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.