Kingston Heath is almost universally regarded as the second best
course in the country but the smaller and flatter property
demanded it would be a much different proposition than Royal
Melbourne. One is golf on a grand scale; the other is intricate
but both place emphasis on cerebral and strategic play.
Sydney pro, Dan Soutar routed the original layout and he formed
the whole course around the tiny, 130 metre, tenth hole in the
middle of the property. Remarkably, seven other holes surround
this 130-metre hole. The third hole plays toward it and its green
is only 20 metres from the tee. The fourth plays away and only a
slither of tea-tree separates the seventh fairway from the tenth
tee. The eighth tee abuts the tenth as it heads to the south but
the ninth comes straight back to a greensite as close to the
tenth as the third is. The eleventh plays away again and the tee
shot off the long fourteenth is fired past the back of the green.
Kingston Heath is one of the smallest courses of world renown and
Merion in suburban Philadelphia is perhaps the only layout of
real quality where the architect got more out of such a tight
piece of ground.
The difficulty of the course is centred around its bunkering,
which is not only visually stunning and another wonderful example
of the construction genius of Mick Morcom, it is full of all the
strategic interest we expect of a fine course.
Whilst Royal Melbourne receives almost universal acclaim there
are some who question the quality of Kingston Heath. They point
to the blind approach to the long seventeenth, the blind drives
at the eighth and sixteenth holes, the fact all three par fives
run from north to south, the lack of a long par three and even
the regularity with which small aircraft fly overhead on their
way to the neighbouring Moorabbin Airport.
All these criticisms fail to recognise the problems faced by
Soutar in squeezing great golf into only 125 acres. He could have
shortened the seventeenth and played a drive and pitch hole to
the top of the hill and perhaps even a par five to finish but
that would have taken much of the difficulty out of the famous
and fearsome finishing holes beginning with the world class par
three, fifteenth. The blind drives at both eight and eleven could
have been avoided by teeing grounds on top of the hills but much
significant length would have been lost and the balance of the
course completely upset. And the approaches to these holes are
amongst the finest on the sandbelt.
The balance of the course is testament to the genius of those who
influenced it. The wonderful short holes, 5, 10 and the
aforementioned 15th are unquestionably holes of world class.
Mackenzie built the fifteenth hole during his trip to Melbourne
in 1926. His commissioned report indicated Soutar's short par
four fifteenth was a 'real blotch on the course' and the
Scot suggested it revert to a par three with a green on top of
the dune. It is the same hill one plays over on the way to the
previous green and drives over from the sixteenth tee.
The little par four third is a fine example of Melbourne's
terrific short par fours where the player can drive at the green
but that choice involves all the risk. The conservative tee shot
to the correct left half of the fairway leaves the player with a
demanding pitch to the smallest green on the course.
A hugely long course at over 6800 yards when it opened, it is now
on the short side of what is regarded as 'Championship'
length but its genius is that it can still defend itself against
the finest players. More importantly, it is a course to
constantly stimulate those who play it with regularity.
The course has also been one of our most celebrated tournament
venues for years now and many of the countries greatest golfing
memories have been played out over the famed holes. Ossie
Pickworth beat his long time rival from Sydney, Jim Ferrier in
the 1949 Australian Open and Frank Phillips turned the tables for
New South Wales when he prevailed against the reigning British
Open Champion and Kingston Heath specialist, Peter Thomson.
Thomson, with his wonderful game based around exquisite judgement
and control of trajectory through the seaside winds, had a game
made for the conditions he found both at home and in Britain.
Kingston Heath has hosted the Australian Open seven times in the
past century. Gary Player won here in 1970 beating Bruce Devlin
and in 1983 Peter Fowler caused one of the biggest upsets in
Australian golf history when he outlasted David Graham and Ian
Baker-Finch to claim the title.
Peter Senior, in the midst of a month of play that was the best
of his career, won in 1989 and Greg Norman triumphed in 1995.
That week Norman finished by hitting a beautiful five iron into
the teeth of the north wind at the fifteenth then crashed a
30-footer into the back of the cup for a three at the long par
four, seventeenth.
The history of modern Opens was rewritten by the extraordinarily
talented Melbourne amateur, Aaron Baddeley when he won at Royal
Sydney in 1999 then, against all the odds, he defended at
Kingston Heath in his first season as a professional. On that
final afternoon he out duelled Robert Allenby who, like Baddeley,
won his first Open at Royal Sydney in 1994.
Kingston Heath is not a spectacular golf course designed to
entrance those looking for quick and obvious thrills. It is a
course with multiple layers of complexity that take more than a
single round to uncover and its wonder is that the more one plays
it the greater the appreciation for its sophistication.
(5.0) | Add A Review
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31 Jan 2008
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31 Oct 2007
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1. sandplay | Rated
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18 Mar 2008
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A stirling golf experience in every way.
The course condition and layout are both brilliant. There are plenty of bunkers though the sand is a pleasure to play from (so long as you don’t find yourself doing so too many times!)
There is some fantastic variety in the challenges on offer here.
Do yourself a favour and spend some time on the practice range, in the bunkers and on the practice greens. These facilities are among the best available.
You should come prepared for a magnificent golfing experience that will ask plenty of questions if your ability.