob Hawke, who loved the event and would get the whole audience up and singing Waltzing Matilda with him every year.
Even now, Cypress Lakes remains the home of the Jack Newton Junior International golf tournament, which sees the resort play host to star juniors from 14 different countries.
Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort has set up some lucrative play-and-stay packages to lure you back to golf [and wine] country.
Regarded as the complete golf getaway for groups or families, Cypress Lakes offers a selection of villa or hotel-style accommodation to suit all needs.
Naturally it has become an ideal destination for holidays and conferences of all sizes.
The Oaks has enough activities to suit and keep everyone happy.
And you have no doubt you are in serious wine country as you drive in.
Surrounded by lush vineyards and cellar doors, this resort and course offers so much more than you’d expect in a golfing getaway.
Happily, most activities are either within the resort or, in the case of some of the finest wineries, just a stroll away.
And when you are done on the course there’s always the Day Spa at Elysia Wellness Retreat to book a massage or treatment to complete the resort experience.
The sprawling resort includes more than just a golf and country club. There are restaurants, bars, pools, tennis courts and a wide variety of self-contained accommodation options.
The thoughtfully-appointed one-, two- and three-bedroom villas are set against a stunning backdrop of the rolling golf greens and spectacular Brokenback Mountains.
Johanson is looking forward to welcoming some of our leading pros back to check out Cypress Lakes again in February.
“Hopefully the weather gods will shine on us this year,” he said
“Last year the weather really hit us hard when we had to cut the event from 72 holes to 54 holes with no pro-am.
“So we have moved the event to February and by bringing it forward we are hoping a few of the really good Aussie women will turn up and play before they head off overseas for their respective tours.
“Last year’s event was super exciting though, with seasoned pro Aaron Pike winning in a playoff, beating young New Zealander Momoka Kobori.”
When Cypress Lakes opened it became the trailblazer for what is now three great courses and the perfect attraction for sportsmen and women who want to mix a bit of golf with their wine tasting.
“We encourage players to come and play all three courses here and not compare – but rather enjoy all three,” said Johanson.
“All three have their own qualities and all are pretty special in their own right.
“We think the more golfers the better here – it’s not other golf venues but other sports that are our main rivals and we want to attract golfers of all levels of ability to come and play here.”
“The TPS is obviously our marquee event for golf and that’s one event we hope will attract more people to the district,” he said.
No doubt the pros will relish the opportunity to tackle one of the most testing par-4s in golf, 12th, which has cemented its place among our most iconic golf holes.
Measuring 444m off the black tees, the hole has actually been made a little easier over the years as even some of the best players found it a supreme test when they faced a carry of more than 200-metres off the very back tees, when the course was stretched out to its maximum for some of the bigger tournaments that have been played there.
Do not fear this par-4 though, as it normally plays just 378-metres from the white tees.
It’s also the perfect time to slow down the golf cart, take a photo or two gazing across the range towards the Watagan Mountains and taking in one of the many great vistas at Cypress Lakes.
Slice your tee shot a little too much and you may wish you were instead having a ‘sleep-in’ at some of the marvellous villas which overlook the previous hole, the par-3 11th above you and to your left.
It might put you in the mood for a glass of wine when you see some of Australia’s best-known wineries in the distance too.
But forget that and try to concentrate on making a par on a hole that has beaten many golfers up over the years … no matter what tees you play from.
The 12th has always been and always will be one of the pivotal holes on your round and certainly one that you will be discussing over that ‘refreshment’ at the end of the day.
So close to Sydney, yet truly a world away, the Hunter Valley is the birthplace of Australian wine with more than 150 premium wine producers holding a very special place in the world wine industry, and Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort has been a part of this historic wine region from the beginning.
For more details and bookings at the resort, telephone 1 300 886 091.
Golf bookings can be made directly on (02) 4993-1899 or email cypressg@theoaksgroup.com.au
