New South Wales is a majestic course set out on glorious undulating golfing terrain bordering the Pacific Ocean, just to the south of Sydney. I am reluctant to call it a true links for its inland holes, bordered as they are by thick scrub, are more like rolling downland in nature. Nevertheless the combination works well in producing an eclectic set of holes that keeps the golfer on his/her toes throughout, on a course which fully merits its World Top 100 rating.

From the polished and incredibly warm welcome to the comfortable clubhouse, NSW exudes class. How can one ever criticise a golf course designed by Alister MacKenzie, but I thought it started a little slowly and the nature of the land led to a number of blind shots from both the tee and for the second shot. Obviously this would be less of an issue when playing the course on subsequent occasions.

These minor moans apart, there is so much to like here. We were lucky to play on a warm sunny day with mainly no more than a gentle breeze and walking the immaculate fairways and greens was a treat in itself. 

The golf course gets going with the long straight par four at 4 before the two most renowned holes at 5 and 6, which are covered in great detail in other reports on this site. It seems that the holes around the middle of the course are not that highly regarded but I found the 550 yarder at 8 and quirky shortish par four at 9 to be both excellent holes. I particularly like the choice from the tee at nine to take the high road to a sloping fairway, or the low road which leaves an uphill approach over a clump of scrub to what is now a raised green. 

The undulating par five at 12 is another gorgeous challenge but it is the stretch of par fours from 13 to 16 that is the highlight of NSW for me. There are so many choices for signature hole on this course, but the beautiful left dogleg at 13 to what seems an infinity green floating on the ocean or the equally thrilling drive and uphill approach at the cliff top 14th could both be in the mix. A similarly challenging uphill drive follows before the hole turns right at the tough 15th as the golfer heads back inland and then there is arguably the hardest of this stretch of holes, a fearsome 430 yard tight left dogleg at 16.

But after this there’s no easy finish with the short 17th playing to a green that falls away sharply on three sides before the more reassuring straight 540 yard par five at 18 to a well-protected green below the clubhouse. My photo with this report shows the open green expanse in front of the clubhouse which incorporates both the greens at 9 and 18.