New South Wales GC, Australia    

The dramatic 6th as seen from behind the green.

6^th hole, 195 yards: The most photographed hole in Australia. Unlike the 16^th at Cypress Point, the white and blue tees are in drastically different positions and their position influence the merit of the hole. From the blue tee perched out on the reef in the Ocean (you have to walk across a bridge to get there), the shot is one of the most thrilling in the game. From the inland white tee, the shot is more straightforward, calling for a seven iron up a hill to a big-ish green. The Club appreciates this fact and recently has undertaken to move the inland tee as close to the edge as possible. Regardless of the tee played, the right to left pitch on the green is its true defense in calmer conditions. The golfer who plays weakly away from the ocean faces a very difficult up and down from the right hand side of the green. Conversely, the golfer who takes on the challenge but misses the green slightly left faces an uphill pitch against the green's slope for an easier up and down. There is a twenty yard buffer of grass between the green and the ocean on the left. Most people are so overawed by the setting that they don't fully appreciate the architectural merit of the hole. It is a great example of the most obvious trouble (i.e. the ocean) steering people well away toward apparent safety. Only when the golfer gets up the green, does he appreciate how dead he is if he has missed the green to the right.

13^th hole, 410 yards: A beautiful sweeping dogleg to the left that was recently voted the finest 13^th hole in Australia. The nature of the curving fairway is such as to create real options off the tee. You can play straight ahead with a three wood and leave yourself with a mid-iron. Conversely, you can make the more aggressive decision and take on the dogleg.

A well-positioned tee shot leaves this approach to the scenic 13th.

The dogleg is not overgrown with towering trees, which tend to take the strategy out of far too many doglegs; rather the low lying scrub here can be challenged. The pitch of the fairway down and to the left rewards the golfer who has accepted the challenge off the tee with a shorter iron to the green. The Pacific Ocean serves as the back drop for the second shot.

The short but wild 14th.

14^th hole, 355 yards: A wild short four par and one of the best holes of its length in the world. The smart play is to hit a drive over a hill 210 yards from the tee into a saddle away from the ocean; from there it is a wedge up to a steeply pitched green that is fully exposed to the elements. The closer left toward the ocean the drive finishes, the golfer is rewarded with a more advantageous angle down the length of the green. Because the hole is relatively short, the low marker often tries to force the issue and secure a birdie. Far more bogeys than birdies result from imprudent tactics.

16^th hole, 440 yards: A very fine dogleg left around a sand dune. A long drive to the outside of the dogleg gives an uninterrupted mid-iron down the green, which is actually bunkered on the left side. A drive to the inside of the dogleg can shorten the approach and the golfer may elect to use the bank to the right of the green to kick the ball back toward the flag. The Club recently removed some bush from behind the green. This wise move restores the view over the course and out across the Ocean that golfers would have originally enjoyed when the course first opened.

The natural green site for the 16th. 

Another architectural feature is that the four par threes each point in a different direction on a compass. The greens of the two shortest one-shot holes are located on top of exposed knolls. They generally play around the 160 yard mark. Given this is one of the windiest spots in the world, controlling the flight of the ball on these two holes is a must. These seemingly innocent holes often give overseas visitors fits who are not use to playing in the wind.

The exposed and pitched green of the one-shot 11th.

Does this course sound too good to be true? Surely, everyone would acknowledge this course to be one of the two best courses in Australia (along with the West course at Royal Melbourne)? Incredibly, the answer is sometimes no. The authors were present when a professional golfer proclaimed he viewed The Australian (a Nicklaus redesign set along a busy highway in Sydney) as a finer test of golf. His reasoning? New South tolerates several loose shots more so than The Australian. For instance, the tee shots on the fourth, eighth, and 12th all share the same plain and it is hard to find trouble. The authors acknowledge these holes are too egalitarian on those rare calm days.

Nonetheless, the comment highlights a great difference between amateurs and professionals. The Australian has one blind shot and affords the golfer one conventional approach shot after another, thus appealing to the professional. New South Wales enjoys six blind shots as the holes tumble over their dramatic terrain. The resulting holes are both original and give the course unmatched variety. There are no holes remotely like the fifth, sixth, 14th, or 15th in the world. The sense of adventure at New South is paramount; hence the sense of enjoyment is enjoyment is correspondingly high. These are the virtues the authors appreciate the most; some professionals perhaps less so.

New South is the best of both worlds. It hosted the Australian PGA Championship for four years and kept the professionals at bay without growing the rough. However, much more importantly, it is a great members course whose challenges change day to day with the weather. Just ask one of their newer members - Greg Norman.

Battling the wind on a typical day at New South Wales.

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