Day 23: Round 2 AUS Masters: Playing Golf in the Sandbelt Melbourne!

The Australian Masters is being played at The Metropolitan Golf Club, one of eight golf courses that are are considered to be vintage sandbelt creations located within 20 minutes of downtown Melbourne (or as it is refer to it here in Australia, the CBD, Central Business District). Officially included in the “Sandbelt Melbourne Classic Golf” along with ‘Metro’ are Commonwealth Golf Club, Huntingdale Golf Club, Kingston Heath Golf Club, Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club, Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Victoria Golf Club,  and Yarra Yarra Golf Club.

So far this week I was invited to play two of the golf courses and humbly accepted the invitations at Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath. Both golf courses were spectacular and being hosted by and playing with members a unique and memorable experience. There is no better way to be introduced to Sandbelt Melbourne Classic Golf. I was intrigued by the experience and wanted to know how Australian professional golfers like Adam Scott characterize playing sandbelt golf so I asked him the following question in his post-round interview (courtesy of IMG, after following an opening 73 with a 68):

Q. You’ve obviously been very successful here in the Melbourne Sandbelt. What in your mind is unique about Sandbelt golf, and what, if anything, going into the weekend do you prepare differently playing here versus in the U.S.?

ADAM SCOTT: In the way you approach the Sandbelt, it’s not unlike links golf. It’s very hard to just go out and attack. Positioning your golf ball is key to doing that. You have to get it in the right spot off the tee to have the right chance to attack a pin. Because if you just go out there and fly away at everything, hit driver everywhere and try to throw it at pins with 6 irons, you’re going to end up having big numbers.

So, it is much like links golf where you kind of position yourself around the golf course with the ball running. Some of the irons are running 300 yards which is very much like an Open Championship, so you have to be aware of that. And whereas in the States, I guess the ball pretty much stops where it lands. I mean, it’s rare that you see 20 yards of run, and here, you can see 60. So you really have to control your golf ball extremely well to have a nice looking scorecard here.

I agree wholeheartedly as I did not control my golf ball well at either golf course and my scorecard did not look pretty. But there were pockets of perfection such as a deuce on the 10th hole, the original, very first hole created at the Heath and the 15-footer sand save on the last at Royal Melbourne to win the match for my host partner against another member and his guest. Sandbelt golf is very similar to links golf in the Home of Golf on the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland except you can only experience the “Excellent & Elegant Eight” right here near Melbourne.

The cut is the low 60 and ties here on the PGA Australasian Tour. There were exactly 60 golfers at the plus-1 score of 145 but 66 golfers made the cut? How could that be? Three amateurs made the cut (Todd Sinnott T3, 67-71, Ryan Ruffles T30, 75-68 and Lucas Herbert T50, 75-70) and they are not included in the 60 count so six more players at plus-2 146 will get to play on the weekend. All three Americans in the field made the cut lead by Kyle Stanley (T20, 69-73) with Boo Weekley at T36 after a pair of even par 72s and Zac Blair at T50 (70-75).

Michael Wright (67-68) from Queensland is the leader with a two-stroke lead over South Australian Paul Spargo (70-67. Well-known Australians still in the hunt at the halfway point in the 2014 Masters are Geoff Ogilvy (T7, 69-1), Adam Scott (T12, 73-68), Steven Bowditch (T20, 67-75), and Robert Allenby (T30, 70-73). Notables missing the cut and likely heading up to Sydney for next week’s Australian Open include Scott Gardiner, Rod Pampling, Greg Chalmers and Stuart Appleby.

I found a question posed to Michael Wright quite interesting:

Q. You’re obviously a believer in the power of the mind. Do you meditate or is this something new that you’ve brought to your game over the last few years?

MICHAEL WRIGHT: No, I’ve tried meditating and I’m no bloody good at it. But I ain’t doing it near as much as I probably should.

I’ve had a few sports psychs over the years and they have all encouraged me to do it and pushed me to do it, and I try and push myself. But I’m just hopeless at it. I can’t look at a dot for more than, I don’t know, a couple seconds without something coming in. I’m a shocker when it comes to meditation. But breathing is maybe I am meditating, like I’m conscious of my breath and that sort of calms me, I do a bit of that on the course. Maybe call that meditation. Some people would, I don’t know. But yeah, the actual art of meditating, I’m a shocker.

Meditation and yoga are keys for me, it’s all about flexibility and relaxation and being prepared for hopefully another game of Sandbelt Melbourne golf for me before heading north back to Sydney.

Life, it’s all about the golf and golf, it seems to me, is all about life.

Halfway through the 2014 Australian Masters… in the Sandbelt Melboure area of Australia… able to experience it for myself at Royal Melbourne & Kingston Heath and see the pros play some sandbelt golf!   (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 11/22/14)