Concord

A bunkerless hole designed by Ross Watson. I know what you're thinking, I couldn't quite believe it either!

Course name: Concord

Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia

Four Word Course Review: More typical Watson design

Sydney is full of golf courses on too little land with too many trees and while Concord is better than most, it falls a long way short of its potential.

Like all Ross Watson courses, it's choked with bunkers in patterns that sure do look great in a picture but possess little strategic merit. Witness the 18th hole, where there's no reward for driving anywhere near the fairway bunkers; the 10th, where the shortest line through the dogleg is unguarded, yet a drive hit well left away from the green finds sand;  the 15th, where a lay-up bunker guards only a thick grove of trees.

Of course the narrow, choked corridors don't really allow for many angles to be created or emphasised. The par threes stand out, then - the set shots working thanks to interesting greens at the 4th, 14th and 16th. A new par three at the 7th, built in-house quite recently, is an absolute dog, as is the aforemeantioned 10th (which replaced two par threes).

At the par four 3rd the drive is interesting for the creek that begs to be flirted with off the tee, and while the bunkering at the green muddies the strategy, the green is easier to hit from near the creek, on the right.

The 5th also is a standout, capping off a strong three-hole run, with reward waiting for a bold drive over the fairway bunkers inside the dogleg and a bunker short of the green on the left appearing to sit closer to the green than is the case.

The 9th is a challenging uphill par four, but the narrow fairway and flanking bunkers ensure the only sensible play is straight up the middle.

On the back nine, the first highlight is a bunkerless par four at the 12th, not because the hole is particularly meritorious but because it was designed by Ross Watson and it doesn't have any bunkers! From the back tee the long iron shot between the rough-filled front swales to a bold green is too much of an ask, but played further forward it's more suitable for the seven or eight iron you'll have in hand.

Trees that block the green stop the short par four 13th from being anything more than a boring iron + wedge, and while the boundary is a factor on this hole the result is far from ideal.

While the 18th's bunker pattern is nonsensical, the green is interesting: a microcosm of Watson's designs, really. As at Royal Sydney and the back nine of Bonnie Doon, quite interesting internal green contours are rendered a minor highlight thanks to the overpowering bunkering and greenside shaping that often eliminates any option of a running approach or recovery shot.

The ultimate condemnation of golf in Sydney is that Concord is among the better courses on offer, or at least it traditionally has been. While it remains one of the city's finest clubs, boasts great conditioning and is a strong test of execution and accuracy, the recent in-house changes have further eroded it.