Much has changed at Rich River in the 25 years since it opened. The West course has matured to a thickly tree-lined par-72, while the East course underwent a major redesign by Peter Thomson, Mike Wolveridge and Ross Perrett in 1999.

The East course differs greatly to the West course. It is a more open layout, dominated by pot bunkers, mounding and huge greens.

Water also plays a major role on the East course, particularly over the closing stages. The best of the East course is left until last. Thomson has stretched this dogleg left par-5 to 529 metres; in doing so he’s created a brutal final hole that many will remember for some time.

The West course was only eight or nine years old when I first played it in the mid-’80s. Back then, the rows of trees between fairways were relatively sparse and the fairways and greens were still young. Today, the trees have matured and the Couch grass fairways and Bent greens are first class.

At 6,183 metres, the West course may be slightly longer than its younger neighbour, but it is less penal. While there are plenty of fairway traps narrowing driving zones, they are not very deep and shots can be struck toward the greens without a distance penalty.