Magenta Shores

The par three 4th is a great example of the highs Magenta Shores reaches

The short par four 6th has an interesting green and bunkering scheme, but for most players it is more interesting from the ladies' tee, from which point the drive options are maximised

This view of the 13th green gives an idea of the expansive bunkering around many greens

The short iron 15th is the last in a quality set of one-shotters

Course name: Magenta Shores
Location: The Entrance, NSW, Australia
Four Word Course Review: Fun, despite significant annoyances

I hadn't heard or read much about Magenta Shores before my round there, other than that a lot of people have quite enjoyed it with a caveat or two and that Golf Australia magazine rated it #25 in the country. Having now played it, I'd agree with both those sentiments. I'd place it well behind the likes of Peninsula (North) but ahead of, say, Yarra Yarra and I enjoyed myself with the exception of a few factors that grated on me.

The things I liked and disliked were fairly systematic throughout the round and it seems to make sense to break the course down into drives, approaches and greens:

Drives: The course repeatedly asked for a draw off a distant bunker on the RHS, either around or near a LHS bunker - often with the land assisting that shape. The driving zones also seemed to lack much benefit for hugging the hazard, with the man-made undulations equally severe in the "ideal" spots, reducing the benefit of hitting the ball there.

The holes were also generally quite narrow, with three holes squeezed into a parcel suited to two, or two in a 1-1.5-fairway corridor, almost all the way through the front nine, while the back is largely one-hole corridors through what will eventually be a residential area (glad I got there before that happened) and is wider.

Ross Watson doesn't really seem to believe in building drive bunkers that the golfer can challenge/attempt to carry heroically, it's more a case of sidling up to them as the ball rolls out. Between Royal Sydney, Bonnie Doon, Concord and now Magenta Shores, I can't think of more than three or four examples.

At Magenta, it seems often driving near the fairway bunkering is both formulaic and not greatly beneficial.

Approaches: This is the course's major strength. The par threes are all quality holes, IMO, offering great variety - which is probably just as well given the course was largely man-made. As with Watson's work elsewhere - courses mentioned above - the par threes are probably the highlight.

And at Magenta Shores, if we disregard the drives on the par fours and fives, they almost all present an approach shot that is at the very least extremely appealing visually. They are fun shots to play and to look at. There is some advantage to be had from lateral placement.

The bunkering at the greens is huge in scale and is extremely appealing. The size looks great, the shaping is pleasant to the eye - another highlight of the course, but there can be little argument that the course is overbunkered, particularly for the wild shaping that has been created throughout.

Greens: The greens are quite wild in places and will present some challenging and adventurous putts, but it seems they haven't really been designed with consideration for the hole at large.

In lots of cases, the wild undulations don't seem to take into account the shot you'll be playing into the green and don't set up so that the golfer who has played the riskier shot off the tee is rewarded. In isolation they have some great features, but those features don't seem all that well combined with the rest of the hole.

There's also some fairly over the top greenside runoff shaping that I might start another thread about because it is best looked at alongside comparisons from other courses.

Reading that back it seems a bit overly negative. Magenta Shores has some fun holes and a heap of really attractive shots, and looking back at the course guide it seems some of my criticism of the fairway bunkering might have been addressed by playing the middle tees, as someone who carries a driver about 215-220m.

But there's the feeling throughout of something lacking from the experience.

Among the frustrations is the fact that the golf course has just 500 metres of ocean frontage, which is entirely used up by one par five that, after the drive, plays away from the coast. It seems a perplexing way to utilise the site's major natural feature.

All told, there's enough annoyances that I'd be unlikely to make the 90-minute drive from home and pay the $99 greenfee, and when the homes are built throughout the back nine that feeling is only going to increase.

Newcastle

The 376m 1st is a sturdy opener - a good drive leaving this mid-iron approach to a dunetop green with few places to miss

The 3rd is an interesting hole of 217m that will force most plays to decide whether to play it as a two-shot or one-shot hole, with the short left bunkers adding interest

Call it a par four or call it a par five - what won't change is that a long iron or hybrid approach to the green at the 414m 4th is a fantastic shot. There aren't enough holes that present such a shot for the average player

There are many drives on the course similar to this at the 368m 5th

The ideal drive at the 367m 6th challenges the left-hand dune to earn an approach that need not carry the fearsome front right greenside bunkers

The superb 148m 7th hole, showing the exposed sand and ferny vegetation found in many rough areas of the course

There's great benefit to driving right at the 326m 11th

The 14th, measuring 391m, is the first of two consecutive long par fours with low-profile greens

One of the most challenging shots on the course is the long iron to the 17th green - another tough two-shotter measuring 385m

Course name: Newcastle
Location: Stockton, New South Wales, Australia
Four Word Course Review: Defines 'natural' and 'understated'

Newcastle is a little bit of a sleeper in Aussie golf, at least that's what I have found. In Sydney (2hrs to its south), when talk turns to top golf courses nearby people will rarely mention "Newie", but any time it gets mentioned, everyone in earshot will mention how much they love it and how great it is.

It's a remarkably endearing place, an extremely friendly club and the course is as idyllic as you'll find - other than on 17 and 18, which flank a fairly busy road. The sea is only a few hundred metres away from the course, so wind is generally a factor.

Above all it uses some very good land extremely well, playing over the sizeable undulations with a good variety of greensites, and accepting the blind (or blind-ish) drives (1, 2, 5, 8, 10, 11, 15, 18) with generally ample room to accommodate the reduced visibility.

As well as being really natural, the course is fairly subtle - particularly at the greens, which don't feature many large undulations but have enough going on that there aren't many straight putts. Even inside five feet.

For the most part the greens use steady slopes and very slight ridges and gullies to create challenge. In a lot of ways Newcastle's greens remind me of The Valley Club of Montecito. At both courses it's hard to see much in the greens from 100 or even 50 metres away, but the movement is there and it's critical that you keep your ball below the hole.

In and around the greens there is no superfluous shaping. What's there is there for the golf - effective and simple.

I also really like the natural and low-key bunker aesthetics. The course could perhaps handle some bolder bunkering on the wilder land, but in some ways I think the bunkering sums up Newcastle GC: understated, not showy, but effective and well thought out.

The most famous stretch of holes is the 5th through 7th, two mid-length par fours and a mid iron par three.

At the 5th, a draw down to a blind saddle sets up a mid iron approach, unless your length allows you to run down a steep ridge to about 110m from the green. The green is pressed up fairly severely, making a lateral miss an almost certain bogey, while the front of the green is set just beyond a slight upslope - another feature of the course.

The 6th heads back up the hill - also doglegging slightly to the left. A draw is again the best shape, with the ideal driving position down the left beyond the dune. There has been some tree clearing here recently and if the left were opened up a bit more I could see merit in a drive bunker set into the dune on that side, perhaps. The depth of the green is hidden from the driving zone and it uses steady slope to make putting tough.

Finishing the loop, the 7th is slightly downhill to a green defended front right and middle left with sand and behind with a steep run-off.

The three holes are all tremendously challenging and offer really different, interesting shots. That's largely a strength of Newcastle - the approaches are all different and test different shots.

The course doesn't feel long, yet it measures 6200m and the par threes will generally require a wood (217m), a mid to short iron (148m), a long iron (173m) and another hybrid or wood (212m).

The par fives only measure 414m, 473m, 485m and 445m, but the 4th and 9th play up steep hills to the green and both the 9th and 10th play over heavy fairway undulations.

The fours are a varied set, with seven between 361m and 391m, another at 352m and the last couple at 325m and 326m - but with such a variety of land very few play similarly.

Lastly, the vegetation - mostly native species including ti tree, eucalyptus and some ferny heath - is well managed and makes the course feel undoubtedly Australian in character.