PGA: Revamped Royal Pines is dressed to impress

BY STEVE KEIPERT AT RACV ROYAL PINES RESORT

ONE thing the field contesting and the fans following the 2015 Australian PGA Championship can count on is that there will be no seven-hole play-offs this year.

After last year's epic and elongated championship stretched deep into overtime, the revamped 18th hole at Royal Pines offers far more chance of a fast result should this year's championship go beyond the regulation 72 holes - or even if the leaderboard is congested on that last hole on Sunday. With Graham Marsh's redesign now complete, after the front nine holes were redesigned in time for last year's championship, the PGA field will end their rounds at a hole with far more features than the previous incarnation.

Defending champion Greg Chalmers says he would take eight under now and be confident of winning.
PHOTO: Matt Roberts/Getty Images.

It's a hallmark of the entire layout. What were once flat and largely featureless greens and green complexes are now far more contoured and, as a result, far more interesting. Many of the putting surfaces are now defined by small tiers while a series of greenside humps and hollows place far greater emphasis on a neat short game.

The 18th is a perfect example of the changes. Gone are the flat, lipless fairway bunkers and the expansive pancake of a putting surface. In their place are bunkers from which a clear escape is not guaranteed and a narrow, raised green with steep run-offs all around, plus a couple of deep pots that will be the source of many a bogey or double-bogey.

"I certainly wouldn't like to play that 18th hole seven times now," says defending champion Greg Chalmers. "It's very difficult."

Chalmers also outlined how Royal Pines' new shapes will have a flow-on impact as to how players will approach the greens.

"You could be here all day on every green, because of all the run-offs on the sides. The ball runs another five to ten yards off the green and away. So a short-side miss this year is going to be pretty nasty - so that's going to probably affect shot selection from the fairway. You're going to see more conservative [plays]. Certainly I would probably err towards more the middle of the green, but there are holes like 18, which is really nasty. It's about an eight to ten-foot drop down on the sides and it's all against the grain, so you can't run it up. Little nuances like that make a big difference."

And there's more of the same right across the layout. After Marsh's revitalised front nine was revealed at last year's PGA, the inward nine features three holes in particular that will be worth watching. The 18th is one, while earlier, the 411-metre 13th plays from a new tee that creates an extended water carry from the new starting point and accentuates the need to place the tee shot strategically.

The showstopper hole will be the 16th, a 172-metre par-3 to a green with some of the most distinctive tiering on the course and a steep front bank with a pond ready to collect any shot that comes up short. With multiple exacting pin positions available to tournament setup staff, it'll be a key hole on all four days but most notably on Sunday. In the final round, the field will walk to the 16th tee knowing they're potentially one good swing from becoming an instant millionaire as a one-off million-dollar prize will be awarded for an ace that day. Given the hole's contours and character, plus it's pivotal position late in the round, it will be one hole sure to capture gallery and television viewer attention.

John Senden will start as favourite to win the championship.
PHOTO: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images.

Several players have speculated what sort of winning score might be required this week. At the Greg Norman Medal dinner on Tuesday night, Chalmers indicated that he'd happily sign for a four-round score of 280, eight-under, and see who could catch him. Today, the reigning New Zealand Open champion Jordan Zunic hinted that eight-under would satisfy him in his bid to secure the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit title.

The Australian contingent won't have it all their own way, as the Australian PGA Championship enters a new era as a co-sanctioned event with the European Tour. As such, the locals will compete against a collection of European Tour players looking to make inroads on their Order of Merit in what is the second tournament of their 2016 season.

Joining them are PGA Tour players Brandt Snedeker and David Lingmerth, who both won on the American circuit this year.

"I like the fact that you have to be pretty precise with your approach shots into the green," said Lingmerth, who is attempting to become the first Continental European to win since Seve Ballesteros in 1981. "They're like tables where you have to fit your ball in the right position to get a look at birdie."

Tables, nuances, run-offs. Royal Pines now wears a different and far more glamorous dress, setting up four days of scintillating golf ahead.