Southern Stunner

All of the drives have merit but the following might be a list of favourites: the fifth offers a choice to drive either side of a set of fairway bunkers. The seventh encourages you to hit hard enough to mount a crest and steal some yards. The 10th runs down to the sea and calls for a long ball that scours the right side of the fairway. The 12th, named ‘Infinity’ presents a version of just that, a slightly crowned fairway extends a long way left and right and the hole’s flag is just visible in the middle of this most appealing of panoramas.

There are other quirks, too, for this is not a regulation par 72 layout. The par 71 is configured as 35,36 and interestingly two of the par-5s on the back nine (the 15th and 16th) are in sequence to take advantage of the long and elongated sweep up to a headland point and back. On most days it’s on the 16th that there’s more to relish. Even though the second shot is played uphill, this is a shorter and less dangerous hole for most players. The 15th, the aptly-named ‘Pirate’s Plank’, is long (550 yards from even the white tee) and one of the narrowest holes on the course, with a 200-foot cliff protecting the entire left side. Doak, in his player notes, writes "four short and straight shots will win the hole more often than not." I know I won’t be the only one when I confess that, on reflection – and three balls later – four 6-irons perhaps was the better strategy.

The main talking points of the 7,119-yard course, however, are the bunkers and the greens. Doak has been at the vanguard of the mission to return some degree of penalty to landing in sand, and the bunkers at Cape Kidnappers are distinguished by their rugged, irregular shaping and tufty fringes. Needless to say, they are best avoided. The pot bunker that protects the green at the 14th, one of the greatest short par-4s that I have ever played, would be sporting a sash and tiara if there were a world pageant for such hazards. The bunker itself is tiny but the catchment area that feeds into this devilish pit is large and incorporates part of the green itself and reminiscent of the "Road Hole" bunker on the Old Course at St Andrews.