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.