LII: Commonwealth
Over time, in the absence of proper custodianship or a proper blueprint, even some of the world’s greatest courses lose their way. With playing corridors smothered by encroaching trees, flattened hazards which had lost their punch, dramatically shrunken greens and the distinct absence of its Sandbelt vegetation and characteristics, Commonwealth Golf Club had lost its identity.
In 2022 Tom Doak and Brian Slawnik of Renaissance Golf Design began the initial phases of a renovation plan, charged with reinvigorating Commonwealth’s brilliant strategic bones. Through extensive tree removal, green renovations, bunker restorations and a comprehensive re-vegetation plan, Commonwealth has regained its essence and its uniqueness to the Sandbelt, stamping itself once again as one of the game’s most thought-provoking iterations.
Sandbelt golf entirely restored
Routed across relatively non-descript terrain, Commonwealth’s layout finds beautifully simplistic strategy through the thoughtful combination of firm and fast turf, artfully constructed razor-sharp bunkering and its trademark set of slanted putting surfaces. Hazards crowd the inside of doglegs - smothering the line of charm, and greens are pitched towards the fairway bunkers – gathering approaches from the bravest tee shots and repelling those who bail out. Though inherently simple, the attention paid to blending these three elements impactfully and the constant demand for shotmaking it inserts into the round makes Commonwealth one of the sport’s most strategically sound layouts.
Shortsided with the green running away - entirely out of position
The gravity of Commonwealth’s green complexes stamp the layout as a unique cog in the Sandbelt’s wheel. In lieu of the internal contouring of Royal Melbourne’s surfaces, Commonwealth’s greens test with tilt – often with an aggression and steepness which makes approaching from the wrong side of the fairway a near impossible feat. The challenge with tilt is that it’s more discreet than a heaving slope and by the time the golfer recognizes it, they’re left with an approach over a greenside bunker to a front flag and with a firm green running away from them. These are the shots which define Commonwealth and though less striking and grand than some of its neighbours, they grip the golfer’s attention as tightly as any and carve challenge from a seemingly innocuous site for a green.
Subtle tilt guarded with sand
Though thoroughly handsome in a quintessentially Sandbelt way, Commonwealth doesn’t overwhelm the senses with tumbling elevation changes or rolling curves, nor do the peaks of its individual holes quite find the thrills of layouts routed across more dynamic terrain. Commonwealth is a course where the strategic consistency of its holes, constantly engaging shots and seamless flow of the routing pushes its whole above the sum of its parts- though there can be no doubting the number of compelling holes scattered throughout the loop.
The gorgeous textures of Commonwealth rediscovered
The Second
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Many consider the three shot holes at Commonwealth to be the shortcoming of the routing, though the quality of the second hole flies in the face of this. After a relatively sedate tee shot, the long second poses all the questions of a world-class par five. Clusters of sand crowd the layup to the left side and a fronting greenside bunker cuts off approaches from the right – its trademark steep, narrow green no bargain from the left, but commanding perfection from the right. Everything that is great about Commonwealth is found in the second shot at two.
Staggered hazards crowd the second fairway
The Eighth
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Many of the great routings around the world apex as they land on the property’s most dynamic feature and at Commonwealth this is arrives at a rising dune ridge which houses the eighth and ninth. The striking angled green of the ninth is perched atop the hill with handsome bunkers carved into the hillside eating at its edges. The uphill approach is the most visually striking of the round and the thrill of covering the bunkers and taking on a back right flag a beautifully loud moment amongst the subtleties of Commonwealth.
The climbing bunkers make the 8th one of the Sandbelt's most attractive
The Ninth
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Few things define Melbourne golf quite like uphill one-shotters – the Sandbelt is laced with the finest on the planet and the ninth at Commonwealth stands toe to toe with most. Stretching to 140-yards and playing just far enough uphill to throw off the golfer’s perception, the triangular green sits exposed to the elements, devoured by bunkers and cambers left unsighted from the tee. With a number of demanding pin positions on offer and trouble lurking with every category of miss, the ninth is one of the finest and most exacting short holes on the planet.
A distinctly Australian one-shotter
The Fourteenth
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Sitting alongside uphill par threes at the head of the Sandbelt’s table are a plethora of short-fours – each layout boasts one of quality and Commonwealth’s is presented at fourteen. Commonwealth’s best drive and pitch hole’s strategy is derived by a wonderfully angled green and the combination of ideally positioned fairway and greenside bunkers. The ideal layup is found as close to the left-side drive bunker as possible, opening up the length of the putting surface, while anything in the right half of the fairway faces a terrifyingly narrow landing area between traps suffocating both sides of the green. On a rare course where every tee shot requires thoughtful positioning and restraint, nowhere is this truer than the fourteenth.
Classic Commonwealth - a tee shot close to the fairway trap opening up the angled green at 14
The Fifteenth
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A sea of sand greets golfers at the fifteenth tee as it eats into the front half of the putting surface, creating the façade of a terrifying island green - though it’s the disguised run-off long and left which delivers the sternest punishment. At a tick over 150-yards, Commonwealth continues to prove itself to be one of the finest at testing players with a short iron in their hands.
Few greens are as strikingly framed as the 15th at Commonwealth
The Sixteenth
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Water features aren’t exactly commonplace on the Sandbelt, in fact I can’t place another which impacts play as greatly as the large lake left of Commonwealth’s sixteenth. As the fairway wraps around the water to create a wonderful iteration of a cape hole, the golfer is lured by the temptation of cutting off as much of the dogleg as possible – a classic risk-reward dilemma presented in an entirely un-Sandbelt fashion. Whilst some may quibble over its non-traditional presentation, there can be no denying the merits of the sixteenth and the unique questions it poses.
The Cape 16th fairway wrapping around the pond
With subtlety and through strategic consistency, Commonwealth shapes intrigue beyond the limitations of its gentle terrain. Few courses in the world demand such thoughtful planning from the tee and exacting execution in approaches – a feat achieved by a combination of firm turf, considered bunkering and tilted greens which punish the out of position golfer. What Commonwealth lacks in drama and theatrics, it more than makes up for in engaging golf and the recently completed works have restored its status as a unique corner of the Sandbelt. Commonwealth is once again a layout entirely worth the study of anyone remotely interested in golf architecture.