Review: Joondalup Resort

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRENDAN JAMES

Australia boasts a wonderful collection of world class courses that all possess one thing in common – the ‘wow factor’.

From Barnbougle in Tasmania to the wide expanses of Royal Melbourne and its neighbouring Melbourne Sandbelt courses and on to the rolling fairways of Sydney’s New South Wales layout, the overall experience of playing great courses like these can often prove more impressive than what you put on the scorecard.

We are lucky to so have many great courses, each gifted with several holes that really move the needle on the 'wow' meter.

The famous par-3 3rd hole on the Quarry nine.

A leisurely 30-minute drive north of Perth’s CBD is where you will find a 27-hole layout that will have you uttering 'wow' on almost every tee. Joondalup Resort is a wonderful layout designed by the talented American Robert Trent Jones Jnr.

Perhaps the most striking of all Joondalup's holes present on the Quarry nine. The 368-metre par-4 1st gives few clues to what lies ahead. Despite some good bunkering left and right of the driving zone, this two-shotter could be found on any Trent Jones Jnr course in the world. The following five holes won't.

When the 2nd hole first comes in to view it is hard to imagine such a golf hole exists anywhere on the planet, or whether any other comes close. Dominating the landscape between you and the green are two bunkers. The first stretches diagonally across the fairway from the right, leaving a corridor to the left for the longest of drivers to thread their tee shot. The second bunker is incredible for its shape, size and position. Shaped like a moon crater, the total diameter of the circular shaped bunker – which is cut into the fairway as it rises to the plateau green – easily measures 20 metres across. The flat sandy base at end of its steep sloping walls covers about half that distance. These two traps are distracting enough that you might not notice that there are five other bunkers on the hole, including four around the green's edge. This hole will literally take your breath away and any score of par or better is rare and well fought for.

The par-4 5th is the final hole to flank the quarry on the nine of the same name.

The 3rd is a wonderful par-3 and is widely regarded as one of the best one-shotters in Australia. It’s just 136 metres from tee to green but Jones Jnr has fully utilised the dramatic landscape to turn what would normally be a straight forward 6-, 7- or 8-iron into a test of nerve and skill. Your tee shot must carry an abandoned quarry gorge to find the putting surface perched on the other side. Mis-hit short or right of the gorge into the out-of-bounds and it is a heart breaking third shot from the tee. Take heart though … there are six different tee positions here to choose from with 136-metres being the longest.

The first par-5 of the Quarry nine is a gem if only for its unique bunkering within 150 metres of the green. The 475-metre hole climbs gradually from the tee to a bunker through the slight right-to-left dogleg. For the long-hitter, a question of bravery awaits their second shot. Many have tried to take on the carry over the second dogleg, that turns hard right, and been found wanting. A mis-hit will find a sandy wasteland at the base of a limestone wall that marks the right edge of the fairway above. Escape from here, heading towards the green, is almost impossible and pitching back to the fairway is no easy task either.

The quarry comes back into play as you turn for home at the 5th tee. The 370-metre par-4 is a superb driving hole that rewards the player who takes driver from their bag and hits it long and straight. The fairway resembles the shape of a lightning bolt as it heads straight from the tee, turns sharply left for a brief distance and swings right again to the green. A good drive to the widest part of the fairway, left of centre, is required to avoid the quarry which is present right of the driving zone and flanks the fairway up to the right fringe of the green.

If you are restricted to playing just 18 holes during your visit to Joondalup, try and organise to play the Quarry and Dunes course combination. Not only is it rated the hardest combination of the three nines, it also offers the greatest variety of holes and a more memorable Joondalup experience.

Moon-crater bunkers litter the 27-hole layout.

There are three holes on the Dunes nine that will stand out specifically in your mind for a long time after you have pulled out of the car park to head home. The 372-metre par-4 3rd on the Dunes is another fine example of Jones Jr's use of the landscape. A split fairway comes into play from the tee – the low road is shorter but presents a more difficult second shot while the high road (to the left) offers a more conservative, but longer, route to the green.

The 224-metre (from the championship tees) par-3 4th has an unusual hazard lining the right side of the fairway – an eight-metre high cliff. This is a charming hole with low lying Australian native shrubs separating the tees from the short fairway and two small bunkers providing the only guard to the putting surface.

The Dunes nine has another good par-3, the 137-metre 7th. As the length would suggest, it is only a short or middle iron from the tee. But the green is so big that there may be up to four clubs difference between a pin cut at the front of the green and one at the back.

For mine, the pick of the holes on the Lakes nine is the 302-metre par-4 2nd. From the tee, the fairway looks like a green island surrounded by bushland left and a deep gorge and a towering rock wall right. This is a short two-shotter where the emphasis is on accuracy from start to finish. The approach must avoid four bunkers on the right of the green. If you find yourself bunkered here it will take a magnificent recovery shot to help save par.

There are more ‘moon crater’ bunkers to be found on the relatively sparse landscape between the 3^rd and 7th holes on the Lake nine. The 3rd, 5th and 6th holes are littered with small crater-like bunkers cut into the rolling terrain. On the 7th, a tough 415-metre par-4, there are six craters mixed with three larger bunkers to be found on the edges of the fairway as you approach the massive green.

The design aside, Joondalup's greens, fairways and tees are always in great condition. But nothing has been left to task. The surrounds are also superb with the well-groomed gardens near the 1st tees of each nine through to the colourful flower show outside the clubhouse illustrates this is a class establishment.

FACT FILE

THE COURSE

LOCATION: Country Club Boulevard, Connolly, Western Australia. About 30 minutes’ drive north of Perth CBD via the Mitchell Freeway and Hodges Drive.

CONTACT: (08) 9400 8888 or 1800 803 488.

WEBSITE: www.joondalupresort.com.au

DESIGNER: Robert Trent Jones Jnr (1985).

PLAYING SURFACES: Santa Ana couch (fairways) and Penncross bentgrass (greens).

COURSE SUPERINTENDENT: Ashley Watson.

PGA PROFESSIONAL: David Milne (teaching pro David Milne Academy, Greg Ashton (Master club-fitter)

GREEN FEES: $135 (18 holes, Mon to Thurs) incl. twin share cart; $145 (Fri to Sun). Hotel guests $75.

THE CLUB

MEMBERSHIP: Joondalup offers a range of membership types and categories including non-transferable (term membership), membership shares, junior and corporate membership.

Members enjoy golfing rights to the 27 holes as well as access to the clubhouse and use of the facilities and services provided at the resort.

CORPORATE GOLF: Designed for and by WA’s top executives, the Quarry Club offers an exclusive network for business persons who value and recognise golf can be, and is, a valuable business tool.

Becoming a “Digger”, through membership of the Quarry Club, offers four friendly Ambrose style tournaments per year, where you entertain three or more guests at each event as well as the opportunity to network or socialise with your chosen team and others in the tournament. Typically fields of 60 to 100 golfers are achieved.

THE RESORT

PLAY & STAY: The five-star hotel, which overlooks the opening and closing holes of the Lakes nine, is also a superb experience. The Tuscan-style designed complex offers luxurious accommodation, breakfast, lunch and dinner in Bistro 38 while there are other activities to take your mind off the golf (for a while) including tennis, a lagoon-style swimming pool and spa as well as jogging track and gymnasium.

The resort has a range of play and stay packages. The top of the menu is the Par-5 Package that offers dinner for two, overnight accommodation, full buffet breakfast, small bucket of range balls and 18 holes in a shared cart for $260 per person twin share.