Pymble

Approaching the par five 7th from the right is preferable, but even here on the less claustrophobia-inducing area of the course, the trees are plentiful and never far from the fairway

You gain a better angle to the 13th from the right, but the dead ground behind the bunkers plays with your depth perception

Course name: Pymble
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Four Word Course Review: Needs 30 more acres

Pymble is fairly representative of northern Sydney golf courses in that it's on some fairly good land - maybe tending towards too steep in places - but suffering from having 30 acres or so less than would be ideal.

The result is a lot of fairways side-by-side and too close together, several bending around one another, with trees the obvious and necessary but unfortunate solution to the safety issues presented by such an arrangement.

It's not surprising that the best holes are concentrated around the more spacious eastern and central areas of the course. The 7th through 11th and 13th are the stars of the show.

The 7th is a downhill par five with offset drive bunkers either side of the fairway that ask for a draw between them, or for a drive that nestles against the further right-hand trap for a better angle to the green. If laying up, a bunker just short and right of the green needs to be considered.

Next is a long par three playing from ridge to ridge over a deep depression, and offering some assistance to bounce one in from the right, followed by two par fours featuring drives in opposite directions over a diagonal ridge, with the 9th then playing uphill to a benched green and the 10th downhill for the second shot to a green that's surprisingly steep.

After the short-one shot 11th  -- made interesting by the bunkering and green-front slope -- the final standout hole is the 13th, a pick your poison short par four where a better angle in from the right is offset by a partly obscured green and dead ground that foreshortens the view, while the easier drive to the left means encountering a deep trap short of the green, but visability is far better. It's far from perfect, but given the boundary issues present it's a fairly smart, playable compromise.

The 16th has the potential to be a highlight, but the temptation of driving down the right and threatening the fairway bunker is destroyed by the tall gum tree that overhangs. On a course choked with trees, that's definitely one that needs to go.

The neighbouring 5th and 17th holes are good examples of the frustrations found elsewhere, doglegging awkwardly about 150m from the tee necessitating a snap cut from a right-hander who wants to hit the fairway without hitting a six iron off the tee.

The 14th also is overly narrow for any land, let along the downhill/sidehill is occupies, while the 4th is a long, narrow slog without any real interest.

Once you're at the green on such holes as the 1st, 2nd, 6th, 16th and 17th there is some fun to be had, but those holes present little else from tee to green.

There's also some awkwardness in the routing, with a walk of about 200 metres from the 14th to 15th that involves walking around the 8th hole and passing within about 50m of the 15th green before doubling back another 130m to the tee.

All things considered, there just isn't enough land here for an 18-hole, 6000-metre golf course, though the better holes are worth seeing.