Journey to Australia

Media Guide for the ‘Golf Journey to Australia’

June 26, 2015 By admin

The "Golf Journey to Australia" was a 32-day, 4,648-kilometer (2,888 miles) driving all over the North & South Island, 21-golf course Odyssey. New Zealand and Auckland are comparable in size and population to Oregon and Portland, respectively. I never felt constrained, there is much more to see. I hope to return for more golf and adventure travel and to meet more New Zealanders! Great country, great people! It took 24-1/2 hours to travel 11,628 miles to get there via Dallas-Fort-Worth, Honolulu and Sydney and 22-1/2 hours and 10,827 miles to return home to Jacksonville, Florida, USA. No worries, it was well worth the travel time! Here is a general summary of accommodations, golf courses played, tourist destinations visited (tour guides used) in the course of traveling, golfing and living in Kiwi-Land for one glorious month!

My last day in New Zealand at the Sky Tower in Auckland.

Feature articles with stay, play & visit details along with pictures and video interviews will be coming soon so please check back. In the meantime links to their websites are included below. If I can assist you with your travel plans to New Zealand please do not hesitate to contact me at AndyReistetter@gmail.com. I hope you will visit New Zealand. I am happy I did as it was a lifetime adventure and memory for sure!

Kel Nagle, Australia’s Legendary Golfer

January 29, 2015 By admin

Kel Nagle was gregarious, energetic and a friendly fellow when I met him on December 16th in Terrey Hills near Sydney.

I spent my only night sleeping in the car on the 2-1/2 month “Golf Journey to Australia & New Zealand” but it was worth it to meet and spend a couple of hours with Kel Nagle and his buddies David Mercer and John Holiday. Let me explain. It was the day before the ‘Golf Journey to Australia’ ended with a flight from Sydney over to Queenstown to continue the odyssey in New Zealand. I had completed the Australian Trifecta, going to Melbourne for The Masters, back to Sydney for the Open and then up to Brisbane and the Golf Coast for the PGA Championship. There, after seeing Greg Chalmers beat Adam Scott in a playoff on the 18^th in the 7^th round after Wade Ormsby was knocked out in the 3^rd round, I was invited to play the RACV Royal Pines Golf Course the next day in a ‘Play the Course the Pros Played’ outing. Of course I accepted the invitation, played and for the record shot 39 on the new Graham Marsh-designed front nine. Thank you very much Graham Marsh for that insightful, walk-the-front-nine interview on Saturday morning! The event ended at 3 pm Monday afternoon about 950 kilometers north of the Terrey Hills Nursing Home where Kel lived and we had a tea time at 10:30 am on Tuesday. That’s about a 10-hour drive and there wasn’t time to get a hotel room and sleep a conventional night (nor was it in the budget). So I drove and stopped and napped when needed.

The sunrise along the coast in Berlin Blue as I made my way south to meet Mr. Nagle.

When I met Kel in his room I had the same reaction as when I first entered the Terrey Hills Nursing Home. For somebody five days shy of his 94^th birthday he looked and acted to me like somebody turning 74. The place was not what the name implies, especially for Kel who readily admitted that it was only because of the lower half of his body, not above the waist as he gestured, that he lived there. His mind, his spirit and his bright smile were all fully present. Kel lived in ‘Dormie Corner’ at Terrey Hills as evidenced by the nameplate outside his room (which was more like a suite). I never asked him about it but I took the name to mean a good place to be in any match—in the lead by as many holes as are still to be played. Outside his room was a mural of the Old Course at St. Andrews, a tribute and reminder to all of his victory there over Arnold Palmer in the centenary year of the Open Championship. The staff at the Thompson Health Care facility were warm and friendly and readily admitted in writing and more importantly by their actions that “residents do not live in our facilities, we work in their homes.”

Our friendly foursome for tea that morning included golf professionals John Holiday (left) and David Mercer (right).

Kel, David and John were great guys and I enjoyed the two hours we spent together talking about golf and indirectly about life. It was ironic to me that the Sydney terrorist hostage crisis at the Lindt Chocolate Café in Martin Place in downtown Sydney was on the television during our visit. Sadly, the siege had ended just after 2 am that morning with the deaths of two innocent victims. While only 25 kilometers from where we were, the unexplainable violence seemed a world away from the gentlemen I was sitting with and the game of golf. Why I wondered can’t differences be resolved without the taking of life in what seems to otherwise be a civilized world? Kel told most of the stories though David and John interjected occasionally with some banter of their own. Kel met David at the Killara Golf Club a long time ago where David became a golf professional in 1953 and Kel went to practice when home. Though he still remembered that David had “taught him all his bad habits.” John became an apprentice in David’s shop later in the 1950s. I just sat there and smiled thinking that these three guys had known each other for the last 60 years. It was a magical time, no different than when you are paired up with some new friends on the first tee of most any golf course in the world.

Painting in 'Dormie Corner' outside Kel's place- a tribute to Kel's 1960 Open win at St. Andrews.

I loved hearing Kel Nagle tell golf stories. I just sat there and took 14 pages of notes, some amazingly that I am able to read. He started playing golf at age 6 with an old knobby stick from his father’s orchard. When he met his wife as a teenager he told her mother “one day I will be a champion.” Teamed up with the great Peter Thomson to win two World Cups (then Canada Cups) and credits him with noting that he was playing well and telling him that he could win the Open the week before while competing in the Canada Cup at Portmarnock. Arnold Palmer telling him that he “had a habit of getting in his way.” After his loss to Nagle, Palmer would win the Open the next two years at Royal Birkdale and Troon to pave the way for American golfers to compete regularly in golf’s world championship. When I asked him who his favorite player to watch on television was he quickly replied without hesitation that it was Jordan Spieth, the American who had won the Australian Open two weeks earlier at the Australian Golf Club in Sydney.

With Kel Nagle, the legendary Australian golfer and a great guy!

That made me think of the comment made by Troy Grant, the Deputy Premier Minister for Tourism, in the Awards Ceremony on the 18th green, that Jordan is a “credit to golf and a credit to his country.” Here I was sitting in the presence of Kel Nagle, one of Australia’s and the game’s legendary golfers and a true gentleman. The lineage is Australian golfing greats is well represented as World Golf Hall of Fame members—Walter Travis, Peter Thomson, Kel Nagle, Greg Norman, Karrie Webb and soon to be inducted this year—David Graham. One of the last things Kel Nagle said to me before I left and he could have his lunch, with a wry smile of course, was “it’s a good game, isn’t it.” Yes it is Mr. Nagle and thanks to you and David Mercer and John Holiday y’all have put the cherry on the cake I call the “Golf Journey to Australia.” Much appreciated! Editor’s Note: Subsequent to the visit I learned Kel Nagle has passed on January 28^th, 2015. I was shocked as he looked so healthy and full of vigor only a month an d a half ago. It was an honor and privilege to meet and spend some time with a true golfing legend. He and David and John were also some of the nicest men I met on the “Golf Journey to Australia and New Zealand.” My thoughts? “Dormie no more,” as the great champion golfer finished his round victorious in life and has entered the great clubhouse above. My thoughts, prayers and sympathy go out to the family and friends of Mr. Nagle.

Filed Under: Journey to Australia, People in Golf

Day 48: Sadly, Last Day in Sydney & Australia… Good Bye for Now!

December 16, 2014 By admin

Good Bye for now Australia, it's been a thrill to be here! Ending where it started six weeks ago at New South Wales GC.

It seemed like Days 47 & 48 really were blended into one day. Playing golf on the Gold Coast at RACV Royal Pines in the morning, then driving through the night south returning for the second time to Sydney for the last full day in Australia of the 'Golf Journey to Australia & New Zealand.' What a day it was meeting with Australian professional golf legend Ken Nagle and two long term golf professionals David Mercer and John Holiday. After a nap I ventured down to the New South Wales Golf Club to say my good byes to golf in Australia. It seemed fitting to me that where it began six weeks ago would be where it ended... for now. Then I stopped by the home of Dan Cullen to say hello and good bye... for now. Since I last saw him he turned 100 years old and looks better than ever. What a great spirit this young man has! Posting this in the Sydney Airport just before boarding a flight to Queenstown, New Zealand to start the 'Golf Journey to New Zealand.' Good Bye Australia, the golf courses, the golf tournaments and especially the people I have met. I had the time of my life and look forward to returning one day soon. With sympathy for the loss of the life of cricketer Phil Hughes and the heroic lives of Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson at Martin Place in Sydney. THANK YOU for everything! (-: Andy Sad to be leaving Australia today... happy to be heading to New Zealand... Part 2 of the 'Golf Journey to Australia & New Zealand' is now starting... Queenstown here I come! (-: (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 12/17/14)

Filed Under: Journey to Australia

Day 47: Played the Course Where the Pro’s Played at RACV Royal Pines!

December 15, 2014 By admin

Walking the new nine with architect Graham Marsh on Saturday helped me a great deal on Monday as I shot a 39 on his nine!

One would think that the ultimate ticket in golf for an Aussie was to be at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday, April 14th, 2013 to see Adam Scott win The Masters and become the first Aussie to do so. In reality that is ancient history and the ticket in demand was yesterday's Sunday final round ticket at the PGA Championship. What a show that was as Greg Chalmers outlasted Wade Ormsby and World No. 3 Adam Scott to win his 4th Australian major. But there was even a better ticket, the Monday morning ticket to play the Championship Course at the RACV Resort, to "play the course where the pro's played." Thank you RACV, the PGA of Australia and Kathie, the women behind it all, for giving me the ultimate thrill in sports, to play and experience as nearly as possible what the professionals experience in the heat of battle. Same back tees (7,336 yards at sea level was all the course I ever need to see thankfully only once per year), same firm and fast fairways (even more so with one more day of heat and sunshine). same rough (very heavy, punitive and a shot lost for sure), and fast greens. Thank you to my partners Troy, Jamie and Gene`. We survived the challenge, embraced and enjoyed it and shot a net 64, tied for fourth place. Great experience playing the RACV Royal Pines Resort Championship Course the day after Greg Chalmers shot 64 and won an epic 7-hole playoff in the Australian PGA Championship... (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 12/15/14) Now off to complete the adventure I call the 'Golf Journey to Australia!

So here goes a night in my Blue Berlin rental car traveling back from the Gold Coast to Sydney to meet and interview two special people in Australian golf history... morning spent playing golf in a 5-star event... rest of day driving south... currently in a McDonald's in Coffs Harbor... 525 km and six hours from my 10:30 am appointment which is 12 hours away... where will I see the sunrise in 7 hours at 5:38 am... life is good, always! (-: (Facebook Post 1 Pic, Andy Reistetter, 12/15/14) Sadly this happened as I was heading down to Sydney from the Gold Coast...

Police clear Martin Place after gunman holds hostages at Lindt Chocolat Cafe

My thoughts are with the hostages in Sydney, praying for a peaceful resolution and a safe return home for them with family and friends for the holidays... I am heading back to Sydney tonight to fly to New Zealand... spent several days in the CBD not far from this area... Aussie spirit of diverse and respectful community is shining through on radio and TV coverage here... (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 12/15/14) Here are some pics from my day at the RACV Resort and playing the Championship Course:

Best ticket on the Gold Coast!

Australian PGA Championship & RACV Royal Pines Resort, a dynamic duo for sure!

Front Nine masterfully redesigned by Graham Marsh... this is the par-5 3rd green.

I think walking the front 9 with its creator Graham Marsh helped me a great deal as I shot a 39 with 3 bogeys and 1 birdie on the par-3 2nd hole.

Lunch with the team afterwards. First class well run event just like the PGA Championship!

2014 Australian PGA Championship, what a week and what a Monday After!

Filed Under: "Play-Write" Golf Courses, Journey to Australia

Day 46: AUS PGA FINAL: Chalmers Beats Scott, Wins Epic 7-Hole Playoff

December 14, 2014 By admin

What ever 'it' is, Greg Chalmers had 'it' today, shooting 64 and then outlasting Ormsby and Scott in an epic 7-hole playoff!

Greg Chalmers is the ultimate journeyman in golf in all sense of the word. He has journeyed all over the world, on the European Tour, the U.S. PGA TOUR and here at home in Australia and Oceania to play the game he loves. Born a Sydneysider, he came north to the Gold Coast and to beat two fellow Aussies, one from Adelaide in South Australia, Wade Ormsby, and the other the beloved local Queensland Hero, Adam Scott, in an epic 7-hole playoff. It was a seven-hour day at the office for Chalmers, who teed off at 10:37 am, a good hour ahead of Scott in the final group, shot a spectacular 64 (better the next best score of the day by four strokes), waited around for an hour or so for the playoff, which was all played repeatedly on the par-4 18th hole, that would not end, and in the end outlasted the World No. 3 player and won the Australian PGA Championship by 5:30 pm.

In the Exhibitor's Village I met Ross Cooper from Key Return, a supplier to the PGA of Australia in their Supporting Member initiative.

As fate would have it, I never made it out to walk the back nine with the leaders as planned today. I ventured an hour north for a morning JPT tour of Brisbane's city sights and when I reached the RACV Royal Pines resort Adam Scott was bogeying the tricky, Graham Marsh- designed, short par-4 eighth hole. By the time I settled down for a quick lunch in front of the TV in the media lounge, Adam had rebounded with a birdie at the ninth while Chalmers was 6-under in his Sunday best round through 14 holes. Two holes later after an Ormsby bogey at the 11th the eventual playoff threesome were tied for the lead at 10-under par. After watching Chalmers approach shot on the 18th hole I ventured out just in time to watch him drain the 10-footer for a dramatic finishing birdie for a new course record of 10-under par 64. Ormsby and Scott would each go one-under the rest of the way in their rounds with two birdies and a bogey to match Chalmers clubhouse 11-under total of 273. Ormsby would match Chalmers' dramatics draining a 20-foot birde putt of his own on the 18th green.

My spot at the 18th green for the epic playoff!

After hearing Chalmers flash interview outside the scoring trailer I went back to the 18th green to see American Scott Stallings walking off after making a birdie of his own and posting a 70 to finish three strokes out of the playoff. With only three groups remaining to finish I decided to settle in behind the back left greenside bunker to watch the conclusion of the final event of the Australian Trifecta (Masters, Open, PGA). I use to do this a lot when I was a spotter and liked to watch the player parade marching into the last hole. Little did I know there would be a playoff as I expected, like everyone else, that Adam Scott would light up the Gold Coast and win back-to-back PGA Championships. Plus the playoff would be an extended Australian style "Kangaroo (Groundhog)-Day," it kept hopping over and over again. (Sorry, couldn't resist!)

Wade Ormsby was pretty fired up after making the needed birdie at the 18th to get into the playoff. What American player does this remind you of?

Boo Weekley finished with a par to post a 2-over par 74, four strokes out of the playoff. After opening with a morning 66 on the rain-shortened Thursday round, Boo was a little inconsistent but his solo 6th place finish was his best of the Australian Trifecta. Boo met Australia and Australia lovingly booed him an admiring and friendly welcome and good-bye. Ormsby's dramatics were next and then the stage set for Scott to win with a dramatic birdie of his own but that did not happen. Instead he bunkered his drive left and missed his chip-in to settle for a par and a playoff appearance with Chalmers and Ormsby.

See the shadow line at the start of the playoff...

The shadows moving across the green tell the story of the epic playoff, said to be the longest in Australasian tour history. The fact that it happened all on a single hole is not to be understated either. Scott and Ormsby missed makeable putts in Round 1 of the 7-round title fight. Round 2 was fateful for Chalmers in that he missed the green and chipped knowing Scott had a 7-footer and Ormsby a 5-footer for potential winning birdies. If either or both made, Chalmers would likely be out. Chalmers chip was poor, stopping 12 feet short and maintaining his honor to putt for par before the other two gave their birdie putts a go. Chalmers, still hot with the putter that led to his 8-birdie, bogey-less masterful round, drained the par-saving putt that saved his hopes or rather his caddie's hope. As Chalmers would confess later—"I started to shake my caddy's hand and he wouldn't. He said, no, no, we'll just wait and see. I thought we were done. I thought there's no way both are going to miss." They did with Scott rimming the hole and Ormsby completely missing it.

See the shadow line at the end of the 7-hole playoff...

Round 3 was fateful for Ormsby as he exited left to birdies first by Chalmers, then by Scott, after tow good chances in the earlier rounds to make a birdie and win the PGA Championship. The next two rounds would have Chalmers on the ropes with Scott unable to hole the knockout putt. In Round 4 Chalmers made a great recovery from the woods left while Scott missed a 20-foot birde putt after a huge drive down the middle of the fairway. For the record, Scott hit the fairway six of seven times in the playoff with his driver bunkering right only once. In Round 5 Chalmers bunkered his drive left and Scott rimmed another tournament ending 12-footer. For the record, Chalmers only hit one fairway in seven playoff drives, in Round 3, when he sank the birdie putt to force Scott to make his.

Adam Scott misses his chip-in on the last hole in regulation and missed several putts to win in the playoff.

Round 6 had both competitors bunkered off the tee, Chalmers left and Scott right. Scott 2-putted from off the green and Chalmers surprisingly missed a 15-footer for the win. Round 7, of course, had Chalmers 2-putting from 50 feet after a bunkered right drive, and surprisingly, Scott three putting from 18 feet when everyone thought he would make it for the win. Chalmers, the journeyman around the world, had another major victory at home, another PGA Championship to match his two Australian Open Championships. Maybe he is really not a journeyman but wants us to think he is. After all his second Open victory in 2011, came by holding off late charges by John Senden and Tiger Woods. Another winner this week was golf course architect Graham Marsh. His new front nine, redesigned in a tight 9-month window after the February European Tour Ladies Masters, was well received by the players, sponsors and golf fans alike. As mentioned above his tricky par-4 eighth hole factored into the dramatic Sunday finish and there is no doubt his redesigned back nine will do the same in next year's PGA Championship. Adam Scott's drive that rolled through the left fairway bunker back into the fairway in Round 2 of the playoff will likely not happen next year. Later that same year he defeated Robert Allenby and Marcus Fraser in a sudden death playoff to win his first PGA Championship.

Champion golfer Greg Chalmers takes a knee after an exhausting playoff!

Champion golfer Greg Chalmers takes a knee with the Joe Kirkwood Cup after an exhausting playoff!

With this victory, even though he lost his PGA TOUR status last year finishing 132nd in FedEx points, we will see him in the World Golf Championships (WGC) at Doral and Firestone, and the Open Championship at St. Andrews, earned by virtue of his finish in the Australian Open. Based on his champion's interview comments, we might see a new Greg Chalmers as well: "Look, what happens is my attitude, if you're talking about my mental approach, one of my weaknesses, if you want to get into it, is that when I play in the (United) States (on the PGA TOUR) I don't play to win. I'm 41 and I've been doing it a long time... I just like to do well rather than, you know what, when I come here, I come here to try and win the golf tournament and I get really focused on that... so that's an attitude that needs to change." Here's a guy that is brutally honest with himself, accepting of himself and in so doing can change himself, whether to continue winning here in Australia or next year on the U.S. PGA TOUR in a WGC.

Queensland: It's LIVE and EXCITING!

With an epic playoff finish in Queensland at the RACV Royal Pines Resort I think there is one thing that need changing for sure and that is the Queensland Events and Tourism logo: Queensland—It's LIVE! I think it should be: Queensland—It's LIVE and EXCITING! Here is the question I posed to champion golfer Greg Chalmers in his post-win interview: Q. I think Adam rimmed his, Ormsby missed, but what were you thinking at that time? Did you think you were done and did it re-energise you? GREG CHALMERS: Yeah, I started to shake my caddy's hand and he wouldn't. He said, no, no, we'll just wait and see. I thought we were done. I thought there's no way both are going to miss. I certainly thought Wade's putt was uphill, I thought it was a putt that most of us would make but I also understand that you're nervous and sometimes it's really hard to control what the putter does and how the ball rolls. I was very fortunate I think that I made that putt, I read it right and I think it broke about a cup to the right, which is a good putt for me, for a leftie. I just kind of pushed it up against the break and it broke in the hole and before you know it, it was still going. I would have liked to hit a better second shot. I fatted it out of the bunker I think; that's what happens. I hit a little fat and went left in the rough.

What a great Australian Trifecta it was... Nick Cullen, Masters Champion; Jordan Spieth, Open Champion; and Greg Chalmers, Masters Champion!

Sadly this is the last golf tournament on the Australasia PGA schedule. What an Australian Trifecta it was! After playing the Championship Course here at RACV Royal Pines in the morning I drive back to Sydney to catch a flight to Queenstown on the South Island of New Zealand. What a great month and a half in Australia! Exciting conclusion to the Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines Resort... Congratulations to Greg Chalmers!!! (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 12/14/14) On to the "Golf Journey to New Zealand!"

Filed Under: Hickory Golf, Journey to Australia, PGA TOUR Golf

Day 46: JPT City Sights Tour of Brisbane

December 14, 2014 By admin

Filed Under: Journey to Australia

Day 45: AUS PGA Rd. 3: Adam Scott Strange, aand Ormsby, Leading the Australian PGA

December 13, 2014 By admin

Adam Scott appears to be in control of his defense of the Australian PGA Championship.

As 'Strange' as it may seem, everything is as expected going into the final round of the Australian PGA Championship and then again there is the unexpected too on Moving Day! Adam Scott, two strokes back of two relatively unknown co-leaders to start Round 3 on Saturday at the RACV Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast, continued his calculating, consistent and stellar play and posted a 3-under par 69, to move to the top of the leader board heading into Showdown Sunday. Strange as it may sound, the co-leaders after Round 2—Wade Ormsby and Scott Strange posted 1-under par 71s to remain in the lead though joined by Scott. As if a "Before and After" category on Jeopardy, Adam Scott Strange is the final twosome teeing off at 11:45 am. Joining Ormsby in the penultimate pairing will be Jason Scrivener who followed a 73-66 start with a more stable 68 to keep moving in the right direction on Moving Day.

The spectacularly Graham Marsh- redesign and the spectacular RACV Royal Pines Resort are winners this week. The Australian PGA Champion is yet to be identified.

Unexpectedly, the shorter newly Graham Marsh-redesigned front nine played a stroke and a half harder than the back nine. American Boo Weekley got back into contention after a chip-in eagle on the par-5 12th hole and a birdie on the par-4 13th hole. Weekly will be joined in the second-to-last group to tee off by Michael Hendry who had the low round of the windy day—a five-biride, no bogey 67. Great Scott, there is an American named Scott Stallings, who surged to within four strokes of the lead at day's end with a back nine 5-under par 31 (eagle with 3 birdies) after a 'thank you Graham Marsh' pedestrian 1-over par 37 on the front. On Thursday the low round was 65 (Jin Jeong ringing the door bell), on Friday it was Strange and Scrivener's 66s and today it was Hendry's 67. Strange as it seems, and keeping in the same direction I am thinking a low round of 4-under 68 by any of those named above within four strokes of the lead (and David Snail 68-71-71 with a bookend 68) will be enough to seal the deal and take home the Joe Kirkwood Cup. My guess is that Scott will be Adam Scott! Any Jeopardy! fans out there? Adam Scott Strange or Ormsby? Who will win the Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines Resort? It is time for Final Jeopardy! Doo dee doo dodo doo dee doo Doo dee doo dee doo-...dododododo Doo dee... and the final putt drops and the winner of the Joe Kirkwood Cup is??? What I did 'before and after' this 'Golf Journey to Australia & New Zealand' I do not know... (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 12/13/14)

Filed Under: Hickory Golf, Journey to Australia, PGA TOUR Golf

Day 45: Walking the New Royal Pines Course with its Architect Graham Marsh!

December 13, 2014 By admin

The spectacularly Graham Marsh- redesign complements the spectacular RACV Royal Pines Resort.

What an insightful and extraordinary experience it was to walk the new front nine on Saturday morning with none other than its creator, golf course architect Graham Marsh. An Australian golfing legend turned legendary golf course architect, everyone knows Graham for his 70 worldwide professional wins, including his last two being majors on the Champions Tour. More of a secret to most Americans is his over 30-year Graham Marsh Golf Design business, unless of course, you have played his two gems at Sutton Bay or the Prairie Club in Nebraska; Wild Marsh in Minnesota or Old Silo in Kentucky. With only five of his fifty golf course designs in the United States, the rest of the world, namely Africa, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe and the Middle East have come to know Marsh and have enjoyed playing golf on the courses he has designed. We met in the Media Center and headed right out to the first hole as the Robert Allenby, Jun Seok Lee and Mark Brown pairing began their third rounds. An architect, by design, likes to be where the ball lands, whether in the fairway or on the green. This is the moment of impact, the moment of truth, for both the architect and the professional golfer. Armed with hole statistics from the first two rounds, Graham notes that his nine is playing slightly easier than the older, still original back nine. A difference easily rationalized by length, with the front nine being nearly 200 meters shorter. Over the next couple of hours I would be entertained and educated while coming to the realization at how complicated and complex the work is of a golf course architect.

The Allenby group walking up towards the 4th green.

After video taping our first segment on the side of the first green, I watched and listened as Graham interacted with Allenby as he headed to the second tee. Allenby had hit it right off the tee and made a nice recovery from the woods to save par. Graham half joked that he was wondering why Allenby played the hole he designed that way. The architect, especially one like Graham with lots of success as a professional golfer, like the on-course television reporter, has an intimate and informal relationship with the golfers. As you will see in the video interviews, Graham is thorough and decisive in his design work, never afraid to challenge the player or make him think his or her way around his courses. We spoke of the angled 'dividing bunker' the golfer faces in the middle of the fairway on their first tee shot. It's the third live rail of golf design—make the golfer think from the get-go, not an easy warmup first at The Old Course or the impossible first at Muirfield. The bunker is placed in the middle of the fairway seemingly splitting it evenly making left and right choices the same and complimented by the layup or carry-over possibilities. Once carried, though, because of the angle, the landing areas are no longer equal. The wider carried right side has a more limited view especially with the flag stick placed behind the mounds on the right side of the green. These are the hidden calculations the thinking golfer must compute to be successful on a Marsh design. As Graham stated, "let the player learn the golf course, don't show it to him." Even if thinking is critical, as Allenby demonstrated, luck and skill, is a powerful combination too.

Graham getting player performance updates from a rules official. The day's update was that the new nine played a stroke and a half harder than the old nine even though it is 200 meters shorter.

On the second hole, a 179-meter par-3, one of Graham's favorites, I learned what Allenby suffered, making a bogey. What visually looks like a big green from the tee is anything but easily reached by the tee shot. The numbers in Graham's grasp support the genius of his design with the hole playing over par both of the first two days of competition. The green complex featured a back false edge which reduces the playable size of the green. Also, bumps in the runoff areas to force the player to pitch instead of running the ball back up to the hole. This is a complicated hole and one which Robert was fully aware of as he urged his ball to "get down" immediately after impact. It didn't, the ball ended up in the runoff area and Allenby was forced to pitch, missed the 10-foot par putt and suffered a bogey. All is fair in golf and golf course design with Graham commenting "good shots are not enough, need great shots" on this hole for a par. By this point I realized what a great opportunity this was to see inside of the mind of a gifted player and architect. Graham was generous with his time and responsive to my prompts to capture his design genius on each hole. As I interacted with him, it seemed as he spoke to me with his eyes, an indication to me of how passionate, creative and committed he is to his artwork. For whatever reason, his eyes reminded me of another great guy, though a fierce and focused competitor in golf—Steve Stricker.

Graham conversing with another golf course design aficionado, seemed like there was at least one or two a hole that came by to chat and tell him how impressied they are by the new the new design and can't wait to play it!

The third hole is another example and validation that what us amateur golfers see on the face of a golf hole is not what we need to know before playing it. Here is seemingly an easy hole with no fairway bunkers. But the creator and the professional golfer knows (or should know) that if played aggressively and the fairway missed, there is a penalty to be paid. Landing in the heavily roughed grassy hollow and being forced to escape by playing an 8- or 9-iron versus a 5-iron recovery from a fairway bunker. We spoke of Graham's work as a commentator, with his conclusion that "to put something in the ground that will last for 50 or 60 years" is more meaningful than words that become yesterday's old news. Here is a dynamic, young, interactive sort of spirit, that will be preserved forever, was my thought. We arrived at the first dogleg, one to the right on the par-4 fourth hole. Atypically, Graham placed a bunker on the inside of the dogleg to steer the golfer's thinking and his golf ball away from boundary residences. This was only a tidbit of the community awareness and responsibility of this golf course architect. We spoke at length of the constraints of the property being in a flood plain. Generally, no ground could be added to the property, as it would displace possible flood water capacity and threaten adjacent property and buildings. Not only is golf course design about water flow, for the RACV Royal Pines project, it is about water retaining capacity in the event of a flood. Detailed surveys before and after construction work, on a hole-by-hole basis, are part of the normal course of business. Only 16,000 cubic meters of dirt was moved in the redesign of the front nine.If a mound is to be built up for spectator viewing, a swale or a hollow must be dug to compensate. Golf course design and construction is more complicated than previously thought by this arm-chair amateur architect.

With Graham Marsha and his wife Julie along with Jim Norfolk and his partner Amber.

Graham readily credits the original architect, Japan's Tomojiro Maruyama, for the course routing which he has not altered in any significant manner. Constrained by the flood plain stipulations and by time itself, as the redesign could only start after the completion of the Ladies European Tour Sanctioned RACV Ladies Masters in February, Marsh has germinated the miraculous golfing baby in only nine months time. Its twin to be duplicated and born in another year's time. I met Jim Norfolk, Golf Business Manager for McMahons, a golf course construction company with over 20 years of experience. Diversified outside of golf, McMahons constructed the surface of Stadium Australia, the home for the 2000 Olympic Games. I was fascinated to learn from Jim and read of the continually emerging technology on their website. They implement a proposed design at a remarkable level of accuracy, with shaping to a tolerance of +/- 5 to 10mm, without using a single survey peg in the construction. Traditional methods of construction, even when it comes to golf courses, are no longer traditional but high-tech. To date, Jim and McMahons have worked side-by-side with Graham Marsh Golf Design on three grassroots full-construction courses in Australia—the Growling Frog Golf Course and the Eynesbury Golf Club in Victoria and Twin Creeks in New South Wales. Day 3 of competitive golf upon the new Graham Marsh-designed front nine revealed its potential bite. The field averaged 37.1 on the first nine and 35.6 on the second nine, even with the length differential. Maybe it was Graham meeting with the PGA of Australia officials and giving input as to hole locations? Allenby and Senden each shot a 2-over par 38 on Moving Day. The trio of third round leaders— Adam Scott, Scott Strange and Wade Ormsby shot 35,35, and 36 respectively. Something tells me the PGA Championship this year at RACV Royal Pines Resort begins on the front nine on Sunday morning!

With golf course architect, champion golfer and all-around great guy Graham Marsh.

Walking the new nine at RACV Royal Pine Resort with its designer was an experience I did not want to end. I captured as much of Graham's brilliance as I could in the video interview segments. We watched even the long hitting John Senden lay up on the shortened to 252-meters par-4 8th hole. Senden was able to reach the 495-meter par-5 fifth hole in two shots, albeit he was wide right, though he pitched and made the putt for a birdie. I wondered why the new nine was not the finishing nine this year with an exciting short par-4 and reachable par-5 finish. Likely, the reason was space for corporate hospitality around the final green. No worries as this time next year the entire 18 holes will be Graham Marsh-designed and spectacular, like the resort, for sure. As he says, "the best is yet to come," and it will come to the Championship Course at the RACV Royal Pines Resort, the new long-term home of the Australian PGA Championship. Saturday was Moving Day for me as I walked the new front nine with golf legend and legendary golf course architect Graham Marsh at the Australian PGA Championship at the RACV Royal Pines Resort... (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 12/13/14)

Filed Under: "Play-Write" Golf Courses, Journey to Australia, People in Golf

Day 44: AUS PGA Rd. 2: Adam Scott about to Deliver in Australia!

December 12, 2014 By admin

The beautiful RACV Resort on the Gold Coast. Will Adam Scott repeat as Australian PGA champion?

Adam Scott was advertised to light up the Gold Coast and repeat as the Australian PGA champion.

On Tuesday night, Tony Roosenburg, Tournament Director, received an award from the PGA of Australia recognizing his company's long term production of the PGA Championship. In the course of receiving the award, which was a collectible professional tournament golf bag, he made an interesting statement—"you can't organize two things in golf—the winner or the weather." At the half-way point of the 2014 Australian PGA Championship his words have held true but both the weather and the winner have come to be a little more in focus. Ninety-four players missed the even-par cut and will no longer be competing for the Joe Kirkwood Cup, a prize that recognizes Joe Kirkwood Sr., the golfer credited with putting Australian golf on the world map. The weather cooperated on Friday allowing the Thursday afternoon starters to finish their first round and all golfers to complete their second round. The weather forecast for the weekend is decent with a 40% chance of morning showers on Saturday and a partly cloudy day on Sunday.

Wade Ormsby putting on the 8th green of the new Graham Marsh-redesigned from nine at the RACV Royal Pines Resort.

The question becomes who will win the Australian PGA to join Nick Cullen (Australian Masters) and Jordan Spieth (Australian Open) as champions of the Australian Trifecta? Boo Weekley led at the end of the first day but not at the end of Round One. Jin Jeong, the 24-year old South Korean with one European Tour victory to his credit, went out at 5:30 am and finished his bogey-free, seven-birdie round of 65 to eclipse Boo by one stroke. The best score of 66 in Round Two was posted by Scott Strange, a 37-year old Australian golfer with two wins each on the European and Asian Tours, and Jason Scrivener, who held four tour cards in 2013 (Australasia, One Asia, European Challenge, and Canadian) and was one of 27 to earn a 2015 European Tour card in Q-School last month in Girona, Spain. Strange (69-66) is atop the leader board at the halfway point at 9-under par along with the consistent Wade Ormsby who opened up with 68-67. Ormsby, age 34, went to the University of Houston for three years, and has one win on the Asian Tour to his credit.

World No. 3 Adam Scott appears confident that he can deliver after a good start in the Australian PGA Championship.

World No. 3 Adam Scott, who is on everyone's radar, is two strokes back, and will join Strange and Ormsby in the final group on Saturday, opened with the consistency that eluded him in Melbourne (Masters, 73-68) and Sydney (Open, 74-66). A win here is on his personal radar for sure—"I really want to finish this off with a win and hang onto a trophy this year and go into next year feeling a little bit chuffed (delighted; pleased; satisfied) with myself." Scott also revealed in an interview with Australian Golf Digest this week that he and his wife Marie Kojar are expecting their first child in nine weeks. Don't forget about Boo Weekley who is three strokes back in solo fourth place and followed his opening 66 with an even par second round of 72. Or the six players tied for fifth place four strokes back including Jeong, Scrivener, and Masters Champion Cullen. It's moving day at the Australian PGA Championship, let's see who delivers over the weekend and takes the Kirkwood Cup home with them! Interesting story on and off the golf course at the Australian PGA Championship!!! (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 12/12/14) Here are the pics from the day:

With Caroline Kelly & Peter Hasking of the Avners Foundation. Everyone went purple for pancreatic cancer on Friday at the PGA.

With Australian golf & rugby commentator Luke Elvy in the Media Center.

With Kathie Shearer & Martin Reading, my two best mates on tour in Australia!

Filed Under: Hickory Golf, Journey to Australia, PGA TOUR Golf

Day 43: AUS PGA Rd. 1: ‘Boo-tiful Start to this Aussie Weekley Golf-about!’

December 11, 2014 By admin

A relaxed Boo Weekley (right) Tuesday night at the annual PGA of Australia dinner with mate Steven Bowditch (center) and defending champion Adam Scott (left).

Boo Weekley is playing in his third tournament Down Under and fired a 6-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead in the rain-shortened first round of the 2014 Australian PGA Championship. Half of the 156-player field, everyone in the morning wave, finished their round. Queenslander and World No. 3 Adam Scott, along with five other early risers, posted 4-under 68s. Three weeks ago Boo placed T15, five strokes back of Australian Masters Champion Nick Cullen down in Melbourne at the Metropolitan Golf Club. Two weeks ago he finished T15, fifteen strokes behind fellow American and Australian Open Champion Jordan Spieth who ran away from the field with a Sunday 63 to win by six strokes at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney. Everyone in the afternoon pairings played at least six holes with Jin Jeong (4-under through 12 holes) and Tom Bond (4-under through 9 holes) leading the pack. With Queensland not on daylight savings, the sun will rise at 4:43 am and play will resume at 5:30 am. The sun will set at 6:35 pm with the long days of summer in effect Down Under.

American Scott Stallings, said in his media interview on Monday that he was originally schedule to play in the first two Australian events but hurt his back in a fluke incident slipping on some ice on the driving range in China. He opened with an even-par 72.

Boo holed a 146-yard 8-iron on the 379-meter par-4 17th hole, his eighth of the day, for an eagle 2 to go along with five birdies and a lone bogey on the 13th hole. After taking a week off to see the sights in Australia with his good mate and Round 1 & 2 playing partner Steven Bowditch (shot 75), Boo came back to the golf course with his usual happy-go-lucky attitude. "Every day I might not have my best game," Boo pointed out in his post-round interview, "but at least every day I'm thankful that I'm able to play this game and play at the level I play it." And it looks like his game is following his positive attitude: "It felt like it all came together today. Like I said, the first week I didn't make no putts, hit it pretty solid, just didn't make no putts and the next week made some putts but to me didn't hit my irons as well, you know what I mean? So now today it was kind of like they both came together. I made the putts and hit the irons pretty good." "If I win (I win, if I don't, I don't but my goal was to come over here and every event I played in was to just to top 20. I’m going to head back (home to Florida on) Monday. I got a hunting trip lined up as soon as I get back home, so it's kind of cutting in on my hunting back home."

Fun time hanging with Boo after the dinner on Tuesday night. Everyone loves Boo and Boo loves everyone too. Definitely got some Boos during the night.

Boo's relaxed demeanor and seemingly in-the-moment focus is reminiscent of when he won back-to-back Heritages at Hilton Head in 2007 and 2008 and then helped the United States Ryder Cup team ride (on his driver off the first tee) to victory at Valhalla later in 2008. His most recent win was in May 2013 at Colonial CC in Fort Worth, Texas. His wide-eyed first visit Down Under and a victory this week in the Australian PGA Championship would duplicate what Spieth accomplished in this golfing country's national Open. Let's hope the weather cooperates and the golf-about continues and concludes on Sunday so Boo can go home and start hunting on Monday! http://www.andygolftraveldiary.com/day-41-dinner-with-the-…/ Arrived on the Gold Coast for the Australian PGA Championship at the RACV Royal Pines Resort... dinner with the stars tonight... (Facebook Post 1 Pic, Andy Reistetter, 12/9/14)

Everyone going PURPLE for pancreatic cancer today at the Australian PGA Championship for the Avner Nahmani Pancreatic Cancer Foundation... inspirational comments by Avner's widow Caroline at Tuesday night's PGA Dinner (with MC Richard Champion)... with my best mates Kathie & Martin... heading out to watch the golf... Graham Marsh's redesign of the front nine has been a big hit here at RACV Royal Pines Resort! Has been a whirlwind week since I left Sydney here on the Sunshine & Gold Coasts! http://www.andygolftraveldiary.com/journey-to-australia/ (Facebook Post 2 Pics, Andy Reistetter, 12/11/14) Australian PGA Championship underway at RACV Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast... (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 12/11/14)

Filed Under: Hickory Golf, Journey to Australia, PGA TOUR Golf