The East Course

The East Course – 1st Hole

Par-4

304m / 333y

283m /310y

The opening hole on the East Course is a short two-shotter. The fairway is wide and the bunkers on the right hand side are shared with the eighth hole of the West. There is an option to drive directly over the sand, but the pin position on the small fearsome green will dictate the strategy. The deep bunker protecting the front right hand corner of the green must be avoided as saving par from this position is near impossible. From this high point, the green tilts steeply down to the bottom left hand corner.

The East Course – 2nd Hole

Par-4 (Par-5 for Women)

402m / 440y

370m / 405y

The second is one of the narrowest and most dangerous driving holes on either course. Most of the view of the right half of the fairway from the tee is obscured, resulting in uncertainty as to the precise driving line. The second shot plays steeply up to and long and narrow two tiered green. Whilst there are no fairway bunkers on this hole, seven bunkers flank the green on both the left and right hand sides. A well judged second shot is required here as ninety per cent of shots finish up well short.

The East Course – 3rd Hole

Par-4

350m / 383y

316m / 346y

This short two-shotter slides left to right down the hill from the tee. It is short enough to suggest that a long iron from the tee is plenty of club. Those players taking the driver must shape their ball to match the left to right banking of the fairway or risk going into the copse of mana gums. Almost every second shot is played from a down slope and whilst it is an only a short iron, the green is one of the most undulating and challenging on the course. On the green, a hollow feeds down the middle right of the putting surface, separating the front from the back right corner.

The East Course – 4th Hole

Par-3

184m / 201y

160m / 175y

The fourth is one of the best uphill short holes in the game. It calls for a controlled draw from the tee, and the further left the pin, the bigger the turn required from right to left if the player is hoping to get close enough to make a three. The front edge of the green runs diagonally from right to left, so the further left the shot, the longer the carry. The deep front bunker will swallow up shots that fall even a few centimetres short of the putting surface.

The East Course – 5th Hole

Par-4

317m / 347y

285m / 312y

The fifth is a short four played up and over a hill. The best positioned drive is down the left half of the fairway as to avoid a potential hanging lie on the right. The trick of this hole is to stop the ball on the small green which slopes imperceptibly from front to back. Any miss-hit second shot will not hold the putting surface and will roll quite a substantial distance beyond the green.

The East Course – 6th Hole

Par-3

160m / 175y

117m / 128y

The short sixth hole was moved away from the course boundary 15 degrees in 2004 and further changes to the hole occurred in 2012, by well renowned course architect, Tom Doak. The green favours a shot coming in from right to left. Weak fades that land shot inevitably kick into the greenside trap, whilst the bold player aiming to get it close to a pin cut left must flirt with the cavernous and difficult bunkers lying short and left.

The East Course – 7th Hole

Par-5

475m / 520y

421m / 461y

The shape of the seventh hole does everything to encourage players to hit left off the tee. Trees and threatening bunkers guard the right hand side of this hole. After the drive, the holes turns almost imperceptibly to the right and for players hoping to reach the green in two, the long difficult shot will flirt with the green side bunkers. Shorter hitters must avoid the large “Russell Bunker” on the right hand side with their second shots. By playing left this will also give the player the best angle into the green.

The East Course – 8th

Par-4 (Par-5 for Women)

396m / 435y

374m / 411y

This long par four with bunkers on both sides of the fairway, pinched in at the driving distance, make the tee shot one of the more difficult on the course. The fairway shapes from right to left and clearly rewards and drive turning the same way. Although the green is quite small for a long par four, it is hardly unreasonable target for a long second shot; the ball can also be run onto the green from well shot.

The East Course – 9th Hole

Par-4

350m / 383y

317m / 347y

The ninth holes moves from left to right in almost the opposite movement to the previous hole. The danger of the tee is pulling it left and running through the fairway into an unplayable lie in the trees. The tee shot is all about positioning the ball on the fairway as length is not a great advantage here. The challenge of the second shot is made by the small and narrow green, which is protected on both sides by sand. The swale at the front creates movement to make the approach shot look both more demanding and interesting to play.

The East Course – 10th Hole

Par-5

457m / 520y

410m / 449y

This sweeping left to right dogleg par five can easily be negotiated in three shots by the better player but those wishing to reach the green in two must take care. Four drive bunkers on the inside of the dogleg, which only two are visible from the tee are ready catch the drive not struck well enough. Once players arrive at their second shots they are confronted with one of the most dramatic and strategically second shots in golf.

Course designer Alex Russell positioned the cross bunkers in such a way that players have a multitude of choices about how to play and position their second shots. The tenth green slopes sharply from front to back and has two distinctive levels. Find yourself on the wrong level especially above the hole you are then faced with a treacherous putt back down.

The East Course – 11th Hole

Par-4

329m / 360y

285m /312y

The eleventh hole tee shot looks uncomplicated running down hill to a blind landing area. There are no sand hazards to drive into but a weak fade from the tee can end up in the thick tea tree that guards the ideal line to the green. The further and safer left the player goes off the tee the more difficult the angel of approach is to one the narrowest green on the course. The green slopes gently way from the bunkers on the right hand side of the green before a more dramatic collection point half way along on the left hand side.

The East Course – 12th Hole

Par-4

412m / 451y

335m / 367y

The twelfth hole is the longest par four on the East Course. The fairway is wide enough, befitting the difficulty of the hole. A drive too far to the right forces players to fade a long second shot around a group of river gums. The second shot plays slightly uphill, generally into the prevailing wind, and is often undertaken with the longest of irons. A nest of bunkers built into the hill 70 metres short and left of the green are in play for the shorter hitters. Anything landing short that avoids sand can easily be putted across the grass onto the putting surface.

The East Course – 13th Hole

Par-3

135m / 148y

110m / 120y

Measuring only 135 metres from the tee to the middle of the green, the thirteenth involves little more than a pitch with an eight or nine iron. This is not a difficult shot but it’s certainly a fun one because the green and the surrounding bunkers have been so beautifully constructed. The other feature of the hole is the back drop of red river gums. These ancient trees are a prominent marker of the often wet pocket land on which this hole was constructed.

The East Course – 14th Hole

Par-4

393m / 430y

362m / 396y

The fourteenth hole on the East Course is a dogleg hole that turns hard from right to left. The shape of the hole rewards a long right to left tee shot, but the fairway stretches far enough to the right to accommodate those playing safely away from the corner. The fairway bunker on the left takes barely 170 metres to carry and little concern to the better player. Although the section of fairway that leads to the fourteenth green is notable for its lack of any significant undulation, there is however a small subtle hollow that eats into the front left of the putting surface which feeds balls into the left bunker.

The East Course – 15th Hole

Par-4

277m / 303y

261m / 286y

Like the sixth hole, the short par four fifteenth hole has recently undergone some changes firstly in 2004 then further alterations again under the guidance of Tom Doak. Heathland and new bunkering down the right hand side encourage golfers to keep their tee shots away from the boundary fence. The bold player can still drive the green. Shorter hitters can take the conservative line left from the tee and pitch simply onto the green that has been orientated to the left to make play from the left easier. The green generally slopes from front to back with many approach shots finding their way into the runoff area beyond the putting surface.

The East Course – 16th Hole

Par-3

151m / 166y

121m / 133y

Described by Ben Crenshaw when he first saw the sixteenth hole as one of the most beautiful par threes he had ever seen, this medium length par three requires the strong player to hit only a seven or eight iron. Designed by Alex Russell, the uniquely shaped green into which the front bunker eats, perfectly separating the front left wing from the front right corner. When the pin is cut in the front left of the green, the wayward player who finishes right of the bunker, but still on the green may find that the only way to reach the pin is to pitch across the corner of the intruding sand. More bunkers defend the left and back of the green.

The East Course – 17th Hole

Par-5

520m / 572y

423m / 465y

The par five seventeenth is the longest hole on either course. The drive is a relatively simple affair across and down a hill, which makes it all but a blind tee shot. Interest is all in the second shot where there is a multitude of choices for the approach for each standard of golfer. Well placed a diagonal line of bunkers cross the line of the long second shot some 100 metres from the green. Players are faced with a critical decision, play shot for two or attempt to fly the sand and reach the green, or at least the apron. The green is large and has a subtle valley in the green which starts in the centre and moves to the left.

The East Course – 18th Hole

Par-4 (Par-5 for Women)

395m / 432y

366m / 400y

The finishing hole on the East Course has almost no undulation from tee to green but the angle of approach to the green, especially if the pin is cut in the right half, is paramount. The fairway stretches far to the right and has no fairway bunkers. The inside of the dogleg, however, is protected by a clump of tea-tree that guarantees any player that flies their ball to far left are faced with a pitch out at best. It is very easy for the fearful driver to turn what is usually a reasonably easy hole into one that is much more difficult. Apart from a perfectly position drive every approach shot to the large two tiered green will have to carry one of the green side bunkers.

Many a championship has been decided around this eighteenth green, no greater than New South Welshman Billy Dunk who saved par to beat David Graham from the island of heath inside the front right hand bunker. The area is now known as Dunk Island.