It was a grand collection of superstars befitting a grand occasion. When The Vintage Golf Club officially opened on January 27, 2003, the first foursome on the tee included the course designer, Greg Norman, current Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh and rugby league immortal and Cessnock local, Andrew Johns. Joining them was

Vintage member Lotz Lazar, who scored the equivalent of a lottery victory when he earned the final spot in the group by recording the best score on the club’s first day of play three weeks earlier.

Mooted as a potential golf development as far back as the late 1980s, the opening of the $450 million residential and golf course project was a milestone occasion. The Vintage at last added considerable ‘oomph’ to a region ideally suited to become a golf haven but to that point under catered for, given its proximity to New South Wales’ two largest cities. Even today, nearly 11 years later, The Vintage remains the pick of the now numerous courses in the Pokolbin wine region of the Hunter Valley.

“My involvement with the golf course land at The Vintage goes back more than 15 years,” Norman said at the time. “To begin with the end in mind that far back and to see the dream become a reality is extremely rewarding.”

The project was initially developed jointly by Medallist Developments and the Stevens Group, a Central Coast-based developer, until the latter acquired the former’s shares in 2006. Soon afterwards, American entrepreneur Don Panoz – who made his wealth in pharmaceuticals but later diversified into auto racing and developing golf and winery estates, hotels and spas in the US and Europe – became the Stevens Group’s partner. Panoz’s Chateau Elan resort outside Atlanta is acknowledged among the finest hotels in the world and his experience would prove invaluable as The Vintage grew to include its own Chateau Elan spa and resort.

However, while the resort and residential components expanded during The Vintage’s first decade, the golf course was the mainstay. Built on rich, clay-based soil that’s better suited to grapevines than golf courses, The Vintage overcame some early agronomic obstacles and a longer than usual maturation process to complement an excellent layout with condition to match. The Vintage received due recognition when it hosted three NSW Opens from 2007 to 2009.

The course delves into varying pockets of The Vintage’s expansive site. The opening holes are tight and tree-lined before moving across the property’s most undulating land for the latter half of the front nine. The back nine is more open and mostly flatter but with more water in play. Consistent throughout are the huge, flashy bunkers synonymous with Greg Norman/Bob Harrison designs in this country.

There’s every chance your driver will remain in the bag for the first five holes – an unusual trait for a designer who has long penned courses with room for the ‘big stick’. The par-4 1st hole rolls downhill to a green bordered by a narrow ditch lining the front edge of the putting surface, and is thus best played with less club off the tee to leave a full pitch shot. The 2nd hole features a stand of thick pines in swampy land off the right side of the fairway. Although marked as a lateral hazard, this same stand of trees can block second shots where the tee ball has meandered into the right third of the fairway. The approach is through a narrow gap in the trees to an equally narrow green that has sand protecting two sides.

The 3rd hole features a creek traversing the tilted fairway that can mean a driver will run too far, while a fourth consecutive par-4 at the next turns sharply left about the 220-metre mark, once again making a 3-wood the play in certain wind directions to create the ideal line into an angled green fronted by two ominous bunkers.

A cute par-3 with a multi-tiered green at the 5th leads play to the meat of the golf course. The 6th stretches to 414 metres and is a par-4 that commands attention. The elevated tee provides a full view of the fairway bunkers and trouble on the right side, the same direction the fairway cants, before an approach to a large green with run-offs on all sides. Seemingly perfect bouncing second shots can spill off this green into places more sinister than John Howard’s eyebrows.

The 7th and 8th are arguably the best holes at The Vintage. The 503-metre 7th features an enormously wide fairway with only a couple of innocuous fairway bunkers and distant out-of-bounds along the left side as complications, so a long drive that bounds over the hill leaves a very real chance at reaching this par-5 in two. However, the neighbouring Bimbadgen Estate vineyard draws closer along the left side the nearer to the green play gets and any attempt at finding the surface in two blows needs to skirt this left side to counter the terrain. And once on board, the green features a bowl in the front section that can help or hinder approaches to certain hole locations. The next is a white-knuckle par-3 that plays 160 or 190 metres depending on your skill or penchant for a challenge. The lake against the right edge of the green is impossible to delete from the mind as you line up, while an array of bunkers on the left can, in places, present an only marginally better ‘miss’. A Norman-esque, high, left-to-right tee shot is definitely an asset at No.8.

The front nine closes with an under-rated par-4 that climbs uphill to a green nestled in a grove of towering gums that’s tough to hold from long range. Erring right and praying for an up-and-down is in no way a bail-out.

The 10th hole has changed slightly during The Vintage’s lifetime. The 549-metre par-5 plays shorter as it tumbles downhill past a sprawling tree on the corner of the dogleg-right. The arrival of the Chateau Elan villas off the right side of the hole is one change but so was the necessary clearing of the lay-up zone. Initially, the second shot was just as daunting as the third across the pond to a green that sits further above you than the naked eye indicates.

Previously, the lay-up area featured a grassy ridge along the preferred right side that used to be just as off-putting as the water. Nowadays that area is more open, making lay-up shots easier. Golfers are also more likely to contemplate an aggressive second shot to a shelf in the fairway next to the pond that is riskier to find but rewards the third shot.

Holes 11 to 15 span a lower-lying plain where the site’s natural water features dominate play, most notably at the water-flanked par-3 12th and the creek-lined par-5 14th. The finish at The Vintage is strong, particularly the par-3 17th where in recent times the unkempt hazard fronting the green has been converted into a more visually appealing and intimidating pond at the 176-metre downhiller. And any par scored at the 18th should garner the respect of your playing partners. The Vintage’s closer resembles the last at Augusta National in some small way, as both holes begin from a tee set in a chute of trees before rising to a fairway that bends right as it climbs towards an elevated green protected by sand on multiple sides. Like the Masters’ famous crescendo hole, the 18th at The Vintage demands two near-perfect shots to set up any chance at a birdie on a green where the slopes are plentiful and not easy to read.

THE COURSE

LOCATION: Vintage Drive, Rothbury. From Sydney, take the M1 freeway north and exit by following the signs to Cessnock. Follow the signs to the vineyards, turning left onto Broke Rd and right onto McDonalds Rd.

CONTACT: (02) 4998 6789.

WEBSITE: www.thevintage.com.au

DESIGNERS: Greg Norman and Bob Harrison (2003).

PLAYING SURFACES: Providence SR 1019 bentgrass (greens), Santa Ana couch (tees and fairways), Monostand couch (rough).

COURSE SUPERINTENDENT: Steve Harris.

PGA PROFESSIONAL: Richard Mercer.

GREEN FEES: $104 weekdays, $129 weekends (including cart use and driving-range access). Specials include a $61 rate after 1pm in winter and after 2pm during daylight saving time, and an unlimited-golf green fee of $125 for an entire day (weekdays only and subject to availability).

THE CLUB

MEMBERSHIPS: Annual fees for a full individual golf member are $3,073. Other categories include family membership, midweek, country/overseas, leisure (available to resident members only) and junior.

ACCOMMODATION: Just a short stroll from the clubhouse is Chateau Elan (pictured) at The Vintage Spa, Golf and Conference Resort, as well as the Grand Mercure Apartments. Chateau Elan’s range of spa suites, spa villas and king rooms borders the 10th fairway and includes 18 spa treatment rooms, a steam sauna, outdoor plunge pool, hair salon and sun deck. Meanwhile, Grand Mercure is the region’s first international apartment hotel. Numerous play-and-stay packages are available at both.

GOLF ACADEMY: The Richard Mercer Golf Academy is fully equipped with video and FlightScope technology alongside the practice fairway at The Vintage. An hour-long individual lesson with Mercer ranges from $130 to $180 or from $75 to $95 for half an hour. Clinics, shared lessons and course management lessons are also available.

CORPORATE GOLF: The Vintage manages all corporate golf events, as well as catering for social groups, with a dedicated golf group co-ordinator.