PACIFIC HARBOUR G&CC

IT HAS BEEN NEARLY EIGHT YEARS IN THE MAKING BUT QUEENSLAND’S NEWEST COURSE, PACIFIC HARBOUR, HAS JUST OPENED FOR PLAY. BRENDAN JAMES GOT AN EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW OF THE LAYOUT AND CAME AWAY IMPRESSED.

Course designer Ross Watson has been like an expectant father for months. The Gold Coast-based architect has three major new course projects opening in 2006. The first of them, Pacifi c Harbour Golf & Country Club on Queensland’s Bribie Island about 80 minutes’ drive from the Brisbane CBD, recently hosted its offi cial opening round. Two more projects – Kooindah Waters and Magenta Shores, both on NSW’s Central Coast – will open within a few months.

The potentially controversal par-3 17th boasts the longest bunker in the southern Hemisphere.

”It certainly is a big year,” Watson said. “We have had a busy few years and now the wrapping has to come off and we have to see if people like what we have created. At Pacifi Harbour, I tried to create 18 individual and memorable holes that all golfers will enjoy.

“The fairways are generous in width but there are definitely a variety of playing lines on most holes that call for different strategy and there are plenty of bale out areas for less gifted players.

“I’m really pleased with the finished product at Pacific Harbour.”

Watson has every right to be happy. He has produced a layout that will – in the words of the legendary course
designer Dr Alister MacKenzie – bring great amounts of
pleasure to the greatest number of people.

One aspect of Watson’s design that really impressed me is the challenge he issues to better players, who are no doubt the same players able to hit a ball of some decent length. Pacific Harbour is certainly one course where you can’t blaze away with the driver, despite the fairways being more than receptive in terms of width.

Watson hasn’t narrowed driving zones with bunkers, or advised the greens staff to cut the rough in at 270 metres. In fact, long hitters can blast away willy-nilly and they will have a second shot if they fi nd the fairway. But I found that the further you hit your drive on some holes, the more complicated your approach is made because of Watson’s simple, rolling fairway design. For example, I smoked my drive up the middle of the fairway on the 410-metre par-4 18th and was left with 150 metres to the flag. Normally, this would be cause for much celebration but not in this case. My ball had come to rest at the base of a small undulation in the fairway and was sitting significantly below my feet. As I stood over the ball all I
could see was the long stretch of water to the right of the
fairway and green and I felt I couldn’t aim far enough left to avoid blocking the shot into the juice. The moral of this story is that I should have taken 3-wood from the tee and played to a plateau in the fairway, which would have left a straightforward 5- or 6-iron approach from a flat lie.

The irregular and rough edging of Pacific Harbour's bunkering, as seen here on the 3rd hole, gives the course a classic feel.

This feature of Watson’s design makes for some strong
par-4s but I suspect it is Pacific Harbour’s par-3s that will
set golfer’s tongues wagging.

All four one-shotters are very different to each other, which, for mine, is an integral ingredient of any memorable golf course.

The 4th measures 185 metres from the tips but a wide
entrance to the putting surface is accepting of tee shots
that land short and run on.

The 140-metre 7th is known as “Sawgrass”, aptly named after the island green 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass in the United States – the home of the US PGA Tour’s Players Championship. Watson’s version is only a semiisland putting surface but you could swear it is totally surrounded by water as you survey your water carry tee shot from the back markers. There is nothing but H2O between you and the fringe of the green, which is perched nearly two metres above the water line.

Watson has always been very keen to leave nature be, herever possible – and his par-3 13th, known as Kakadu, is a great example. The 155-metre hole skirts the edge of some wetlands and plays into a prevailing breeze, so club selection is vital.

The most talked about of Pacific Harbour’s holes – not just the par-3s – will certainly be the 205-metre 17th. The hole features the longest bunker in the southern hemisphere (just on 200 metres), which forms a beach barrier between the fairway/green and a lake that runs the entire length of the right side of the hole. Hence the hole’s name, The Beach.

From the back markers, it is a mighty blow into the middle of the slightly elevated green. From the forward markers, the task is less exacting but a tee shot of at least 150 metres is needed to clear the sand and run up onto the front edge of the putting. This is one hole that golfers will either love for its beauty and challenge or they will hate because they can’t hit the ball far enough to clear the sand and must lay-up on a par-3. Either way, the 17th at Pacifi c Harbour is destined to be one of this country’s most talked about holes in years to come.
The course opened officially for play on April 1. The clubhouse and adjoining Country Club - with its modern gym, lap pool, tennis court and spa facilities – are expected to open in the next few months. Pacific Harbour, which is being managed by Troon Golf, is open to public play, while foundation memberships are also being offered.

FACT FILE

LENGTH: 6,440 metres (championship tees).
PAR: 72
ACR/ACWR: TBC
DESIGNER: Ross Watson.
GREEN FEE: $50 (Mon-Thurs) $60 (Fri-Sun).
ADDRESS: Avon Ave, Banksia Beach, Bribie Island.
PHONE: 1300 PH GOLF.
WEBSITE: www.pacifiharbour.com.au
HOW TO GET THERE: From Brisbane, follow the Bruce
Highway north and take the Bribie Island exit. Follow the Bribie Island Rd, over the Pumistone Passage bridge and turn left at second roundabout heading towards Banksia Beach. Turn right into Avon Ave, just after Banksia Beach Primary School.