Wayne Moriarty

We were lucky enough to play this course on a sunny, warm and windless day which added to the enjoyment of the experience. The 9 hole, Greg Norman design course is a lot of fun. Wide fairways can lull into thinking the course will be easy but that is far from the case. 2 sets of tee boxes (Yellow and Black) and 2 sets of flags (Black and Red) placed on the very large greens make the 2 nines very different experiences. The second nine is longer (the way we played it) and far more difficult to score on. The green complexes and bunkering are terrific with subtle (and not so subtle) slopes making putting, on the slick greens, a real challenge. I would be happy to return to play here again even with the 2 hour drive from Adelaide.

Keysborough is in fine condition at present. A par 73 with 5 par 5's. There are some interesting par 3's with nice bunkering and some good dogleg par 4's that offer big hitters a challenging short cut. This course looks like it is going to close for housing development to relocate so perhaps getting to the current course to enjoy what it has to offer should be done sooner rather than later.

The opportunity to play both courses over several days is a great way to assess the differences between the North and the South courses. North is a course with more elevation changes and the recent renovations by OCM has opened up the course but with added waste areas accuracy is still required to navigate your way around. Everything about PK is on a grand scale. The facilities are some of the best in the country. It is a great experience to play and stay to get away from the world, at least for a few days.

Victoria Golf Club is presented in brilliant condition. The renovations conducted by OCM several years ago have brought the course back to life. The removal of some trees to be replaced with waste areas has opened up some holes without altering the challenge. A couple of short par 4's offer lots of alternative strategies to get par or better. Each 9 finishes unusually with 2 par 5's. One of my favourites

It is always a pleasure to attend Royal Melbourne. The West course is, as always, in good order. Greens were firm and fast and whilst appearing patchy they were running very well. The golf holes all present their own challenges and accuracy is important off the tee as well green approaches. I was saddened to hear of the passing of Dr John Greene. A gentlemen who had a vast knowledge on the history of RM and golf architect Alex Russell. I had the privilege to correspond with John and have lunch with him at RM in 2021.

Today it was a privilege to play Royal Adelaide with a group of 8 which has both low and higher handicap players. The rough provided some challenges for the higher handicap players but was heralded by the lower handicap players. The blind tee shots provided some interesting challenges but overall the fairways were reasonably generous. Missing the fairways however was not good for your score. The bunker and green complexes proved both interesting and challenging. It would be a great privilege to play this course as your weekly round. The clubhouse had a welcoming feel and staff were first rate. A great day was had by all (well most of us anyway!!)

Today I had the pleasure of playing the outstanding course in Adelaide. It is a short course at only 5900m but it bears its teeth around the greens with lots of bunkers and large undulating greens. Well worth a visit to this Herbert Rymill layout along with the other great courses in Adelaide.