Going Nuclear

June 04, 2025 by Nicklaus Mills in General

Golf is a game of discourse by variables. Wind or no wind, firm or soft ground, nerves jangling or oddly calm. From the first shot of the day on the first tee, you’re managing a chain reaction. One small thing sets off another: a gust of wind leads to an over swing, which leads to a plugged lie, which leads to a filthy mood, which leads to... well, you know how it goes.

It’s nuclear fission, in the guise of a tweed flat brimmed cap. Each shot splits the atom of your composure. And your job, quietly and nobly, is to avoid total nuclear meltdown.

That’s where the golf architect comes in. They’re not handing you a strategy, that’s your job as the golfer. They’re designing the reactor, tweaking the pressure, setting the temperature, adding just enough tilt and temptation to test the limits of your containment system.

The best courses don’t explode. They smoulder. They build tension without tipping over and that’s what keeps us coming back. The thrill of holding it together, one swing at a time and an endless power for playing the game of Golf.

Ranking the Rankings

April 29, 2025 by Nicklaus Mills in General

With the oversaturation of opinion on the internet, what’s the harm in throwing one more into the void?

Golf course rankings are the fodder of choice for golf tragics like us. Disenfranchised from whatever real priorities we should be tending to, we instead find ourselves doomscrolling through numbered lists, getting irrationally upset that one course is ranked higher than another. A course we’ve played once suddenly becomes a hill we’re prepared to die on. But what does this say about the rankings themselves?

The unfortunate truth is, rankings matter. Economically, they’re critical to the survival of many golf courses. They’re the weird, slightly embarrassing marketing monster we’ve all helped create. Placing courses like Cape Wickham in a compromised position. A stunning, remote golf course built in the middle of Bass Straight, and hanging on to every great ranking it gets as it survives on tourist dollars and list chasing fiend. The very top of the rankings will always be hogged by the usual suspects, basking in the compounding glow of historical success. But at the opposite end of the list, for some of our beloved battlers, it’s a knife fight for relevance.

So yes, I hate rankings. I also become irrationally upset over them. It’s a maddening contradiction — to reject the whole idea of a pecking order, while also caring deeply whether a course I love (or loathe) has moved up or down three spots. It’s our right, as golf course tragics. We live this madness. So, why not go one step further?

Let’s rank the people who rank the courses...

Is this helpful? No.
Is it fair? Also No.
Did I enjoy putting it together? Not particularly.
But here it is anyway.

Ranking Dog Friendly Golf Courses would be as close as I would come to do a ranking…

8. UK Golf Guy + Australian Golf Passport Podcast
There isn’t enough data to really assess this one, but I’m including it because they’re influential and likable and I need to fill out my rankings to the even number. That said, has DJ ever played a course below a 13 rating in Australia? I’d love to see him grind it out somewhere truly average just to calibrate the system. DJ, the floor is yours.

For Matty & Scowarrrr we wait in anticipation!

7. Planet Golf – Community Rankings
Turns out, a surprising number of this community has played Ellerston. Enough to rank it 6th in the country, apparently. I haven’t had the privilege, but I’m skeptical. The cult of privacy seems to influence a lot here, and a few other courses are ranked in ways that defy logic. Amusing, yes. Trustworthy? Less so.

6. GolfLux
After calling out New South Wales bias in other rankings, GolfLux has zagged and gone full Victoria. Their “Top 15 Australian Courses” waits until number 11 to mention a non-Victorian layout. The list is short, which is refreshing, and the title is strangely captivating. But the actual rankings? Laughable. Good entertainment value though, and maybe that’s the point. Dammit.

PS: Peninsula not Peninsular

5. Australian Golf Digest
Offended might be too strong a word, but I’m not thrilled. The exclusion of RACV Healesville and the inclusion of some truly questionable picks leaves me scratching my head. It reads like a list built by people who really want you to know they’ve played a lot of golf, just maybe not all the right courses.

4. The Golf Travel Agency
I appreciate the honesty that comes with a list built from personal experience rather than a committee room. That said, the New South Wales lean is hard to ignore. Maybe I’m just showing my own Victoria bias. Or maybe we’re both right. Either way, some omissions are glaring, though I’ll forgive them because there’s only so much golf one person can play in a calendar year.

Wouldn’t be an Australian Golf Ranking blog without an image of a Kangaroo or two on a golf course…

3. Golf Australia
This one delivers a thorough ranking from 1 to 100, with the odd hint of bias depending on where you're standing. Overall, it’s a well-constructed list that seems to take its job seriously. No major quarrels, which is both a compliment and a criticism.

2. Top100 Golf Courses
A reliable go-to, not so much for the rankings themselves but for the accompanying course data and photography. Solid in structure, although once you get past course number 70, the list starts to look suspiciously like someone just typed out names in no particular order. Maybe 100 is too many for this country?

1. Golf Course Guide – Public Courses Version
An exercise in restraint, this list benefits from the notable absence of private clubs. Without the shadow of the usual suspects, it offers some breathing room for lesser-known gems to shine. Most of the top 100 feel like they’re in the right postcode. A rare example of rankings done right, possibly because half the usual politics were left out.

Have I missed one? Almost certainly. Somewhere out there, someone has built a Google Doc with 74 conditional formatting cells and a pivot table built around bunker maintenance and the availability vege options at the halfway house. And if they send it to me, I’ll probably read every word.

Because that’s who we are.

Happy Golfing!
Nick.

Can one cool golf hole carry it into rankings? asking for a friend…

5 Ways TGL Can Improve Its Design

March 28, 2025 by Nicklaus Mills in General

Teams That Represent Their City
As creative and whimsical as the current crop of virtual architects have been—crafting courses reminiscent of a Bob Ross painting crossed with a 90’s Sega dreamscape—why are we sticking to the rigid framework of traditional golf course architecture? TGL has a golden opportunity to break the mold and do something truly provocative. Imagine golf courses built into the very fabric of the cities they represent: a hole that plays along the Golden Gate Bridge, or a shot from the Top of the Rock to another Manhattan skyscraper. It’s time to make city pride a visual and interactive experience.
Home Advantage
If TGL can establish golf holes that directly tie to their respective cities—featuring iconic sites that resonate with local pride—we could build in a unique “home ground” advantage. Here’s how: teams would have exclusive practice access to their own city-themed holes, creating a distinct edge over visiting opponents. To add even more nuance, teams could also select the pin placements for their home matches. It’s a small but meaningful touch that would deepen the connection between teams and their cities.
A Rolling Ball Isn’t That Interesting
Let’s face it—part of the thrill of watching golf is the suspense leading up to the ball's landing. But once it hits the virtual fairway and starts rolling endlessly, that tension dissipates. Even if it’s heading toward a virtual water hazard where it’s about to get swallowed by a CGI shark, it just doesn’t make for riveting television. To keep audiences engaged, we need more dynamic reactions and visual storytelling even after the ball has landed. Let’s keep the action alive, even when gravity takes over.
The Voided Space
One of the most glaring differences between TGL and traditional tour golf is the voided space around the players when they hit their shots. On tour, we’re used to seeing fans up close, reading their faces as they react to a great or disastrous shot. During the pandemic, we learned just how much fans contribute to the energy of the game. So why not bring spectators closer to the action in TGL too? Integrating the crowd visually and spatially would add a much-needed layer of excitement and authenticity.
Boring Bunkers
Let’s be honest—tour players are bunker maestros. The current TGL bunkers showcase their talents but don’t offer much in terms of jeopardy. To shake things up, why not introduce a shallow bunker that provides unique camera angles to highlight technique and precision? And on the flip side, how about a 21st-century cousin to the infamous Devil’s Hole bunker—something small, sinister, and virtually unplayable? A shot landing there could spell disaster, adding tension and drama to every approach.

Breaking Golf's Barriers

February 13, 2025 by Nicklaus Mills in General

Season Two of Bryson DeChambeau's ‘Breaking 50’ series has returned to YouTube for 2025, offering a fresh and electrifying perspective on the game of golf. Bryson, one of the sport's most dynamic and marketable figures, continues to captivate audiences by blending athleticism, intelligence, and unfiltered honesty. In this series, Bryson partners with friends and golf-obsessed celebrities to take on a round of 18 holes from the forward tees with one target in mind: breaking 50 shots. While the format is simple, it injects new excitement into the sport, delivering highly entertaining content for golfers of all experience levels.

A Deeper Conversation: Course Length and Design

What makes ‘Breaking 50’ particularly compelling is its ability to spark important discussions about golf course length and design in relation to preserving championship-level difficulty—an issue that often clashes with the traditions and history of the game. As Bryson navigates these courses, viewers gain insight into the strategic thought process behind the challenge and how playing from the forward tees unveils a new dimension to the sport.

Raw Power Meets Strategy and Skill

While ‘Breaking 50’ emphasizes precision and strategic shot-making, raw power remains a critical factor in achieving the goal. Despite playing from shorter tees, Bryson’s incredible distance and accuracy are still on full display. The format doesn’t diminish his power—it forces him to use it wisely, turning each round into a true test of skill and strategy.

In Episode 1 of Season Two, Bryson used 11 different clubs—coincidentally, the same number he used during his final round at the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot. However, the variety of club selections at the PGA Frisco West Course starkly contrasted with Winged Foot, where he took driver 12 times off the tee, overpowering the course en route to victory. This contrast highlights how forward tees create an entirely different strategic challenge.

As modern golf courses continue to lengthen, many professionals overpower them with sheer driving distance, neutralizing hazards that once shaped the game’s difficulty. While the spectacle of enormous drives can be thrilling, it has, over time, become somewhat monotonous. The emphasis on raw power has overshadowed the finesse, creativity, and strategic elements that make golf so compelling.

A New Perspective on Course Length: The Case for 4,500-Yard Courses

As discussions about technology’s impact on golf intensify, Breaking 50 makes a strong case for incorporating shorter courses into competitive play. Could tournaments be just as exciting on 4,500-yard courses, with professionals shooting in the low 50s? While unconventional, there are clear advantages to this approach.

Advantages of a 4,500-Yard Course:

Dynamic Play – Shorter courses would shift the focus from sheer distance to skill and strategy, making for a more engaging spectator experience while elevating professionals with diverse abilities.
Enhanced Accessibility – More relatable course layouts could attract new players, making golf more inclusive and approachable for broader audiences.
Increased Excitement – With scores closer to 50, every shot becomes critical, heightening the drama and unpredictability of the game.

The goal isn’t to make golf easier—it’s to introduce varied challenges that emphasize decision-making, precision, and adaptability as much as driving distance.

Sustainability Benefits of Shorter Courses

Beyond the strategic and entertainment value, shorter courses present significant sustainability benefits compared to traditional 7,000+ yard layouts. The environmental impact of golf courses, particularly in urban areas, is often overlooked, but embracing 4,500-yard designs offers a more sustainable future for the sport.

Sustainability Benefits of 4,500-Yard Golf Courses:

Reduced Water Usage – With less land to maintain, shorter courses require significantly less water, a crucial factor in drought-prone regions.
Lower Resource Consumption – Fewer fertilizers, pesticides, and maintenance resources make these courses more environmentally friendly and cost-efficient.
Urban-Friendly Design – In densely populated areas, shorter courses alleviate land-use pressures, preserving green spaces for community recreation.
Improved Social Impact – Playing from the same tees—regardless of skill level—fosters inclusivity, making golf more inviting for players of all backgrounds.
Faster Pace of Play – In an era where time is a premium, shorter courses allow golfers to complete rounds more efficiently, making the game more accessible to busy individuals.

Additionally, shorter courses could revolutionize golf course infrastructure. Imagine an 18-hole facility transformed into two 36-hole layouts, doubling capacity, increasing revenue, and improving overall player satisfaction by providing more tee-time availability.

Impacting the Game at a Local Level

Bryson’s Breaking 50 isn’t just influencing professional golf—it’s making waves at the grassroots level. At my own club, I’ve witnessed firsthand how the series has inspired players to recreate the challenge on our course. This shift is breaking down stigmas surrounding forward tees and offering golfers of all skill levels a fresh way to engage with the sport.

Younger players, in particular, are embracing new strategies and rethinking their approach to golf. The once-dismissed forward tees are now being celebrated as a legitimate and exciting way to play the game while improving skills in the process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRCCJ9K-EFs

Conclusion

Bryson DeChambeau’s Breaking 50 series continues to inspire and challenge golfers by highlighting the interplay of power, strategy, and precision. It encourages us to reconsider course length and design, advocating for shorter, more sustainable layouts that provide new challenges while benefiting the environment and community.

Whether or not professional tournaments on 4,500-yard courses become a reality, Bryson’s work is opening new perspectives on golf. By emphasizing skill, strategy, and inclusivity, Breaking 50 is shaping the future of golf in ways we never expected. As the conversation continues, one thing is clear—golf is evolving, and Bryson DeChambeau is at the forefront of that change.

Happy Golfing

Metro Review

January 09, 2025 by Nicklaus Mills in Review

The prestigious Metropolitan Golf Club is a course lorded for its supreme conditioning & historic championships. The Oakleigh site has easily held its place as one of the top courses in the country for over 100 years. However, in recent years, fresh competition has caused introspection, leading to an unanswerable question of what is Metropolitan’s identity? This can be traced through the club's 133 year old history, back to the days of the Melbourne Golf Club in the late 19th century. A patchwork of Australian golfing history that commands great reverence, but in 2025 is being subdued.

Without regurgitating what is readily available online, the Melbourne Golf Club, which later became the Royal Melbourne Golf Club was founded in 1891. The early 20th century saw urban sprawl fracture the club in two, where a portion of its members went from Malvern to Sandringham (Royal Melbourne) and the remainder to a site in Oakleigh, which is where Metropolitan is located today. Engineer, J.B. MacKenzie laid out the original routing of the Oakleigh course in 1908, and roughly 18 years later, golf course architect, Dr. Alister MacKenzie, gave some additional consulting advice. By 1930, the club had hosted its first Australian Open, paving the way for many professional events to follow. The general perception at the time was that if a course was fit enough to host a professional tournament, it was considered as one of the best courses in the country. If hosting tournaments was your only barometer for how good a golf course is, it can easily give a club a false sense of security and flattering their vanity.

After 30 years of stability, the 1960s saw significant change, when a portion of the club's land was ‘acquired’ for the development of a local high school. This led the club to the search for its next ‘MacKenzie’, to re-route the course. There were two US based candidates, Robert Trent Jones Sr. and the Dick Wilson, who they selected. It was the only work that Wilson completed in the country and for the club it was quite the coup for getting a modern age architect down under. A sign of intent for a club continuing the pursuit of greatness. The next 50 years saw local architects Tony Cashmore and Peter Thompson as the consulting architects of choice, and more notably in recent years, homegrown talent, Michael Clayton. Which brings us to the latest history, with the 2014 appointment of Neil Crafter and Paul Mogford.

To set the scene, the selection of Crafter and Mogford came at a time of stability for the club. Metropolitan was prominently ranked as one of the best in Australia, with the course conditioning under superintendent, Richard Forsyth and the team being second to none. The 2014 Master Plan that was produced, outlined greater continuity to the external surrounds across the property and minimal disruption to the existing course features. Aligning with the club's ideology and sustaining its prestige into the foreseeable future. In the 2010’s the two courses at Barnbougle were the only notable additions to the Aussie golf landscape, but an overwhelming and unprecedented amount of change was imminent. The club's distinguished status was about to be challenged by a dozen of its peers who developed master plans and made some serious improvements that overshadowed Metropolitan's architectural pedigree, even if the conditioning was still top-notch.

Below is a list of projects constructed and or in construction since the initial appointment of Crafter and Mogford in 2014. It would be conservative to say that the courses that received significant improvement in the 2014-2020 time frame put significant pressure on the club and began to overtake Metropolitan’s glimmering status.

In 2020, the club, together with Crafter and Mogford, identified a need to revise their 2016 Master Plan. The committee had agreed upon undergoing a more major program to replace the greens, and with a steep increase in competition in Australia, this iteration allowed for the team to have more creative freedom. These intentions were genuine, however Crafter and Mogford’s key strengths are often aligned with conservatism and appeasing a broad audience through the details of a meticulous Master Plan. In other terms, they are composers of a symphony, conducting music that they have written for the musicians to follow. A revision of the Master Plan halfway through its implementation is like asking these composers to conduct freeform Jazz and expect it to sound like Miles Davis.

Crafter and Mogford’s early success in the 2016 Master Plan include the transitions from green to tee on the fourth to the fifth hole, and the ninth to the tenth. The tee expansion work across the front nine was necessary and well received. Some of Dr. Alister MacKenzie consulting advice has been adapted for today's technology, like on the third hole, a good reflection of the architect's astuteness and passion for historical referencing. However, where I have concerns for the course at Metropolitan lies within the ‘charming characteristics’ being nullified by practical solutions. Mounds, hillocks and contours that were once a deliberate construct of architects' past are now being deemed as impractical for playability purposes.

The most prominent example of this is within the reshaping of the ninth green complex and how it has affected the strategy to a unique golf hole. A challenging par 4 which severely doglegs to the right. The natural camber of the fairway slopes away from the direction of the green, making it a difficult fairway to hold. The natural slope and subtle architecture emphasize the strategy on #9, as trying to land your drive on the right hand side of the fairway is the key to a simpler approach. The original green shaping had a subtle half pipe which made it relatively easy to play from the right hand side and difficult to approach from the left. However, in the revised iteration the penal left hand bunkers were reduced in an attempt to improve the playability from within them, at the expense of the ‘half pipe’ effect that once was. This has provided better visibility of the green from the left hand side of the fairway, but significantly reduces the incentive of finding the right hand side of the fairway, which was the entire strategy of the hole. This is like having a wonderful succulent sunday roast, put into a blender so that everyone can enjoy it through a straw.

Tree management has been a point of contention for years, however Crafter and Mogford’s influence has been excellent and commendable, especially on the back nine. A necessary evil, this allows the remaining specimens to reach their full potential, as well as promoting the regeneration of biodiversity across the property. This excellent tree work will improve the course conditions with increased ventilation and improved sunlight. However, the back nine itself isn’t without its controversies and is an exposed melting pot of design ideas of past and present. For as long as I’ve played golf at Metropolitan, the back nine has lacked continuity by comparison to the front. It has some good golf holes and green complexes when analysed in isolation, as well as offering tremendous potential for the club to discover its identity. Holes like the 12th, which are currently in the crosshairs of change, will provide another bone of contention, but a great opportunity for Crafter and Mogford to prove the pessimists wrong.

In summary, Metropolitan is a powerful golf club that is capable of achieving a world class facility to provide exceptional golf for its members. However, it seems to me that the timing of the project has caused a recent urgency to improve. The architectural details seem to have been rushed and not executed to the level that you would expect of a Sandbelt great. A more unified understanding of the club's identity may have been a helpful stabilising force to have, and there is still time for the club to realize its full potential. Its perseverance to achieve greatness, will not slow down anytime soon and changes made have allowed for conditions to thrive even further from its preexisting lofty heights.

Happy Golfing

Royal Adelaide Review

October 10, 2024 by Nicklaus Mills in Review

When it comes to making a fair and equitable analysis of the Royal Adelaide Golf Club, a fitting analogy is a good place to start. Today’s analogy is between the makeup of a golf course and the selection of an Australian Rules football team. A football team consists of 18 players at a time on the field, with a steady balance of offensive and defensive players, in the correct position to achieve a competitive team. With 18 holes being the makeup of a championship golf course, understanding the dynamics of individual holes as positions in a football team is a compelling way to understand the true competitiveness of a great golf course.

Royal Adelaide is rightly touted as one of Australia’s best golf courses, but deemed not good enough to be number one or in Australian Rules football terms a “Premiership Team.” A premiership winning football team tends to feature 3 or 4 All Australian players (The Best Players for their position in the competition), half a dozen match winners and the rest is made up of quality role players that play above their pay grade. The current “Premiership Team” in Australian Golf is respectfully Royal Melbourne’s West Course. Holes 3, 5, 7 & 10 are All Australian candidates. Holes 1, 4, 6, 14, 16 & 17 are match winners on their day and the remaining 8 holes are quality role players that would stand out if they hypothetically existed on another golfing property. The backbone of a Premiership Team is measured by the quality of teams role players like Royal Melbourne. That is where my critical focus of Royal Adelaide lies and why it should believe it has the potential to be a Premiership Team.

The current makeup of Royal Adelaide has one of the star players in the competition in the 3rd hole. Truthfully one of the best par 4’s in Australia. It has a dozen or so match winners, with some of those holes being elevated to a potential All Australian standard. But the greatest improvement can be made with the course's role players. Some of these holes have been let down by poor architectural decisions in the past and others may be playing out of position, if you catch my drift…

Royal Adelaide is a unique site and masterful layout that creates a strong foundation for success. It is currently a Golf Course that would hypothetically win many games of football against other derived Golf Course ‘teams,’ but I firmly believe that Royal Adelaide has the potential to be a Premiership winning team or in golfing terms, the best golf course in Australia.

BELOW IS MY HOLE BY HOLE REVIEW

Hole One: (Half Forward) Match Winner
A gentle opening hole with the train line running down the left hand side,that’s only in play for the overly ambitious driver missing left. A great opening tee shot that tempts you with a line of charm towards the green but the smart play is to the right hand side of the fairway to open up the approach to the green. Donald Ross was known for creating the ‘firm handshake’ starting hole, this greeting is more of a warm hug. The half forward position I believe is fitting, because it is a difficult position to play on the football field and designing an opening hole can be difficult to do also. With it being an early birdie opportunity a position in the forward line is fitting.

Two Cents: The green shaping itself is solid with many pin locations, but the broader complex could be better, with some slight adjustments. Expanding the fairway surrounding the green would make a substantial benefit to the first hole. The bunker is located in a good strategic position, but not complimentary in its aesthetic design. A common theme throughout the course.

Hole Two: (Half Back) Role Player
A swift greeting of a three shot hole early into the round makes you feel you need to cash your cheques in early. A strategically well placed bunker on the left is the only key that visually grabs your attention from what is an unremarkable drive. Unless you’re attacking the green under regulation, then another unremarkable second shot. The green complex is in a neat location perched atop of a small ridgeline. I consider this to be a solid role player and again with a helping breeze a birdie opportunity awaits, so the second hole works as an attacking defender. Dynamic in its ability to work up and down the field, but is at its best going forward. In golfing terms, this hole is at its most interesting when there is a decision to go for the green or lay up.

Two Cents: The green could do with a slight expansion on the back left of the green, creating additional pin locations and strategic variety.

Hole Three: (Centre) All Australian
A world class short par four and the undisputed Captain of the team. The hole strategically complements the natural terrain and has the principles of a great golf hole. Providing shot options off the tee and a variety of score outcomes depending on how well or poorly you attack the hole. One of the most charming elements is the level of restraint shown with a simple but effective green complex and a hole that features no bunkers. If this hole was a player, its versatility to and simplistic ease in execution is reminiscent of the ever reliable Scott Pendlebury. Primed to be positioned in the middle of the football ground setting the tone.

Two Cents: If this hole becomes irrelevant, so does golf.

Hole Four: (Ruck Rover) Match Winner
Another fascinating blind tee shot over a small Kettle hole towards a slight dogleg to the left. The Tee shot is actually quite disorienting and you need to play further left than you originally estimated. There is a tree guarding the ideal play line and if anything could be a safety hazard in forcing play out right towards the second green. The approach to a solid green complex makes for a pleasant hide and reveal. This hole currently sits within being a match winner, but I believe could be an All Australian hole if it can fully master the hide and reveal.

Two Cents: Besides the obvious slight tree management needed, if the course was to become an All Australian an improved green complex would be needed. It’s located at the foot of the main ridgeline and in what I would regard the centre stage, particularly for early in the round. It is where you see holes that you’ve played and holes that you are about to play, a prime opportunity to cement into peoples minds early in the round that this course is the best in the country.

Hole Five: (Forward Pocket) Role Player

The weakest hole so far, but that doesn’t mean it’s a poor hole, reminds me of the 4th hole at Kingston Heath. The routing of the fifth hole takes you back to the North East corner of the property. The green complex is unremarkable, but not every hole needs to be a world beater right? This is what I would consider a role player, a forward pocket that isn’t known for flashy goals, but known for its defensive pressure in the forward line.

Two Cents: It’s the fourth par four out of five and different to all the holes prior. It's original, but it’s like having a bag of salt chips. It’s not the best flavour but you’ll still enjoy it.

Hole Six: (Centre Half Back) Match Winner
A strong par 4 that demands two of your best shots. This is the tall defender that you would put directly against the opposition's best forward and expect to get the job done. Architecturally speaking the elevated green complex and rolling dune in the middle of the fairway play a visual effect of the folding of the landscape. Drawing the green closer to you than what is actually measured from the tee with great effect.

Two Cents: This would be on the low side of holes needing a help to elevate, only aesthetic changes to the bunkers would be needed to this solid hole.

Hole Seven: (Rover) Potential All Australian

This should be Royal Adelaide's signature par 3, but I don’t think time has been kind to this hole. The bunker shaping is alarmingly generic and doesn't naturally tie in well with the site. An unrelenting 1 shot hole that demands you get the ball airborne or you will perish in the native orange sand. It is reminiscent of a champion footballer that needs reinvigorating with making a switch and returning home. A sore point for some Adelaidians but a player like Patrick Dangerfield who made the difficult decision to leave Adelaide to forge a career at Geelong and did so in the end with great success. The same difficult decision needs to be made on the 7th.

Two Cents: Like the Par 3 8th at St.George’s Hill, this seems like a whack interpretation of its original intention. Feels like when an older celebrity is trying to remain youthful through the use of prosthetics and now looks alien to its former self. You know what I mean…

Hole 8: (Forward Pocket) Potential Match Winner
This hole caught me by surprise and might be the gem worth unearthing. A tight drive from the top of the properties main ridgeline The walls of trees are as inviting as a dark alley at midnight, but do add an element of safety for holes 6 and 9. Two bunkers guard the line of charm and it is questionable if the first bunker on the right is too penal for high markers and not much of a hazard for the skilled golfers. The second bunker on the other hand is well placed and the hole features one of the better greens on the front nine. This hole’s natural position could be the flashy goal scoring forward with many tricks in the book.

Two Cents: This may be my hottest take, but I believe that the remnants of Victorian styled trench bunkers exist just to the right of the second bunker. I’m in favour of restoring the bunker into something that resembles its trenchy friends on the right as a homage to past designs. Similar to the first hole, fairway expansions around the greens would help the hole breathe.

Hole 9: (Full Forward) Match Winner

The second par 5 on the front 9 has all the grand scale trademarks similar to its Victorian cousin Royal Melbourne. The hole plays along the Northern perimeter of the property gradually climbing to the high corner of the course. It currently lacks a bit of polish to be considered a match winner now, like a full forward that has become a little inaccurate in front of goal, but a good footballer exists.

Two Cents: Like holes 2, 4 and 7 , some of its parts are there, it would be great to see its full potential realised and again could be completed with the correct tie-ins and sweating over the small stuff.

Hole 10: (Wing) Match Winner

This hole completely slipped my mind from the previous times playing, which to my defence was several years ago. So the tenth came as such a pleasant surprise. The routing turns South and the tee shot drives back towards the dune which is hiding yet another surprising new reveal. A forced layup and carry is in place and a drive to the right hand side of the fairway is encouraged. I’ve put this hole on the Wing because it reminds of a player that works hard back in defence to help out the backline. I feel the same way about this hole, it's not an easy hole to score on when requiring two accurate shots.

Two Cents: This hole would hypothetically be better if it had NSW’s fifth green.

Hole 11: (Wing) All Australian

When one forced carry was not enough, the eleventh comes with Australia's hell's half acre. The tee shot requires an accurate line and length. This sets up the ultimate approach shot over the half acre of ‘natural’ vegetation into a green complex situated at the bottom of a bowl and another wonderful par 4. Playing on the opposite wing to the 10th, they're the same type of player but yet are so different in the way they play. The more you understand the hole the more comfortable you’ll become with scoring on it.

Two Cents: Members of RA would benefit from a trip to the USA to see a variety of the ‘Hell's Half Acre’ design. Pine Valley, Baltusrol and Old Sandwich have these forced carries that would serve as a good source of inspiration for the 11th.

Hole 12: (Full Back) Role Player

One of the raunchiest traits in golf course architecture is a fabrication of a downhill par 3, the opportunity for a golfer to blast a ball high into the air creating some sense awe is an opportunity too good to refuse. The high vantage point removes any of the mystique that may lie ahead and so if you’re building a ‘reveal all’ moment in a downhill par 3, it needs to be nailed. As little as I think about the National Old Course, the signature 7th hole does a decent job of executing this ‘Reveal All’. The 12th hole naturally reaches this conclusion as you tee off on top the main ridgeline that commonly appears throughout the front Nine down into what is quite a grand space. Unfortunately the ‘reveal’ is a complete flop. It is a difficult long par 3, fitting of a grizzled fullback willing to deny you the opportunity to score.

Two Cents: New Green. New Hole. The big right miss must be in play and has to be the most hazardous part of the golf course. An improved green location should also address this issue, but keep the hole fair but difficult.

Hole 13: (Half Back) Role Player
A classic Dogleg left hole that puts the emphasis on a well placed drive so the golfer can have a view of a well placed green site with the train line running behind. This is like the ever reliable halfback and another great Role Player that the course has.

Two Cents: Tree Management is front of mind for this hole. Not to be mistaken for tree clearing, optimising vegetation would nicely compliment this hole, it is currently a little too much of a monoculture.

Hole 14: (Centre Half Forward) All Australian
My favourite hole on the back nine and again another hole I completely forgot how good it was. Similar to the 13th in that placement off the tee is critical, but this time round it's a slight dogleg to the right. The Green complex can be difficult for holding balls on, so taking on the corner to have a shorter approach is ideal for this. This hole is like a champion Centre Half Forward, akin to a Jonathon Brown and Nick Riewoldt, tough, hard, hard working and an inspiring leader.

Two Cents: Green expansion and softening of contours in the area would help what is a great hole.

Hole 15: (Back Pocket) Delisted

A par 5 that its only defence is the severe dogleg left off the tee. The water hazard/marshland along the right handside of the hole is inconsistent with the ecology that exists on site and that is ok when applied well, but its alarming to see at points the water level higher than the fairway. This hole has been figuratively hiding in the Back Pocket and it should be time to delist hole and find themselves a new backline player for the back nine.

Two Cents: A green that slowly climbs higher than the water level would be appealing. A green complex that is a focal point and dictates the strategy of the second and third shot.

Hole 16: (Half Forward) Match Winner
A solid short slight uphill par 3 where you need to hold your nerve and control your ball flight, because a missed green carries great consequence. Without doing thorough research I’m assuming that this hole has received some modifications that haven’t hindered the hole over time. Personally, I believe this plays better as a shorter par 3 and is too difficult of a green for the back tees.

Two Cents: Just a matter of having a few cosmetic adjustments and finding/promoting more teespace from a forward position.

Hole 17: (Ruckman) Role Player

A long Par 4 that feels like you’re on the home stretch and the completion of this hole cannot come soon enough, according to golfers who frequently play Royal Adelaide. The changes from a par 5 to a par 4 were to reduce the potential safety hazards and boundary issues, but as a hole it is lacking restraint. A controversial bunker situated in the middle of the fairway does make golfers think, but doesn’t provide a clear resolution unless you’re fortunate enough to blast your way over the top. The green has a soft slope that tilts from front to back which is a nice feature to have, but on a hole that is already doing a lot to penalise golfers this may be too much of a penalty for high markers. Currently playing out of position, this hole needs to strap a shin guard on and be the serviceable ruckman the team needs. There has been plenty of premiership winning Role Playing ruckman over the years, it actually might be one the keys to a teams success.

Two Cents: I don’t think there is a world where this could return to a par 5 nor does it need to be the best hole on the course. It just needs to feel like it's a par 4 that has always been.

Hole 18: (Back Pocket) Match Winner

Not a bad closing hole, there is more room than expected but with a road cutting through the middle, the train line behind the green and the clubhouse to the left its begins to feel a little tight. But like an experienced backman, it is comfortable fitting under pressure and in tight spaces. The same can be said for 18. A grandstand finish that is a fitting way to finish a round at Royal Adelaide.

Two Cents: It feels very much like a hole that is playing the role of escorting golfers to the clubhouse. I believe that it would be on brand to produce a large but understated green complex that seamlessly ties in with its immediate surroundings. Allows golfers to take in and fully appreciate the gem that is Royal Adelaide.