There are only a few courses scattered across the globe that can rival New South Wales for presenting such an array of fascinating and spectacularly natural seaside holes.
Laid out across sometimes dramatic undulating topography on the La Perouse peninsula – with the Pacific Ocean on one side and Botany Bay on another – New South Wales easily sits among the world’s best courses. It is a windswept links style course that offers a diverse range of challenges between first and last holes.
The club’s official history book attributes the design of the outstanding course to Dr Alister MacKenzie – during his whirlwind Australian trip in 1926 – as well as Eric Apperly. But the reality is New South Wales was built by nature and enhanced for the playing of golf by a host of designers during the past 90 years.
MacKenzie returned a glowing report and an initial layout design before returning to the United States. Construction of the course was in full swing by the time MacKenzie made it home and was officially opened in 1928, despite not being finished.
With the stock market crash of October 1929, MacKenzie’s bunker plan could not be implemented and it wasn’t until 1931 before moves were made to start work. Apperly, a wonderful player who won the 1920 Australian Amateur Championship and later turned his hand to course design, offered to complete MacKenzie’s design and bunkering plan and make some necessary alterations to the routing of the course, a task which took five years to complete at the height of the Great Depression.
Apperly clearly demonstrated an understanding of MacKenzie’s approach to course architecture in letting the land dictate the holes and create the excitement and build hazards and greens in the spirit of the land assigned to them.
However, Apperly made dramatic changes to MacKenzie’s routing, replacing three original par-3s with four new one-shotters playing to the four points of the compass. He also converted the current 8th hole into a par-5 and reduced par on the current 4th hole to a par-4.
A host of design firms including those headed by Peter Thomson, Jack Newton and Greg Norman added their creative tweaks to the layout across two and a half decades from the early 1990s. In 2019, acclaimed American course architect Tom Doak and his firm, Renaissance Golf, was appointed consulting architect and he developed a masterplan for a major course renovation.
However, the club and Doak mutually parted ways in April this year as the designer has reduced his international travel and could not commit as much time personally to the project.
The club has since embarked on an international search to find a design firm to take over their course renovation project. At the time of writing, the club was due to host an inspection by Scottish architect Tom Mackenzie, of the much-acclaimed design firm Mackenzie and Ebert.
The firm has gained a wonderful reputation for its work on links courses and, as a result, has consulted to seven of the 10 courses on the Open Championship rota including Carnoustie, Royal St. Georges, Royal Lytham, Royal Liverpool and Turnberry’s Ailsa Course.
“New South Wales is always a great experience, especially given its dramatic setting, and exciting tee shots and approaches on so many holes.” – Top-100 judge, Matt Mollica.
An announcement on New South Wales’ choice of architect is expected shortly, with the earliest works expected to start in September 2024.
If Mackenzie and Ebert are successful in their bid to work at La Perouse, they will have a wonderful canvas to work with.
New South Wales is a perennial selection among the Top-100 courses in the world. Locally, it is always in the leading layouts of Golf Australia magazine’s Top-100 Courses ranking. In 2022, it was ranked No.9, having crept back into the top-10 on the back of recent improvements under new course superintendent Mark Parker, who worked closely with Doak’s design firm, Renaissance Golf.
“New South Wales is always a great experience, especially given its dramatic setting, and exciting tee shots and approaches on so many holes,” says Top-100 Courses judge, Matt Mollica. “Mowing lines and vegetation management have improved following the arrival of course superintendent Mark Parker.”
While fellow judge Brian Walshe believes New South Wales is yet to completely fulfil its potential.
“New South Wales is bold, stunning, wild and an exciting place to play golf but sadly the architecture hasn’t always matched the scenery,” he said.
“That doesn’t mean that it’s a poor course, just one that has more upside than just about any other. It will be interesting to see what happens with future design on such an iconic site.”
There are plenty of highlights during a round at New South Wales but first-timers to the course, while being impressed by the opening quartet of holes, will be awestruck by the layout’s dynamic duo – the 468-metre par-5 5th and the 185-metre par-3 6th holes.
The 5th demands a long drive, especially into the wind, to find the table-top crest of a hill from where you can bask in the most breathtaking view in Australian golf. There, lying before you, is an amazing view down to the green and over the ocean beyond. No matter how many times you experience it there is nothing but awe for the scene – and the long shot from the top of the hill down to the green (although these days, with equipment advances, it has become much easier, for better players, to carry the hill and be left with a short iron to the green).
Walking from the 5th green, follow the path and bridge to the next tee, which lies on a rocky sandstone platform with the ocean behind and in front. The cove lying in front must be carried with the tee shot to find the green, which is easily the most photographed in the country. One of the most notable changes made at New South Wales by Doak’s Renaissance Golf design team was to alter the 6th green, made necessary for safety reasons with the extension of the Cape Banks walking trail through the Botany Bay National Park (which the New South Wales course lies within). The green, which sits closer to the water’s edge, now features more dramatic surrounds adding even more bite to an already stern test.
The back nine has some dramatic holes too, with the par-4 14th and 15th holes being the standouts. The 323-metre 14th demands a tee shot over a scrub-filled ravine to a fairway that lies diagonally to your approach and features a large ridge cutting across. Ideally, if you can carry your drive over the ridgeline, you will be left with little more than a short iron (depending on the wind direction) to the exposed and elevated green, perched high on top of a cliff.
Head to the 15th tee knowing you are about to face one of the most demanding drives in Australian golf. A lot of scrub has been cleared from the edges of the 372-metre 15th hole in recent years, but that has not diminished the challenge here and not surprisingly it ranks No.1 on the course index. Your drive is uphill into a saddle fairway, which turns gradually right across rolling terrain. Most days, a good drive (anything beyond 220 metres) will bring the large green into view but it’s still a long shot to reach the green, with its one bunker short-right offering its only protection. When the north-easterly blows in the warmer months, you might need three good shots to reach the putting surface.
FACT FILE
LOCATION: Henry Head, La Perouse, NSW
CONTACT: (02) 9961 4455
WEBSITE: www.nswgolfclub.com.au
DESIGNERS: Dr Alister MacKenzie (1926); Eric Apperly (1932-1937 & 1951); Greg Norman & Bob Harrison (2010); Greg Norman (2018); Tom Doak – Renaissance Golf (2019-2022).
COURSE SUPERINTENDENT: Mark Parker.
PGA PROFESSIONALS: Rob Blain (Director of Golf), Warwick Dews, Chris Andrews, Bill Exten.
GREEN FEES: New South Wales is a private member’s club. However, the club provides limited guest – with a Golflink handicap – access on weekdays. Requests can be made through the club’s website or phone the club.
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