bay views is good fun
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That place is paradise since rebranding from Rosebud public. Lovely course.
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For me, the Dunes and St Andrews are the absolute standouts of the public courses down there. Would prioritise those two over the others.
The Moonah courses are okay - Legends is fun but a bit short. Iād put Portsea in a similar category. Agree with the comment re Flinders - itās nice and a different vibe to the others.
Canāt really go wrong down that part of the world.
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Not sure if this is the old roller coaster Rosebud Public but if it is letās agree to disagree. Mind you Iām well into my 7th decade so torture courses lost their appeal a long time ago.
Flinders is the one if youāre looking for a spectacular coastal course that is pretty flat, and you get to play Flindersā best-known hole, The Coffin, designed in 1926 by Dr Alistair Mackenzie, who also designed some joints called Royal Troon, Royal Melbourne and Augusta etc. Not bragging or anything but I birdied said hole late last year (actually I am bragging, it was the one decent hole I played all day).
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I was at Royal Melbourne today. Couldnāt play because I was technically working, although I did have the clubs in the boot. But I donāt think I could have got on anyway; the West was closed for some kind of tournament (BMW Golf Cup?) so all the members were on the East.
Trying to get the OK to go back to finish the job in a couple days as I only got about 24 of the 36 holes done. I got to go into the maintenance building which was just ridiculous. It was like one of those factories with the corporate headquarters attached to it so there were all these plush offices on one side separated from the garage by a huge wall of glass. The locker room for the grounds crew was nicer than the locker room Iāve seen for the members at many clubs.
I got to chat a little bit with the East course super and talked to the West course super last week when setting this up. The head guy wasnāt around; heās been doing some volunteer work in Augusta, Georgia.
Iāve been there once before (Presidentās Cup) but this was great because I was able to actually be on the tees and greens. I also got to see some of the holes you never see used in events on the outer paddocks, although I missed a few on the West course.
I think the thing I enjoyed the most was watching a foursome of women playing alternate shot. Thereās just something really old school about that format.
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Thinking about going to check out the pro am at liv on Thursday but wasnāt sure what to expect is it worth going just a for a gander and if so whatās it all about
Fantastic. Was it in good shape?
Are you doing any other courses?
It was in amazing shape, perhaps greener than I have ever seen a sandbelt course. Although it also seemed a little wet in places so it made me wonder if they are watering it too much.
I have no plans to do any others at this point. Iām actually not the one usually tasked with this work; they will hire a contractor to do it (usually a drone pilot who also takes photos and surveys), but because I just happened to live in the same city, have a vested interest in it, and as it is a pretty effing prestigious course, they did it in house, so to speak 
Unfortunately I missed out on the chance to do the simulator rendering, but the one real native Aussie (Taswegian) on our team is the one doing it. Heās played it before, and heād do a better job than me anyway, so Iām accepting of the situation. I feel like getting to roam the courses for an afternoon is a little bit of a consolation prize.
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Playing Shepparton and then Murray, Lakes and Black Bull in Yarrawonga across Thursday through Sunday. Looking forward to it as Iāve never played up there but there is a very real risk that Iām ready to turf the clubs off the bridge by the end of the weekend if things go poorlyā¦
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Are you headed out to Grange today? Or did you give it a miss. Was hoping thereād be some sort of telecast on 7plus but canāt find anything.
Black bull is a ripper but the Murray is still probably the best of the 3 in Yarrawonga
Anyone played Melb Airport lately? Never played there but have a 4BBB Pairs comp on Anzac Day and just wanted to get an idea on course conditions. Looks a ripper day with lunch included and forecast looks bang on.
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Nah I gave it a miss but am regretting it
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Played Curlewis the other day. Lost about 8 balls.
I love golf.
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played portarlington last week
obviously shooting well (86) has a fairly significant impact on my assessment
is it fun: yes
is it a nice walk: yes
verdict: elite
i backed that up by shooting 102 at malvern valley on tuesday arvo. left 8 (fkng 8!!) putts within 10cm, gotta love the thousands of pitch marks just left on public course greens.
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itās 48 earth hours later and iām still absolutely furious about that round
Itās interesting re the green-ness. Autumn on the sand belt is pretty much the ideal timebwhere the courses are in great condition. For the longest time RM was greener than most of the other courses because they hung onto to a different combination of grasses when most of the others were running with Santa ana. I donāt know the situation now, or what green grasses theyāre running, but I know that what Victoria and a few others are running (Pure Distinction Bent) is the best thing in the entire world by some way. Itās not as green as poa, but is amazing
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Not all of Cam Smithās clubs rocked up so had to organise a lot get them on a flight this morning
Leaving aside the political and ethical questions, LIVās major issue is it is just boring. Overpaid stars going through the motions. And the stars arenāt really performing, many of the events are being won by the B Graders, stars like Mickelson turn up and take the $s but need the gravitas of a major to actually dig deep, as exhibited in the recent Masters (I mean Mickelson is well down the list in most LIV events and then pulls out a 2nd in the Masters? Go figure?) and it simply doesnāt generate excitement, including or especially for the headliners. Cam Smith is going to make a pile no matter what but guess what, he has talent to burn but needs incentive to reach peak performance, and frankly when you hand him 200 mill for doing ā ā ā ā all, donāt expect him to sweat it out on practice fairways.
Good luck to those who bought tickets in Adelaide, enjoy the crap music blasting through the speakers. The Horror, The Horror.
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