Well the President’s Cup is not far away and is sure to be a massive event. Mr Obama will be in the Australia around this time (officially in Sydney) but being a golf fan I am sure he will get around to dropping down to Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

 

Both golf course that make up the composite course at Royal Melbourne Golf Club are in superb condition, although this has not always been the case and herein lies dilemma. Many purists believe that golf courses the ilk of RM should be served up as the elements allow. As most people will know, Australia has been in the grip of drought for the last 10 years and Royal Melbourne had been badly affected. The club held off installing dams obviously to the detriment of the course, however as members who played the other courses  in the area; who had ample water on hand for irrigation, many tapped into the artesian water table( consequences yet to be quantified) saw golfers from these clubs hitting off manicured Santa Anna fairways that RM members would die for.

 

Royal Melbourne bit the bullet and built a massive Lagoon (pseudonym for Dam), employed the Head grounds man  from neighboring Metropolitan Golf club and set about on cloning magnificent, pristine fairways of rolling couch, fairways identical to many other golf courses around the world and the area.

 

Of  course,  there is only one Royal Melbourne Golf Course and forever will be,  I am not sure what Dr.Alister MacKenzie  would think today of his Masterpiece. Many holes are in their original layout so the integrity of the design has not been compromised with fairways that meander peacefully towards exquisite elevated greens protected by what appears naturally sculptured  magnificent sand traps, however these doctored fairways do not seem a natural part of RM

 

And on that subject I wonder how well some of the old timers like Hogan, Sneed etc. would go playing these golf courses served up in absolute perfect condition from tee to green and meticulous sand traps.  Scores would be amazingly low in my opinion.

 

I suppose if the course was not presented in its present condition I am sure RM would not have been the host of this great event.

 

 Anyway, If you are dropping down I hope you enjoy all of what this great club has to offer and the Internationals have a win.

 

Good Golfing & Stay in the Zone

John Lyons

GolfZone