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greens and gold
Kalgoorlie is Australia’s largest outback city, famous for the gold that was first discovered there in 1893. Now golfers can strike it rich thanks to an inspiring new course designed by Australia’s Graham Marsh, who describes it as a ‘beast in the goldfields’. Jon Underwood reports.
If ever a golf course typified its surroundings, Kalgoorlie is it.
It’s tough, uncompromising, unique and red. Very red.
That they could build such a course in a landscape like this is a remarkable feat in itself. The fact they’ve also made it one of the sternest tests in Australia is an unexpected bonus. This nugget is surely destined to make it straight into the top 20 courses in the country.
Echoing the bravery of the pioneering gold miners, the local council took the bold gamble of closing three courses (Kalgoorlie, Boulder and Hannan’s) and moving the members to the new location. A resort-style hotel and purpose-built clubhouse are planned on the site, all part of the council’s masterplan to provide a championship venue that can attract and cater for visitors from around Australia and hopefully, the world.
While that’s some way down the track, the course opened for business last November but Golf Vacations was invited to have an early look by the good folks at Prime Golf, who also manage the Links Kennedy Bay in WA.
The first thing that strikes you about Kalgoorlie is how green everything is. The visual aspect is simply stunning with the lush fairways and greens contrasting brilliantly with the red dirt that constitutes the rough. Unfortunately, it also makes the driving areas look particularly narrow so straight hitting is something of a pre-requisite.
But it’s the overall length and difficulty of the course that surprises and impresses most. At 6,768 metres off the back tees, this is one of the longest courses in the country and when you add the extra challenges of terrain, heat and the ever-present flies, it’s something of an achievement to get round in one piece.
Tackling Kalgoorlie from the back tees is a real experience...a bit like having your wisdom teeth removed. The black tee boxes should carry a government health warning that playing from here can seriously damage your game. Some of the carries are more than 150 metres just to make the fairway, with a dusty, red graveyard awaiting anything off centre.
Off the blue tees it’s a slightly more manageable 6,433 metres but that’s still enough to test every aspect of your all-round game. After a deceptively gentle opening stanza comprising a couple of short par fours, a tricky par five and a nicely sculpted par three, Marsh starts to turn up the heat on the par-4 fifth. It is stroke index one on the card, measures 429-metres from the blue markers and involves a full-blooded drive to the elbow of a slight dog-leg right. Then it’s uphill to a raised green - a feature at Kalgoorlie – so if your aim is only slightly off you can roll down the steep banks, leaving a pitch and run or putt back onto the putting surface. If it’s possible to play links-style golf in the middle of a desert, this is it.
One of my favourite holes is the par-4 seventh, where a lone gum tree stands sentinel in the left side of the fairway. Marsh almost dares you to squeeze your drive between it and the big waste bunker guarding that side of the fairway in order to get a good angle to the green. And what a green it is, with a deep valley slicing it in two, offering a host of devilish pin positions.
Talking of greens, and in keeping with the general uniqueness of the course, the putting surface on the par-5 ninth is one of the most remarkable I have ever seen. It drops about 15 metres in elevation from left to right as you play the hole and looks like a giant green rollercoaster from front on. Traditionalists will no doubt label it ‘tricked up’...I think it’s a whole heap of fun.
Where the front nine is all twisty and turny, with a premium on accuracy and careful planning, the back nine is a little more open and forgiving off the tee.
The 12th is a delightfully short par-4 where a 3-wood or long iron off the tee will see you perfectly placed for a pitch into a green that’s raised slightly above you. But like many of the greens at Kalgoorlie, it’s really a green within a green, with small raised areas like plateaus offering great pin positions.
While there’s no standout ‘signature’ hole at Kalgoorlie, the 15th certainly puts its hand up. At 548-metres it’s the longest on the course, requiring two meaty blows to get anywhere near the putting surface. The drive needs to fly over or to the right of a cluster of bunkers on the left hand side of the fairway. Players then have to pick a spot down the fairway that won’t see their ball gobbled up by one of several large bunkers before pitching into a fairly generous, flat green.
It’s at this part of the course that you’ll really feel you’ve been transported to the Mars Golf & Country Club. The red dirt is everywhere, piled high and contrasting brilliantly with the surroundings. It really is a spectacular sight.
As is the 17th, another contender for signature hole. It’s a downhill par-3 of 178-metres with nothing but a chasm of red doom waiting on the right and bunkers through the green. Visually beautiful yet a real challenge to play, which totally sums up the entire golfing experience at Kalgoorlie.
Kalgoorlie was an unexpected pleasure and completely not what I was expecting. Sure it’s a long way to go but sometimes you strike gold in the least likely places.
Graham Marsh, Designer of Kalgoorlie
1. Did you set out to make this such a tough course?
We were under a very specific brief from the City of Kalgoorlie that the course be a true championship test of golf and that we were to make every effort to aim for a course that might someday receive both Australian and international recognition.
2. Do you have a favourite hole?
If there was one hole that I might nominate as my favourite, by default, it might be the par-3 17th. I have aptly named it ‘The Super Pit’ in honour of perhaps the largest gold mining pit in the world just a couple of kilometres away. Miss the green to the right and you may as well be in the pit itself.
3. How does Kalgoorlie rate amongst your portfolio?
A course that is as unique as Kalgoorlie G.C. rates very highly in our portfolio. There are elements of design that we have never been able to introduce in many of our previous projects. Because our design was not driven by residential constraints and restricted corridors, we were able to focus on golf alone and find as many ways possible of challenging the best players in the world. Along with pure and challenging golf we exercised every tool at our disposal to create a platform for giving the average player a truly great golf experience.
4. Are you worried Kalgoorlie might not get the recognition it deserves, simply because of its location?
Kalgoorlie may never attract the same attention as a championship course located in a more densely populated and accessible area. What will separate Kalgoorlie from all other contenders in Australia and other countries in the region are the very things you mention in your article. ‘The challenge and the stunning contrast between the green fairways and the red desert dirt’. These elements can never be discovered in a densely populated area. I can only say that those who dare to travel and experience it will be rewarded.
5. I believe you managed to talk the council out of building two courses on the site?
Had 36 holes been built the site would have been 'nuked' and the vegetation decimated. Saving the salmon gums and having the space between holes has preserved the enormous natural beauty of the property and thus helped create the overall uniqueness of the golfing experience. There is the old saying that sometime less is more. In the case of Kalgoorlie, this could never be better exemplified.
at a glance
Getting there: Both Qantas and Skywest fly to Kalgoorlie-Boulder with regular services from Perth. Flights from Perth take approximately one hour. Qantas has also launched a direct service from Adelaide to Kalgoorlie while Skywest has a direct flight to Melbourne. For more information, visit www.qantas.com.au or
www.skywest.com.au
Green fees: 18 holes, $55. 9 holes, $35. Cart hire, $20. Hire clubs, $40. For bookings, phone (08) 9026 2626 or visit
www.kalgoorliegolfcourse.com
Accommodation: All Seasons Kalgoorlie Plaza is located in the centre of town and just 5km from the airport. The hotel features 100 rooms with balconies, a bar, restaurant, outdoor swimming pool and BBQ area. For more information, phone (08) 9080 5900, e-mail: h1883-re@accor.com or visit www.accorhotels.com
Rydges Kalgoorlie has 92 studio, one bedroom and two bedroom rooms, indoor and outdoor resort-style swimming pool and heated spa, contemporary all day dining restaurant 'Prime West Grill' and al fresco dining area all surrounded by native Australian gardens. For more information, phone (08) 9080 0800 or visit
www.rydges.com/hotel
What else to do: The Mining Hall of Fame, the WA Museum Kalgoorlie-Boulder, a Kalgoorlie Heritage Walk, the Mount Charlotte lookout, the KCGM Superpit, the Goldfields Art Centre and Goldfields Oasis Recreation Centre. For more information, visit www.kalgoorlietourism.com
For more information on Prime Golf, visit www.primegolf.com.au
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