Big Golf

Heading to Western Australia any time soon? We urge you to reshape your holiday plans to include an attempt at one of these giant green gems.

Big things are happening in Western Australia. Big mines, boom times, massive developments – this is a state feeling good about itself; a state, with its fabulous natural attractions, which knows how to enjoy itself, too. Visitors invariably arrive with special ambitions in mind – to pat a dolphin, swim with a whale shark, explore the Kimberley or the fabulous wine regions in the south-west ... Now, any half-decent golfer must add to that list of must-dos the ambition to sample WA’s astonishing array of world-class golf courses. Mad if they don’t; the weather here is made for the game and the courses are breathtaking.

Here’s a guide to six of the best – and not just the best in WA. These are among the best courses in the country, according to this magazine’s great mate, Brendan James, editor of Golf Australia. “BJ” was so moved, he wrote a book about Australia’s great courses, called, unsurprisingly, 120 Great Golf Courses In Australia And New Zealand (published by Explore Australia, $29.95). We excerpt from it here to let you know what you can look forward to ... Go west, young men – and women!

Secret Harbour Golf Links

Towering sand dunes greeted designer Graham Marsh when he made his first viewing of the proposed Secret Harbour Golf Links in the early 1990s. The landscape would prove to be the ideal canvas for Marsh to produce a memorable layout that today is the centrepiece of a massive residential golf community development. A mere long iron from the Indian Ocean, Secret Harbour offers a traditional links course experience with predominantly small pot bunkers and rolling fairways laid out amid the sand dunes. And, of course, there is the essential links course ingredient ... wind.

Some of the best holes at Secret Harbour can be found on the front nine, which Marsh claims to be the best nine holes he has ever designed. Two of his best are the back-to- back long par-fours – the 413m fourth and the 397m fifth – that flow uphill and then downhill, respectively, in the opposite direction on either side of a sand dune ridge. The fourth demands a long drive over a swamp to find a fairway flanked by six deep bunkers. The elevated green is wedged between the rough-covered dune right and out-of-bounds long and left.If the fourth is played into the wind, you’ll get some respite heading downhill and downwind on the fifth hole. But it’s flanked by out-of-bounds left and the scrub-covered ridge right. Add some strategically positioned fairway bunkers to the mix and you have a tough hole. The fifth green and its surrounds are indicative of most at Secret Harbour, strongly reminiscent of Dr Alister MacKenzie’s famous Royal Melbourne West or some of the fine links courses of Great Britain. The detail is magnificent and the shaping is fully complemented by tightly trimmed playing surfaces that, in turn, offer plenty of shot options when trying to save par. Contact: (08) 9524 7133 www.secretharbourgolflinks.com.au

Secret Harbour’s landscape was an ideal canvas for course designer Graham Marsh.
Images: Vanessa Murray

Kalgoorlie, at 6768m, is the longest course in Australia.

Images: Vanessa Murray

The Links Kennedy Bay

This course has had a chequered history – originally opened for play in 1998, then closed some years later, before new owners gave it an overhaul. In November 2008 the course was reopened to the public and returned to former glories; many believe it’s better than ever. Kennedy Bay was, simply, too good a course to let go and, thankfully, the new owners realised that when they purchased the property. The par-72 layout lies on a special tract of sandy links land less than 50 minutes’ drive south of Perth’s Swan River and marks the northern gateway to WA’s Golf Coast. Kennedy Bay’s lofty position in Australian golf is of little surprise when you consider the quality of its holes and the immaculate condition of the course. The seventh, for example, is one of the best short par-fours in this country – alongside Kingston Heath’s third and the tenth on Royal Melbourne’s West course. Called “Temptation”, the hole measures just 285m from the back tips, making it easy fodder for the long hitter ... or so it would seem. Two deep bunkers lay just to the right of the ideal landing zone, about 40m short of the green’s fringe, and can easily catch even the slightest mis-hit. Adding to the temptation is the wide and inviting opening to the green, which is receptive to the perfectly struck drive that creeps onto its well-manicured surface. But there’s a whole lot more to Kennedy Bay than one great hole. Playing the trio of holes including the par-five fourth, known as “Hell”, the long par-four fifth, with its eight bunkers between tee and green, and the exceptionally demanding 195m par-three sixth is worth the cost of the green fee alone.

Contact: (08) 9524 5991

www.kennedybay.com.au

Kalgoorlie Golf Course

Kalgoorlie is the quintessential Australian country town, lying at the heart of WA’s goldfields region, just over six hours’ drive east of Perth. Gold mining remains the major industry of Kalgoorlie, but the district boasts a wide range of historic, scenic and natural attractions. Golf is now definitely one of them. This is a true desert-style course where manicured green fairways and greens are bordered by one cut of semi-rough, and then the next step wide is on the ochre-coloured loam beneath the desert scrub and clumps of wattle and gum trees. On several holes, designer Graham Marsh has even used these rough edges to isolate tees or cut through a fairway to make longer hitters think hard about hitting a driver from the tee.Bunkering tends to be a major feature of Marsh designs and Kalgoorlie’s no different. He’s combined deep greenside traps with strategically placed expansive bunker schemes, while also incorporating areas of sandy wasteland that seem to extend into the playing lines from the surrounding rough.

His bunkering visually intimidates players and forces them into second-guessing their club and/or shot selection. A fine example of this can be found at the long par-three eighth where the expansive bunkering short right and to the left of the putting surface has the effect of making the tee shot look even longer than it is. From the championship pegs, it’s a punishing 218m to find the centre of the massive putting surface. One club short or long can easily lead to a dropped shot here.Marsh has designed Kalgoorlie to be played by golfers of all standards. The course stretches to a lengthy 6768m from the championship markers, making it the longest course in Australia. There are, however, four sets of tees on each hole and the public layout is still a testing 5933m. But Marsh’s design is very much about strategy and approaching the big greens from the right place in the fairway to leave the most makeable putts on the often-dramatic putting surfaces.

Contacts: (08) 9026 2626

www.kalgoorliegolfcourse.com