A world-class golf course and a world-class field combined to put on a show of thrilling and compelling play for high stakes. And they did it at a (mostly) good pace and in great spirit.

It was just what many golf fans (or at least this golf fan) needed after the last couple of years of disruption at the top levels of the game and the frankly depressing situations at Oakleigh in Melbourne and Moore Park in Sydney.

To see Royal Melbourne in all its glory testing, teasing, torturing and occasionally rewarding some of golf’s future superstars was a breath of fresh air.

In so many ways this tournament is the ideal fit for Royal Melbourne, not the least being the Composite Course (whichever iteration it happens to be) being allowed to take centre stage.

The focus at professional events is almost always on players and that’s understandable. They are, after all, a big part of the show.

But while this past week’s field lacked nothing in talent they did, as amateurs, bring little in the way of profile. Certainly, few would have been recognisable to most golf fans let alone anybody outside the game.

All of which meant Royal Melbourne was, deservingly, a big part of the storyline. And what a role the course played.

A firm and fast Royal Melbourne in a decent breeze is no place for the feint hearted no matter how much power the modern player brings to the fight.

On paper, Australia’s best golf course should be a pushover for a field of this calibre. Wide, short by modern standards and with huge greens to aim at, birdies should be easy to come by and pars almost disappointing. The reality, however, couldn’t be more different.

When the ball doesn’t stop where it lands, golf gets interesting and anybody who turned on their TV at the weekend was treated to a fabulously entertaining spectacle.

In a world of mostly aerial golf where Trackman can help you learn to hit a 6-iron within plus or minus two yards, Royal Melbourne asks for something more.

It demands that precision, yes, but also asks the player to use imagination. To see the ball landing several yards from its intended target in order to use the ground to get there.

Where a 150 yard shot might be required to land at 130 yards to finish somewhere near the hole, but 125 will see it come 40 yards back towards you.

It’s these types of questions that separate the best courses from the rest and what makes Royal Melbourne so special.

And far from making the game ‘too easy’ (not a single player in the field last week finished under par,) it makes for a great spectacle.

So thanks Royal Melbourne and Jasper Stubbs and Wenyi Ding and Sampson Zheng and the rest of the field for restoring some faith in this great game.

Now let’s get on with saving it at the grass roots level.