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.