Terrey Hills has always been a private course in every sense of the word. The exclusive access is well-known but those who are unfamiliar with the location may be less aware of just how secluded the course’s setting is, which is a large part of its appeal. The course is still in suburbia – but only just, as it hugs the edge of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The hustle and bustle of Australia’s largest city is only half an hour away and Sydney’s northern beaches are closer still. And therein lies the beauty of playing 18 holes at Terrey Hills, where you’re far enough out of town to escape the madness but near enough to it to remain within arm’s reach.

All of which isn’t to oversell the setting and undersell the golf course. Now almost 20 years old, the Graham Marsh/Ross Watson collaboration has been lauded from the start. When it opened for play in 1994, Terrey Hills was the newest course in Sydney for more than two decades, taking the dubious honour from nearby Wakehurst Golf Club, which opened in 1972. The transformed former quarry was immediately touted as a championship venue and it didn’t take long before the Tour came calling. The Canon Challenge gave touring pros their first look at the layout in 1995, with Terrey Hills playing host to the now-defunct tournament regularly throughout the second half of the 1990s. It’s often forgotten that the best female golfers in the land contested the 2003 Women’s Australian Open there, with two Brits – eventual winner Mhairi McKay and Laura Davies – fighting out the title.