REVIEW: The Links Kennedy Bay

Tee shots at the uphill par-3 6th generally need to fly the full distance.

 WORDS: STEVE KEIPERT  PHOTOGRAPHY: BRENDAN JAMES

The first time I met Stephen Leaney was a chance encounter at The Links Kennedy Bay in the weeks leading up to the 2003 Open Championship. Leaney, one of West Australian golf’s favourite sons, had just finished second in the US Open and while he was at Kennedy Bay principally to appease some of his sponsors, he divulged that he likes playing the seaside layout south of Perth in preparation for The Open.

With the crashing waves of the Indian Ocean audible across the course, ever-present breezes plus an array of pot bunkers and enough dense, low scrub to swallow an entire factory of golf balls, Kennedy Bay reflects the Open rota better than perhaps any other course this side of Heathrow. Whether that was deliberate or not, there’s no doubt the shot-making qualities required to conquer Kennedy Bay would translate perfectly to Britain, hence Leaney’s desire to acclimatise his game.

That 1991 Open champion Ian Baker-Finch was part of the trio responsible for designing The Links Kennedy Bay is unsurprising. While the natural physical attributes of the land lent themselves to a true links-style layout, the input of a Claret Jug winner added gravitas to the course’s bid to be viewed as a legitimate links. Michael Coate, the late Roger Mackay and Baker-Finch achieved their aim and penned a course that is exposed and rugged while retaining an inherent playability for lesser players who sensibly play from the appropriate tee markers.

This ominous pit has to be avoided en route to the green at the par-5 4th hole.

The course was one of several to open across Australia during the golf-course construction boom that gripped the game as the 20th century met the 21st. The fact Kennedy Bay was just one of several courses to open at that time and that it did so far away from the major population centres in the eastern half of the country perhaps subtracted slightly from the limelight it deserved. Fortunately, savvy golfers quickly figured out the gift presented to them and slowly but surely news of an enchanting new links course in the west rippled across the land.

The upshot should have been queue after queue of golfers seeking to challenge and then re-challenge the links, but sadly The Links Kennedy Bay story took an unfortunate downturn seven years ago when financial woes caused the course to close for five months. At the time it appeared to be a sad demise for such a mighty course but thankfully wise heads prevailed and the closure was brief and the impact of the period of neglect minimised. Today, the course is a far cry from that nadir of 2008 when it was allowed to decline, becoming the domain of four-wheel drivers, motorcyclists and vandals.

There’s a hint of Augusta National’s 12th green at Kennedy Bay’s par-3 16th.

Winds whipping off Warnbro Sound are inevitable but if a single aspect characterises Kennedy Bay it’s the legion of pot bunkers dotting the fairways like randomly scattered polka dots. There are other dangers, of course. There is more water in play than at most links courses and the dense thickets of scrub lining most fairways gets your attention, however it’s the menacing little sandy rings that will prevent forward progress on many occasions and need to be avoided. The gentle, subtle cambers of the fairways feed these hungry pits and send balls seemingly destined for a safe fairway lie to the sand instead. Escaping these pots can often be an effort in itself, with backwards or sideways retreats common and a greenward shot unlikely to be managed with more than a lob wedge.

The ability to dodge the bunkers is normally the hallmark of a good score, although the layout deals a few more tricks than sand alone. The greens are mostly large and deceptively generous. Good shots can filter away from the flag and into territory from where three-putts readily emerge. In fact, your putter might turn out to be the most-used club – but in a good way. The ground game rules at Kennedy Bay as most greens welcome a running approach and even a putt from 40 metres away. It’s a course for players who delight in locating a proper approach angle on a broad fairway and who relish the deception behind discovering a greenside bunker is actually well short of the putting surface.

The Links Kennedy Bay opens with a strong par-4 that instantly provides a taste of what to expect over the next 6,385 metres. It’s a bit like tasting part of your entrée, main course and dessert the moment you sit down in a restaurant. The 366-metre 1st features a large lake on the right-hand side of the fairway that’s not immediately in view. Instead, what captures the attention up the right side are three pot bunkers to avoid. There’s a band of scrub up the left so your opening salvo needs to be a good one. The green is wide open but favours approaches from the more dangerous right side, while the lake remains in play beside the target.

Rows of small but deep pot bunkers are the course’s hallmark, including here at the par-4 2nd hole.

A solid mid-length par-4 and par-3 follow before play changes direction at the 4th. A huge bunker that dominates the fairway on the second shot defines this 520-metre par-5. Deep, flat, gruesome and no place from which to hope to recover unscathed, this pit is regarded as an homage to the sinister “Hell” bunker on the 14th hole of the Old Course at St Andrews. In favourable conditions, big hitters attempting to reach the green in two will have to strike their second shots directly over it. Those laying up for two or even three need to stay short or skirt around it. Whichever way you choose to tackle the hole, sooner or later you must challenge that bunker.

The 5th is arguably Kennedy’s Bays sternest par-4. It’s long at 419 metres and uses sets of opposing pot bunkers, staggered to catch drives regardless of wind speed and direction, to complicate the tee shot. From this demanding driving zone the fairway rises to a double green shared with the 7th hole that wants to push rolling shots towards more sand along the right edge. The 6th travels in the same direction and plays far longer than its 195 metres due to the incline to the green. Anything falling short or drifting right risks a sandy result, too.

The 285-metre 7th trundles downhill to a pulpit-style green that is open in front to tempt players to drive the green. It’s one of those genius, maddening short par-4s where you’d rather play a full wedge shot in than a half pitch or awkward greenside chip, so any attempt to drive the green needs to be spot on.

The par-3 14th begins
the journey home.

The closing hole on the front nine is another lengthy par-4 with five pot bunkers set into a wave in the fairway that can catch long, bounding tee shots. Their presence means the second shot is usually a hefty one but the large green will accept shots from long range, providing they avoid a single pot short and left of the green and three more along its right side.

The 11th is one of Kennedy Bay’s cheekier holes. A 405-metre par-4, the fairway is misleadingly wide in the driving zone, which is split into two sections. The right half runs towards a scrub-covered knoll that can obscure the second shot, while the left half is guarded by two pot bunkers and also yields the better line in to most flag positions. The 12th is another tremendous short par-4 where the hole bends left over a mound that can kick long drives towards the green providing they fly the pot bunkers set into it. Even wedge second shots aren’t easy as the contours hide much of the green and surrounding land, although the edges of the putting surface generally gather shots onto the shortest grass.

One of the course’s most memorable holes is the 16th, a tiny par-3 of 138 metres from the back markers named “Wee Tap”. It’s a wonderful examination of your short-iron play as anything missing the green is fraught with danger yet a birdie beckons for a pinpoint approach. The green is wide, subtly angled and shallow with two pots in the rear and one hemmed into the front edge of the raised target. It is the last of a quartet of par-3s that contain both long and short variations as well as too solid middle-length one-shotters.

The Links Kennedy Bay closes with a fine par-5 at 17 and another long par-4 at the last, which serve as final reminders that only precisely struck and perfectly positioned golf shots will suffice at the best public-access course in the west.

FACT FILE

THE COURSE

LOCATION: Port Kennedy Drive, Port Kennedy, WA. The course is a 50-minute drive south of the Perth CBD via

the Kwinana Freeway.

CONTACT: (08) 9524 5991. WEBSITE: www.kennedybay.com.au

DESIGNERS: Michael Coate, Roger Mackay & Ian Baker-Finch (1998).

SLOPE RATINGS: Men: 132/131/128; women: 128/126.

PLAYING SURFACES: Bentgrass (greens), Windsor Green couch (tees, fairways and rough).

COURSE SUPERINTENDENT: Bruce Coleman.

PGA PROFESSIONAL: Chris Gray.

GREEN FEES: $50 weekdays; $60 weekends.

THE CLUB

MEMBERSHIPS: Beginning October 1, memberships start from $1,380 for seven-day and less than $1,150 for five-day access (categories include a $150 bar levy and insurance/GolfLink fees). Juniors pay $260 annually, while intermediate (18 to 25 years old), senior and full memberships are available in five- and seven-day categories.

RECIPROCAL CLUBS: Sanctuary Golf Resort, Sun City, Albany (WA); Mt Broughton (NSW); Clearwater Sanctuary Resort (Malaysia); Jurong Golf Club, Raffles Golf Club (Singapore); Mission Hills Resort (China).

ACCOMMODATION: Sebel Mandurah offers a special golf rate from $268 for a superior room with breakfast and a late checkout, plus 18 holes in a cart for two players.

GOLF ACADEMY: Former PGA Tour of Australasia professional Chris Gray offers private lessons, clinics and

on-course lessons as well as packages of multiple lessons.

CORPORATE GOLF: The Links Kennedy Bay is a popular destination for the corporate and social markets alike. The club caters for a wide range of field sizes within both markets, also offering several menu options.