Kooyonga
So often, golf courses are idyllic reflections of the area which they reside, their natural features totally in keeping with their postcode – think the hulking dunes of the Irish coastline, the dramatic cliffs of Cypress Point and the charming rolls and flowering heath of the Surrey heathlands. However, every now and then a course delivers natural features far beyond the realms of the travelling golfer’s expectation. Built upon plains, Adelaide is a notoriously flat city and the majority of its golf occupies relatively sedate topography, however looking across Kooyonga from the clubhouse deck, it stands fairly obvious that its layout flies in the face of this assumption.
The flowing topography pouring down the fourth fairway
Blessed with a consistently rolling landscape, the scale of its landforms are ideal for a compelling variety of golf which keeps golfers off balance and engaged. At various points in the round there are shots which summit sandhills, cascade blindly beyond crests and weave between valleys of dunes, with a relentless spread of uneven lies which brings with it a charming reactiveness to the sport. Creeks, gulleys and a pond deliver a diversity of predicaments, while heaving gum trees encroach just enough to feel their presence.
Much like its Melbourne Sandbelt counterparts, Kooyonga relies on its firm bounding turf, intelligent hazard placement and the gravity of its landforms to deliver both entertainment and challenge to golfers, where the correct angle of approach is imperative and creativity is not only encouraged, but demanded.
Flashed up hazards rise from the first fairway
What is also clear is Rymill’s admirable disregard for the pen-pusher’s unwritten rules of routing, his willingness to simply react to the land leading to a pair of par fives to open the round and back-to-back one-shotters in the heart of the back nine. The resulting routing is one of excellent flow, where nothing feels forced or incongruous to its surroundings, allowing the abundance of natural features to drive the quality and diversity of the holes.
The set of one-shot holes is particularly noteworthy – a collection of gorgeous green complexes closing out four entirely different questions, with the short do or die fourteenth wrapped in bunkers beautifully offset by the brutality of the uphill fifteenth stretching beyond 200-yards.
The daunting uphill one-shot 15th
Kooyonga’s closing trio is a fascinating 45 minutes, featuring some of the routing’s most confounding and iconic moments – a handsome shallow green complex wrapped in sand, a blind tee shot over a ridge, an approach threatened by water to a putting surface benched into the base of a towering sandhill, and a sharp dogleg left littered with hazards. An exciting concluding run with no two similar shots, the spirit of Kooyonga delightfully surmised.
The nest of bunkers crowding the inside of the dogleg at 18
Few countries boast the depth of world-class golf that Australia does, and combined with the sheer land mass, it inevitably means a decent helping of excellent layouts slip undeservedly under the radar. Kooyonga’s rolling terrain and honest test of golf make it a wonderful pairing with the charm and quirk of Royal Adelaide, and for a decent helping of golfers, its loud natural features and topographical drama may well push it ahead of its more famous neighbour.
There’s so much to love at Kooyonga, headlined by the diversity of stimulating shots its layout allows for, and the ideal playing surfaces which encourage the running game. A thorough examination of golf in the most interesting ways, a round well assembled is accompanied by a great deal of satisfaction – an ideal combination for both a home club and a one-time visit.
Approching the 17th green
The Second
Much of what defines Kooyonga is condensed into the three-shot second. Carved across perfectly rolling terrain amongst a valley of sandhills, a cluster of bold hazards crowds the left side from the tee. The handsomely pushed up putting surface is best attacked from the edge of the fairway bunkers to avoid the domineering hazard carved into the right of the green. A striking hole loaded with opportunity and consequence early in the round.
A narrow chute awaits at the climbing second
The Fourth
Kooyonga’s dynamic landforms provide a wonderful canvas for golf of great variety, best illustrated by the breadth of two-shotters across the routing. The fourth may well be its most thrilling, as its tee shot plunges blindly through a narrow chute to a valley below. Beyond the merits of its first swing, the exacting approach to the elevated green angled from back-left to front-right and draped in sand defines the hole.
The fourth - one of Kooyonga's most attractive approaches
The Eighth
Great golf courses vary the way they challenge golfers throughout the round, and at Kooyonga there is a constant switching of stressors between the tee shots and approaches. At the doglegging right eighth however, two excellent swings are the only accepted currency as it dives left across a valley from the tee. The small volcano green finds protection in gravity as it funnels balls off in all directions, leaving an assortment of terrifying recoveries. A compelling hole stern in its examination.
The unforgiving 8th green site
The Ninth
Kooyonga’s golf is flooded with variety, primarily driven by the compelling terrain and switching shapes and directions of holes. The three-shot ninth dives quickly left from the tee with a heaving nest of bunkers contesting the inside corner – an enticing risk-reward swing where the longer hitter can search for the shortest road home. Trees encroach on the left edge of the fairway, forcing layups to the right side – a heavily protected, narrow green flowing with spines and undulations forces interest into the final 100-yards.
The attractive drive hazard contesting the left side of 9
The Fourteenth
Much of Kooyonga’s natural advantage mirrors that of Melbourne’s famed Sandbelt region, and the short 14th wouldn’t look out of place in that part of the country. Less than 150 metres from the back tees, the slightly raised surface is wrapped in a necklace of flashed up sandy hazards and a severe run-off at its rear. Whilst Kooyonga’s other par-threes offer a comfortable bailout area, the fourteenth delivers a do or die swing at the perfect point in the round.
A terrifying do or die short iron
The Sixteenth
The first of a fascinating and diverse trio of closing holes, the sixteenth is a stout par five defined by its stunning green complex. A relatively benign tee shot is met by a fairway which swings to the right across bubbling grounds, minuscule shallow putting surface is benched against the edge of the property and straddled by sand. The false front makes any pitch delicate and for those going for the green in two, the margins are razor thin – regardless of where from, the approach into sixteen defines the hole.
The subtle gully short of the green causes plenty of issues
The Seventeenth
Kooyonga’s thrilling penultimate hole plays unsighted beyond a rise in the fairway, its left side muddled by a heaving bunker and a ditch which runs the length of the hole. The topsy turvy fairway paves the way to a majestic green site tucked into the base of an enormous dune, though it is the water hazard to the front right which causes most headaches, as the green tilts everything towards its grasp. A two-shotter of great variance, where a three and a six are not a million miles apart.
Looking back down 17