Brookwater - Queensland - Australia

Another wicked design on the outskirts of Brisbane from The Shark, Greg Norman. Huge Eucalypts surround the whole course with tough tee shots these trees come into play, which requires the golfer to be very accurate from the tee box.

Massive undulations are current throughout this top 30 Australian course with bunkers that are Greg Norman design renowned, IE very dramatic.

Brookwater in some ways is a mini Augusta, as is Bonville GC in NSW.

Do yourself a favour and make the trek out to play here. Playable all year round

Brookwater is a Greg Norman course that scythes its way through a dense eucalyptus forest not far outside of Brisbane. The course follows a standard two loops of nine, but both loops follow a wide arc, so that you hardly ever see a different hole than the one you’re playing. This creates a good sense of theatre – every hole feeling like a tunnel through the bush. There’s some dramatic elevation changes, and some deep and incisive bunkering throughout. And plenty of wildlife – the kookaburras are fairly constant spectators, cackling and hooting at your every mistake. The member I joined up with also warned me that there are highly venomous Brown Snakes in the rough, and that he had seen them many times (I was not so unfortunate, maybe because I took his advice and made a lot of noise and stomping whenever I went to look for my ball).

I can see why the other reviewers have made comparisons with Augusta – I’m guessing it’s the aesthetics of the place that did it – but the design is a million miles away from what the TV reveals every April at Masters time. This is a narrow and highly punishing golf course – I’m an 8 handicap, I played very well, hit 11/14 fairways, 9/18 GIR’s, did not 3 putt once, and still shot 15 over. This is golf on a tightrope, and there’s just so many double and triple bogeys waiting out there for you should you fall off. I only pulled my driver out 5 times, and probably that was overzealous – I’m guessing I have never been this conservative off the tee.

The first six holes are as stunning a run of holes as you’re likely to find anywhere, and the last 3 are also magnificent. In many senses, if you judged courses purely by adding up the relative qualities of each individual hole, this would be one of my favourite ever courses. The reason I can’t quite be this enthusiastic is that there’s too much of a feeling of sameness. Almost all of the holes are chutes through the trees. The huge majority of the green complexes follow one of two rules – either a pulpit or plateau green with bunkers left and right cutting into the front corners, or a green bunkered only down one side, with the green sloping towards the traps, and a depression at the top end presenting a downhill chip with little margin for errant touch. None of this detracts from a one-off visit, but the member I played with (a 4 handicapper) said he had grown a little tired of playing there after a couple of years. This is probably a reflection on the difficulty of the place, but I can see the potential for staleness to set in, and it is probably this very minor quibble that stops me considering this course to be a world-beater.

Still, overall I thought this place was fantastic, I love the fact that it’s very accessible to the public, and that it’s very reasonably priced. It’s very much my sort of course, and I would definitely recommend it to any serious golfer (anyone over 15 handicap might be advised to consider one of the more wide-open resort courses on the Gold Coast). But I know what the previous reviewer meant when he said he felt like a sleep afterwards – very apt. Matt Richardson

Most people don't get to play a course this good in their lifetimes. My favourite of all time. Only seen August on TV but you will think about it as you walk these fairways. A very special place.

If you like Kangaroos, this course is for you. Played this a couple weeks ago. It's an amazing course. It's also by far the most difficult course I've ever played. I'm an honest 9 handicap and climbing, played the course with a member who's a 6 handicap. I shot a 97, it's the first time I shot above 90 since Carnoustie (91). There is not one single easy shot on this course unless you want to t off with your 7 iron I guess. My highlight was coming out of a deep bunker onto the upper tear of a two teared green, flag was below. I realized that I couldn't put from the top to the bottom as the greens were lightening fast, so I putting into the deep rough on the side, the ball still rolled down the hill back onto the green, off the green and 30 meters down the fairway...reminded me of some of the things I saw at the Masters last weekend. The member I played with had 20 stableford points....again this is a great challenge, you either hit great shot after great shot or you are forced to hit great saves after great save. At the end of the round I needed a nap.