Great Escape

Bonville evergreen...
Image: Brendan James, Golf Australia

The 10th is another of these relatively short par-5s, only 441m, but with water to carry on every shot. This begins a good stretch of holes past the turn: the visually striking par-3 11th, then the long, down-and-around par-4 12th, the toughest hole on the course, finishing on the up ramp of the 13th. The front slope of the green here is insanely fast, the kind of quick putt that fries the nerves of Masters competitors yearly

By the time the player has begun to appreciate Bonville for being its own stimulating round of golf, the 17th comes along and all the Augusta images come flooding back. This neat par-3 pays homage to the famous 12th and 16th holes so decisive at the Masters, a do-or-die carry of 140m to a green angled between front and back bunkers.

With another risk-reward par-5 to finish, the green sitting right under the clubhouse, there’s drama to be had at the end of every round. Striding down the last, it’s hard not to indulge in some fantasising, a la Bill Murray’s Carl Spackler character whacking flowers in Caddyshack (“Tears in his eyes, I guess, as he lines up this last shot ... Cinderella story, out of nowhere”). Even if it’s just to win the skin from the rest of the group before heading to the bar, for every golfer with something at stake on the 18th, there’s a green jacket to win in their own mind.

– Jeff Centenera