SINGER/SONGWRITER LLOYD COLE KNOWS QUALITY WHEN HE SEES IT – WHETHER IT’S WINE, FOOD OR, MORE IMPORTANTLY, . AT THE END OF HIS RECENT AUSTRALIAN TOUR, HE PAIRED UP WITH LONG-TIME FRIEND MIKE CLAYTON TO PLAY ’S FINEST COURSES AND SAMPLE FOUR INCREDIBLE REDS.

WORDS: LLOYD COLE COURSE PHOTOGRAPHY: GARY LISBON & BRENDAN JAMES

, rdinarily, I end my Australian tours in Melbourne, stay on wood and well worn red leather, excellent staff and bourbon selection WINE WOMEN a week or so and play golf in the best golfing city in the – the opposite of your typical hotel bar. We have indeed lucked out. world. Last November, though, as I was beginning to put I say “we” … Mike has gone to bed. I nurse a nightcap and consult this year’s schedule together, The Hawke Institute at the my notes. University of South contacted me and asked if I Four clubs sit above all the others in Adelaide – all are on the same might consider becoming a visiting fellow, to talk rather than sing, to strip of sand, ideal for golf, which runs parallel to the coastline and walk across the greens of Adelaide and perhaps sample a local red or close to the airport. All are within a kilometre or two of the ocean, & SONG two along the way. I e-mailed Mike Clayton: “Fancy a few days of golf in none is more than 30 minutes’ drive from our hotel in the CBD. And we Adelaide? And could you bring the clubs I left in your office?” can thank one man for all of them. Without “Cargie” Rymill there is no Thus began Mike and Lloyd’s excellent Adelaide adventure. Adelaide golf, as we know it today. When I first encountered Adelaide as a solo performer in 2000 And you’ve never heard of Cargie, have you? I certainly hadn’t … it could politely be described as Herbert Lockett Rymill was born sleepy. Its chief selling point to the in Adelaide on August 19, 1870. visitor was that it was small and Circumstances could easily have walker friendly. Only a vibrant When I first encountered consigned him to an easy life among Chinatown caught my eye, and the the idle rich, but at the age of 32 he locally-brewed Coopers, of course. Adelaide as a solo performer was saved from croquet and shooting Things have changed, and some. in 2000 it could politely be when he caught the golf bug. He More than a billion dollars have described as sleepy ... Things immersed himself in the game and been poured into the Riverbank became a keen student of course precinct – the and have changed, and some.... design. Convention Centre expanded and By 1904 he was chairman of the modernised, and the casino is greens committee of the Adelaide following suit. A vibrant small bar Golf Club, then based in Glenelg scene has emerged and there is an but looking for better land. Upon embarrassment of riches for diners. inspecting the Seaton sand dunes The Victoria Square project has which would soon become the new revitalised the CBD, transforming the course, he said: “I have never seen St existing architecture with the magic Andrews, but if it is like this – buy it!” of open space. Stand in the square The current layout at Royal Adelaide, on a clear night and look around – as it is now known, is still based on the city shines. Nineteenth century the routing submitted by Cargie sandstone juxtaposed with towers of and club captain Dr Harry Swift, and glass, ancient trees with intelligent agreed upon by the committee. His fountains. The old town embraces influence grew, on the course and the new … the new town embraces within the club, and he was all but the old. the autocrat of his ambition until he I meet up with Mike at the airport overstepped in 1911. A bunker too – I’ve flown in from Brisbane with my far. Ousted from absolute power, he giant suitcase, synthesiser and the resigned. Not a team player, but by no usual two guitars – exhausted after means finished either. a seven-week tour, and frankly a little reticent about playing 90 holes If the Seaton course was Cargie’s first love then Kooyonga would be in three days. Mike has come from Melbourne with the clubs and no his life love. He stumbled upon the sandy tract of land, fortuitously for rain gear. It’s late June, chilly and damp. Our hotel is the Adina, in the sale, hastily established the club to buy it, designed the course, and old Treasury building just off Victoria Square, about five minutes’ walk moved house to be next to it. In 1923 he travelled to Britain to study from the vibrant Gouger Street, Chinatown and pretty much anything the great and to consult with a prominent course architect, likely one might need after a full day of golf. On the first night we take the Herbert Fowler of Walton Heath fame. By 1924 the full 18 holes were advice of my food critic friend, John Lethlean, and visit Park Lok, two in play but Cargie continued to fine-tune the design, adding land, blocks removed from the bustle and a spot few, if any, tourists would lengthening the course and planting trees. He never stopped, until ’s closing hole is a stumble upon. We dine excellently and talk LPGA and golf design in after ten years of rule and devotion, he was again ousted by the short par-4 offering a serenity most welcome to my aching body and psyche. Back at the club committee. multiple options. Adina I’m pleasantly surprised by the Treasury bar – it’s cosy with old In 1926, Cargie was contracted by the nascent Grange Club to

106 NOVEMBER 2014 | golf australia golf australia | november 2014 107 The wonderful dogleg clockwise from above: Kooyonga’s par-4 8th is a highlight of outstanding par-5 2nd hole; Kooyonga’s front nine. Cargie Rymill and his family dominated Adelaide golf in the The Treasury Bar ... our first half of the 20th century; correspondent’s favourite Kooyonga’s 13th ends a great place to rest and recuperate. stretch of holes; The well- bunkered par-3 3rd hole.

Glenelg’s superbly crafted short par-4 4th hole, with an angled green surrounded by bunkers.

design what would become their West course. Much of his routing still the apex of the property and the design we can survey the course, Cargie’s Rymills were the preeminent family in Adelaide golf in the The 7th was, until fairly recently, a marginal short par-5. Now it’s a remains. The same year he produced a plan for the Glenelg Golf Links and what we see is fabulous land, and a lot of trees … an awful lot of first half of the century, but since World War II it’s the Crafters who testing par-4 that Neil is particularly happy with. The idyllic greens Ltd. The relationship was short lived, but much of his intent seems to trees. Mike and I spend a few extra minutes here wondering how great have taken that mantle. Murray and Brian won numerous state Opens complex and surround bring to mind Birkdale, or Nairn. The feel is have been implemented, more or less, for the front nine. this hole, and the next, would be if these trees could be removed … a and PGA titles between them. Murray’s son Peter is a golf pro and completely natural, but in fact these dunes were man-made and also It’s at Kooyonga Golf Club that we begin our golf, on a cool grey huge sandy crater would remain. How much fun would that be to hit Brian’s daughter Jane is arguably the best golfer ever function as screening as the course border lies just beyond them. Monday morning and with one look at the property it's easy to feel over? This conversation is extended over the remainder of the round, produced, male or female. It’s her brother who greets us at Glenelg I wasn’t going to single out any holes myself as my lasting Cargie’s excitement. This is ideal golfing terrain, if not technically applied to hole after hole. Golf Club and will partner us in the afternoon. impression of Glenelg is one of a project which has maximised its linksland, then for all intents and purposes it offers the same In 1972, these trees would have been tall and proud, but they would No slouch himself – a four-time state amateur champion, Neil potential. It’s hard to imagine the course much better than Neil and his opportunities for golf. The elevation changes are seldom extreme, but not have choked the course, as they now do, in places. There is only represented Australia in the Eisenhower Cup and since 1980 he’s cohorts, over the years, have made it. But I must mention two. always creating nuance and challenge, and as the round progresses it one glaringly poor hole at Kooyonga today – the botched redesign been a golf architect, like his father and uncle were. The Crafters have The opener is an elegant delicate hole, with water short left and becomes clear that when it comes to sites, Kooyonga is on a par with of the short par-4 5th hole, which could be easily fixed. The rest are been part of the Glenelg club for more than 50 years, and hands on long right but neither should trouble a decent shot. It’s a drive and any club in mainland Australia. fine holes and great ones. Mike singles out the great variety found with the course design and upkeep since 1981, so it’s not surprising a pitch, or a long iron then a short one. The green is nestled below a The course opens with back-to-back par-5s, the second of which in the 10th through the 13th holes. Back-to-back par-3s to follow add that we find a consistency of philosophy and aesthetic throughout the pair of dunes to the left with bunkers and a pond right. All I will say is a real beauty, snaking through the dunes. In the 1965 Australian a charm, quirk and no mean challenge. Still, there are at least half a property. The routing weaves through dunes and wetlands with the about my performance on this hole is that I’m not drinking red wine Open, started 3, 3, shooting 62 en route to victory. The dozen holes that could be improved with better tree management. initial gentle terrain giving way to bolder contours, particularly the with lunch and then trying to play golf directly afterwards ever again. tournament was held at Kooyonga five times, the last in 1972 with Peter This is the one caveat when it comes to playing with course run of holes from the 8th through 12th offering magnificent grand- Coming up the home hole I was swinging a little better, I’d lost – Mike Thomson the champion. After a few holes it is manifest that today’s architects – they cannot fail to see how a course could be improved, scale golf. As Mike puts it, “One of the best runs of holes in the country had put on a shot-making clinic, as usual – and it had been a real professionals with the modern ball would not be adequately tested, and often the focus is on the negative; the positives don’t need fixing that isn’t Royal Melbourne or Barnbougle.” privilege and insight to play the course in the company of its guardian. but there is plenty to test the rest of us, the examination peaking on and are simply enjoyed. There is much to be enjoyed at Kooyonga – the Neil singles out the skyline green one-shotter 3rd as a personal Neil’s bunkering needs mentioning. All 93 are revetted-edge style the front at the wonderful 8th hole – a dogleg par-4 with a severely land is great, the routing is great, the turf is great, the bunkering is favourite. The green is large but the middle is the play, such is the – like the Old Course – but shaped more in the Alistair MacKenzie sloping fairway. Only a well-struck drive up the left will leave a view great. It’s a great course ... that could be really great, really special, as potential for disaster for the short-sided miss. It’s 200 metres uphill and sandbelt style. No hole showcases them better than the 18th. A of the green, anything else will fall to the right leaving a longer, blind it once was. Maybe the greens committee will look at the photos of the into the wind as we played it. The proper golfers hit 3-woods, I hit driver stunning array of them, cut into a large dune with the clubhouse shot to a well-bunkered green with drop-offs all around. From this, course hanging in the clubhouse taken in the 1920s. It looked amazing! and made an improbable ‘sandy’ from the dastardly front left trap. above, must be negotiated if the long hitter is to reach this par-5 in

108 november 2014 | golf australia golf australia | november 2014 109 clockwise from left: The uphill par-3 11th hole at Glenelg is regarded as one of the toughest on the course; Cole’s home away from home in Adelaide; The bunkerless surrounds of the green on the testing par-4 15th hole at Glenelg.

two. For the rest of us they frame our lay-up magnificently and should turning one poor hole into two excellent ones! we misjudge or mis-hit, the dreaded pitch from sand remains, with a As we work our way back towards the clubhouse, the terrain lake lurking long. Up the hill to the locker room and back to the hotel, becomes somewhat more interesting. The 9th hole is a par-5 with we’ll meet Neil for Chinese food in an hour or so. a ‘Cape Hole’ drive, one which Greg I’m sure would relish. There’s Gouger St is busting out all over. Cheap Asian joints are filled with plenty of room to play safe, but you won’t get home in two from there. kids, wine bars with the well-to-do. Wah Hing sits right in the middle of Bite off too much and you’re in the wetlands … great stuff. the melee, offering relative tranquillity and great salt and chilli dishes. The back nine is on much better land, higher up the property and Neil chooses a local wine and I order for the three of us. You wouldn’t the course takes on more of a heathland feel as the scale of the course cross the planet to eat here, but it is fine food. We talk golf. Tasmania goes up a notch. What was already a serious test of golf becomes (the future), club politics and Kooyonga … are its best days consigned downright difficult, almost relentless. But the course remains wide. to the past? It should be a better course than Glenelg, if we must rank Errant drives are not often in the woods, merely in the wrong place them, but it isn’t and there’s a simple solution: cut down the problem to attack the greens which, more often than not on the back nine, are trees. But will they? Good news – Neil has just been appointed as perched above swales and bunkered on the low side. consultant. I’m sure it’s softly, softly for now, but fingers crossed, in a This is a course you’d love to play on a sunny day when your game few years I might be writing the “Kooyonga is back!” article. is on, and even in the drizzle, getting thrashed again, I’m not blind to It’s still dark and drizzling when we arrive at The Grange Golf its quality. It should be noted that the East can be played at a length Club. Tuesday is ladies day and if we are to play all 36 we need to that would test today’s best golfers. If professional golf should return get out before them. We waste no time and drive off on the East to Adelaide, this would be an ideal course. And the hole that would course. Mike still has no waterproofs, I’m not sure if he owns any, but polarise and perplex them the most? The impish par-3 15th hole. I has at least added a layer, admitting a day later that he was a little adore this hole. After hours of struggling to hit it far enough, we are chilly yesterday. asked to hit a half-wedge. If we want to pick hairs, to find fault with the It’s a wide welcome Norman’s team offers us on the East and as we East course, it would be that the bunkering, while excellent, is a little leave the 1st green I’m already most impressed with the shot options predictable. Their shaping is so perfectly Royal Melbourne-ish that and the contouring of the green complex. The land on which the first it feels a little computer generated, as I’m sure today it must be, and six holes are laid out is far from ideal: flat, bordering marshland, their placement becomes less surprising as the round progresses. and yet there isn’t a dull hole and we are enjoying having the course Still, this is minor, and as we will see after the afternoon round, to ourselves. I’m particularly impressed by the short 4th, a dogleg Norman’s East course makes an excellent foil to Mike’s West. around the marsh followed by the demanding long one-shotter to In the 1950s the Grange hired Vern Morcom to redesign its course. follow. There are no trees anywhere near these holes so the wind will The club was so happy with his work that in the ’60s they brought always be a factor. Mike notes that in the previous incarnation of the him back to build another one. And that was pretty much the story course the 4th was a rather dull par-5, so hats off to Norman’s team for until 2005 when Mike’s design company was engaged to rework the

110 november 2014 | golf australia golf australia | november 2014 111 It almost seems like there is more sand than grass as you approach the 18th green at Glenelg.

old course, by then known as the West. The assignment was to place only a short iron over sandy waste scrub and fescue but the target is a premium on strategy and this was done by repositioning bunkers, small and any miss other than short right is likely bunkered. re-orientating many of the greens and adding width to the fairways. Continuing the round the severity of the test ebbs and flows. The Apparently some of the members think he made it too easy. They walk is easy, the turf springy; it’s no pushover but it’s a course you probably rue the passing of steeplechase bunkers, too. Mike also could teach your kids on or play with your father. You wouldn’t want sides MacKenzie when it comes to the weak players – there is no need to try that on the East. The finish is strong – the 16th is long and to punish every bad shot. The game is hard enough when you’ve just demanding and the 17th is Mike’s choice as the best hole, across the hit a weak slice or a pull hook. I can vouch for this. most interesting terrain on the West. Placement of the drive is critical If Norman’s course is bold, maybe a little flashy, Mike’s is restrained, as anything left or right will have a blind second shot to a raised green demure. The edges are less defined, rough fades into sandy waste. guarded by a hollow short and a deep bunker to the right. The 18th is Trees frame, but at a distance, rarely coming into play. Bunkering is a drive and pitch to an undulating green where pin placement is key far more random seemingly, in shape and placement, and the greens to the decision on the tee. It’s not unlike the home hole at a certain old are gentler in contour, in keeping with the terrain which has less of course in Scotland. the extremes of the East. The West is never dead flat, but rarely are the For dinner we meet up with our mutual friend James Bennett, contours bold. The Grange is very lucky to have two excellent courses a Golf Australia magazine ranking panellist who I played with such distinctly contrasting characters. Glenelg with some years ago and who knows absolutely The West’s tone is set beautifully on the 1st – a short par-5 with trees left and sandy scrub along the right. A good drive and a well- struck second could get you there or thereabouts but the green is NEIL CRAFTER’S TOP DROPS well-guarded by a front bunker and falls away to the right. The shorter Rockford’s Basket Press Shiraz – A long-time favourite and player, or if maybe your first drive wasn’t perfect, will lay-up and will one of South Australia’s best. This is awfully hard to beat. Rockford’s Alicante Bouchet – Not quite a Rosé but very certainly be intimidated by the gigantic bunker lurking just to the quaffable chilled on a warm summer’s lunchtime. This grape right of a wedge shot. The short par-4 2nd is a birdie hole, but with variety is one of very few that has red flesh and doesn’t rely bunkers placed right where the longer and shorter hitter would drive on the skin for its colour. Shaw & Smith Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc – Beautiful to, caution and accuracy are required. From the 3rd hole, the West fruity characters and well-balanced, the best Sauvignon shows its teeth and the better player will be happy to make pars. Blanc around to my mind, and I’ve tried a few, and keep Respite comes at the 7th, shortened by Mike and driveable for the coming back to this beauty. Jeffery Grosset Polish Hill Riesling – Grosset is a master long hitter, but again, very cleverly bunkered. If you were just off your of Riesling and if you like this style of wine you’ll love his game playing the West, you could find yourself faced with a lot of Polish Hill from the Clare Valley. those tricky length sand shots. The beautifully natural looking 8th is

112 november 2014 | golf australia golf australia | november 2014 113 Experience Ballarat’s premier course

Thomson Perrett designed championship course ranked in Golf Australia’s top 100 Greg Norman’s Grange East course bunkering is excellent and smacks of Melbourne Sandbelt styles.

everything about Adelaide. Over fish and chips, it’s a great catch the now infamous 17th. The hole was remodelled, the membership up with James, who on the previous visit had taken me for excellent mostly hated it, and the plan put on ice. It sits now, on the wall, just Indian food at Jasmin on Hindmarsh Square, a short walk from our along from MacKenzie’s. hotel. He’s a member at Royal Adelaide these days so we head back to American designer Tom Doak was hired to ‘fix’ the 17th. It still isn’t the Treasury well prepped for our final match. right. There is, as of writing, no Doak plan for the whole course. But if We drive to Seaton on a bright, misty morning for our final round the club can entrust the course to Tom and his team, and leave him to of the adventure. Royal Adelaide Golf Club is unquestionably it, I’m sure he can restore its greatness and more still … but will they? the premier club in town, having hosted numerous national opens, The land at Seaton is mostly wonderful. To quote MacKenzie: “Real professional and amateur championships, and for many years would links land … a most delightful combination of sand dunes and fir top: Mike Clayton’s redesign of Grange’s have been ranked only behind Royal Melbourne’s West course when trees.” But there are also flat heavy paddocks and it’s across one we West course is the listing Australia’s best courses. It’s the only course in Adelaide that drive on the 1st, an excellent opener, a shortish two-shotter with perfect foil for the bold Norman East can claim the MacKenzie signature, but the evolution of the course has bunkers on the right guarding the ideal line to a tricky, almost course design. The been far from simple and to properly detail it would require another Redan-like green. West is never flat but the contours are article altogether. A par-5 gets us up the hill to where we need to be to play the never flashy. In short, in 1926 the ‘Good Doctor’ was enlisted to overhaul the famed 3rd. I could play the 3rd all day. The short par-4 is the only middle: Two men Rymill routing. Eleven new greens were built, penal bunkers were hole remaining exactly as MacKenzie intended, its mutton leg-shaped walking and talking filled in and several of the new holes were routed boldly through green is guarded by a ridge to the left and a dune to the right. Quite golf ... does it get any better than that? the dunes rather than, as previously, around them. Now there were beautiful and inviting like a siren … once we know the hole, that is. The natural sandy amphitheatres and heroic carries through the pines and tee shot was originally completely blind but now a tall flagstick lets us bottom: The short par- 3 15th on Grange's over craters. But many of his recommendations were received by the at least know where the cup is. With driver in hand Mike assures me East course is little membership with considerable vocal hostility. Many were rejected. that in all his years playing tournaments here he never chose this club more than a soft wedge, which had Work on the plan ceased in 1929 and today much of MacKenzie’s – it’s too risky. He proceeds to hit a perfect little draw just short of the our correspondent vision remains only on paper. The map of his proposed course is green. I pull hook into the trees. We halve in pars. It’s that sort of hole. enthused. “I adored this hole,” Cole says. framed and on display in the clubhouse. Eagles can’t be that rare, and Monty’s score is the most famous but he In the ’50s and ’60s, for course improvements the club consulted is certainly not the only one to have carded an eight here. Vern Morcom, then Sloan Morpeth and from the ’70s onwards Peter The next hole presents the first of MacKenzie’s heroic drives, blind Thomson and Mike Wolveridge. New greens were constructed, between firs and needing a decent hit to carry a large crater. Better mounding and additional bunkers added. Most significantly, the players will think that the crater is purely cosmetic, eye candy, maybe course was lengthened considerably. It was a severe test the players a test for kids. I can attest that it isn’t. The middle holes on the front are faced in the 1998 Open. Greg Chalmers won with even-par. Maybe strong but not among the more memorable. But things are looking up – that was the goal. By 2008, when Mike’s firm was asked to submit a I’m not three down yet and for the first time on our visit the sun is out, masterplan, the course read like a great novel rewritten by half a and it’s a beautiful day. dozen fine authors and edited by committee. Mike’s idea was to hark The first par-3, the 7th, is an old-school beauty – a mid-iron slightly back to MacKenzie’s plan, to restore and renovate the course in a uphill to the only square green remaining from Cargie’s days. Deep manner true to his vision, but also accommodating the modern game, bunkers guard the front and sides and through the back the ground and to establish a cohesive aesthetic throughout the course. falls away steeply into unwelcoming brush. The pavillion greets us Much needed to be done, this was clear, but somehow or other, it by the next tee. No halfway hut this, it has all mod cons and a plaque was agreed that they would enact the most radical reworking first, commemorating the very generous benefactor we have to thank for (03) 5338 3000 ballaratgolfclub.com.au 114 november 2014 | golf australia golf australia | november 2014 115 clockwise from above: The 17th is Mike Clayton’s choice as the best hole, across the most interesting terrain on Grange’s West course; Royal Adelaide’s famed short par-4 3rd hole; Sandy wasteland and bunkers separate tee and green on Royal Adelaide’s par-3 7th; You don’t want to be right of the fairway on the long par-4 14th hole at Royal Adelaide.

it. Unfortunately, to my eye it looks like something one might find on with my best 3-iron in years after a poor drive. The run of fine holes a Donald Trump course, next to a fountain. It is fully at odds with the crescendos at 14, one of the very best really hard holes. Another bold wonderful natural looking holes it overlooks. The next of which is the carry is required to reach a plateau from which we are asked to play exquisite ‘Crater hole’, the 11th. The fairway tilts right to left but is a very long shot, between framing pines, to a very small green well blind from the tee and it’s another heroic carry over a bunker set in bunkered with a swale short. We both hit what we thought were good the face of a dune if we’re to find it. After a good drive it’s a short iron second shots and both wind up in the swale. to one of the most idyllic greens in all the world – set in a wide hollow The 15th is a craftily bunkered short par-5 and a lesson for in the shade of a huge pine-covered dune. I climb the dune to the 12th designers in how to make use of flat land, 16 is a fine long iron par-3, tee with the perverse sadness I sometimes feel leaving great holes. and then there’s the notorious hole. It’s a long, strong par-4, for sure. The members will play it again tomorrow, but when will I? But it seems to me that it’s Doak, this time, who has gone a bunker too It’s a long downhill par-3 that awaits, which plays and into the far. The cluster short and right of the green looks awfully busy to me, prevailing wind to a small, upturned saucer, Donald Ross-style green. and I can actually hear detractors saying it doesn’t look like Royal It’s a tough hole asking for a crisp baby draw. Mike duly obliges with Adelaide and sympathise, well almost. What does Royal Adelaide look his persimmon 4-wood. Thirteen is a fine strong par-4, the entire hole like? There isn’t a cohesive look or feel. Just lots of great holes. falling to the right. The approach from the left is shorter but the angle The 18th, in what seems to be the Adelaide tradition, is a drive-and- worse and it is semi-blind; from the right it’s longer but the contours pitch to a green separated from the practice green by a bunker then short and left can feed the rolling shot onto the green, as I found out a ditch. Great fun can be, and I have heard, has been had with a right-

116 november 2014 | golf australia golf australia | november 2014 117 FOUR REDS, FIVE COURSES delaide’s most prestigious golf while sampling a tapas plate from the chef’s clubs have partnered with four of selection of seasonal hot and cold produce. A South Australia’s best wineries Four Reds, through Golf Explorer, offers HENTLEY FARM is a bouti que single estate as well as golf holiday specialists, Golf holiday packages for three to six nights in vineyard located in Northwest Barossa Explorer, to offer the ultimate golf and wine Adelaide, including all green fees, transfers, where the land is rich with red earth over getaway packages. accommodation and paired wine experiences. limestone. James Halliday recently name Play at Royal Adelaide, Grange, Kooyonga Packages range in cost from $895 per Hentley Farm Winery Of The Year in his most and Glenelg golf clubs, and at the end of person for a three-night ‘Mini Break’, through recent Wine Companion. The cellar door is each 18 holes, enjoy a bottle of specially to the six-night ‘Vintage Experience’ at a warm and inviti ng from the moment you paired premium wine – each bottle valued cost of $1,935 per person, which includes walk in, all the tasti ng rooms off er a seated, at more than $100 – along with a tasting plate sourced from the gourmet producers inti mate one on one tasti ng with passionate of South Australia. and knowledgeable staff . No tasti ng is It’s all part of a unique promotion known complete however without indulging in as Four Reds. And given the private nature iconic single block selecti ons of The Beauty, of these clubs, Four Reds presents the key The Beast and Clos Ott o Shiraz. to getting a tee-time on some or all of these The ulti mate food and wine experience outstanding layouts. awaits in the award winning restaurant Royal Adelaide’s opening hole After your round at Royal Adelaide, you features a Redan-like green. which is housed in lovingly restored 1880’s inset: The author fires an approach will be served a hand-crafted Baker’s Gully horse stables. The food menu is created into another beautiful Adelaide green. Syrah from Clarendon Hills, a family-run and prepared with the same pursuit of boutique producer in McLaren Vale. You’ll excellence, thought for sustainability, things go at Seaton, it has the potential to be the leading Adelaide also enjoy a seasonal tasting platter. regional focus, and modern approach as is course. But it realises only a fraction of that potential, and should At Kooyonga, you will be served the carried out in both the vineyard and winery. currently rank lowest of the five. Neil is there now, but will they trust famous Basket Press Shiraz from Rockford Bookings essenti al. him to do what needs to be done? Wines, a James Halliday five-star winery The best course is at Seaton, but it should be head and shoulders in the Barossa Valley, which will be above the rest, and it isn’t. It’s a course of great holes on great land accompanied with an antipasto and with no defining identity and that is why it’s not sitting next to Royal cheese platter. to-left wind as the clubhouse is in play! And it is a beauty, a large, low Melbourne and Kingston Heath in the rankings. After a round on either the West or East accommodation at Crowne Plaza Adelaide white-roofed brick affair with exactly the atmosphere you’d hope it In Cargie’s personal copy of MacKenzie’s The Spirit of St Andrews, courses at Grange, you will sip on Beauty (pictured), private transfers, four rounds of would have. Only a tiny bit stiffer in the collar than its neighbours, the following passage is underlined: “The history of most golf clubs Shiraz from Hentley Farm, a boutique single golf, food and wine at each club as well as a but certainly very welcoming to the writer and Mike, who still seems is that a committee is appointed, they make mistakes, and just as they estate vineyard set on the banks of the private wine tour to the Barossa Valley. to be on perfectly good terms with the club. I didn’t dig any deeper are beginning to learn from their mistakes, they resign office and are Greenock Creek, Seppeltsfield. You will Four Reds uses only four- and five-star than that. replaced by others who make still greater mistakes, and so it goes also enjoy the ‘Taste of Grange’ seasonal accommodation located central to Adelaide’s The cheese was excellent, the red wine sublime, and, full disclosure, on.” In the margin he wrote: “They still haven’t learned this at Royal platter with a selection of local South many attractions; no hotel is more than 30 it was every day, courtesy of Four Reds (see story on page 119). Mike is Adelaide.” Australian produce. minutes from the golf courses. off to the airport and I’m back to the hotel to pack and make notes for Hopefully I won’t be blacklisted by any of the clubs for writing it as As you overlook the course at Glenelg, Any package can be tailored to suit this article. I’ve seen it. enjoy the Henschke Keyneton Euphonium individual needs. And if your passion for fine After dining alone, I’m back at the Treasury with a Cooper’s Green Regarding our matches there isn’t much to report. Mike’s game is blend of Shiraz, Cab Sav and Merlot, wine rivals your enthusiasm for golf, Four Reds and my notebook. Conclusions: all five courses are worth going out dull. OK, he carries a 1950s MacGregor 4-wood and hits it beautifully, is also offering exclusive winery tours of the of your way to play. All four clubs present their courses in excellent no need for a hybrid. But other than that nothing special – he hits it A round at Glenelg will be legendary Barossa Valley. condition – couch fairways, bentgrass greens, fescue/couch mix for in the fairway and then on to the green. Sometimes he three-putts, complemented after your round Checkout the websites www.golfexplorer. with a tapas plate from the chef’s rough and marram grass and scrub keeping the dunes from drifting. sometimes he one-putts, mostly he two-putts. My game is far more selection of hot and cold produce, com.au or www.fourreds.com.au for more The putting surfaces are all true, all play at a decent pace (faster in interesting – sometimes I hit the fairway but often I’m in the rough or all washed down with a bottle of details about the packages. Henschke Keyneton Euphonium. summer, I’m told) and all require well-struck shots to hold. There is the trees and then a bunker, sometimes two. Often I’ve lost the hole nothing between them in terms of conditioning and upkeep, with before I putt, but I get far more value from the courses than he does. one exception, the tree management is excellent everywhere except He gives me eight shots, wherever I want them, which is how he lost a Kooyonga. So, if we are to judge them, it’s down to design and its par-3 with a birdie. Going into our final match at Seaton 0-4, I needed implementation, how the clubs have managed their charge. a win to avoid a whitewash. Did he go easy on me? I don’t know, but I Both Grange courses and Glenelg do a fantastic job of making the did make par from the trees on the 3rd hole and again from behind a very most of the land they are on, they have hired good people and tractor on 16 to win, so I slept a little better. they have trusted them. The various restorations and renovations have Cnr Gerald Roberts Rd & Jenke Rd, left all three with a distinct look and feel consistent through 18 holes. Seppeltsfi eld SA LLOYD COLE is the former lead singer of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. The I can’t separate them. If I was to be a member of a club in Adelaide I’d singer/songwriter’s solo career has taken him around the globe, which allows probably choose Glenelg, if they’d have me, then I could needle Neil Mon-Sun 11am to 5pm him to satisfy his passion for playing some of the best courses in the world. to get out and play more. His previous feature for Golf Australia – Melbourne, MacKenzie & Me – was Ph: (08) 8562 8427 If those clubs are punching above their weight, then Kooyonga is awarded the Feature Of The Year at the Australian Golf Media Awards. doing the opposite. It should be the second best, and, depending how [email protected] 118 november 2014 | golf australia golfwww.hentleyfarm.com.au australia | november 2014 119

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