Ian, Neil, Min & myself headed out to St Andrews Beach on a day that didn’t look too promising at all. Although we were looking forward to playing a course ranked in the top 10 in Australia, the weather wasn’t playing fair
The day was windy & wet, at one point during the round we were pummled by hail stones, nearly blown off our feet, drowned in a down pour & bathed in sunshine. We had the lot. It wasn’t the worst conditions that I have ever played in but it came close.
The course was surprising right from the carpark. Maybe I built it up a little too much in mind before we got there, but compared to other courses around the same area it is understated to say the least. The clubhouse is just a small shop with a marque style balcony out the front for the 19th hole. Nothing wrong with it, it does the job, but I was expecting along the same lines as Cape Shanck or Eagle Ridge.
The course was along the same lines as the clubhouse. Maybe I was expecting too much. The course was challanging & to quote the Club Pro “Not for beginners”. It is a wide open Links style course where you get punished from vering off the fairways. The greens were fantastic, a consistant speed on all of the them & they run true. From a distance (i.e. the tee) they look a lot bigger than the actually are. The bunkers are placed in perfect positions to catch your ball. Min found himself in a number of bunker, it was out of the ordinary when he went a hole without landing in one The quality of the bunkers was great, the sand was great, this made even more impressive considering the amout of rain the we had prior to our round.
There wasn’t a stand out a hole, one that you would consider a signature hole. Most were nothing special to look at but there were a couple that looked brilliant. The 18th was a great way to finish the round.
Ian had a new set of clubs that he was trying out for the first time so he was a little wayward. Neil was up & down but he was the first to get a par & the only one to grab a birdie. This was Min first hit since Werribie but he hit some wonderful drives. My game was like Neils, up & down but I did have a purple patch in the middle with 4 straight pars. This was offset but the 9, the 8 & the 7
All up the day was a little dissapointing, mostly caused by the weather. It’s not a course I would rush back to play
I’ve add some photos that we took. You can check them out here
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Very interesting. I’ve often thought about trying to get down and play this course. Perhaps I should put a few other Mornington Peninsula courses on my list first.
I guess that might have been my problem. I’ve now played a few down there & am comparing St Andrews Beach to them. You might be better off starting with St Andrews & then playing the other courses, you might have a complete different take on it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a terrible course I just personally think there are better down that way.
IMHO
Hi everyone!
I’m still frozen. Links style course was first time for me. It was much tougher than expected. I look forward to next one hopefully in better weather !!!
I know what you mean Min, it took a couple of beers & half the ride home before I started to thaw out