The 18th hole can destroy a good round of golf...which 3 do you nominate in Australia as one's that you find the most difficult to play ? or provide the most drama ?

Then again - a hole doesn't have to be difficult to be great - which one's do you find just great ?

For mine:

Most Difficult =
1. Sanctuary Cove (Pines)
2. Hyatt Coolum
3. Sanctuary Lakes

Best =
1. Robina Woods
2. Royal Melbourne (East)
3. Royal Melbourne (West)

Toughest : National Ocean
Best : Mt Broughton

18th at Metropolitan, a really good challenge, and well laid out for most handicaps.

Noms for the best - Spring Valley, Royal Melbourne (West & East), Commonwealth

One of the more difficult closers I've played (or at lease one I struggle with) is at Murray Downs.

I'll split Best and Toughest.

Best is the original 18th on National Old. Great par 5 that could see anything from a 3 to an 8. Great risk reward tee shot, gambling 2nd and a green that had a lot of slope on the left and is split by a big ridge.

Toughest/worst/dumbest/most stupid/most ridiculous is National Ocean 18. 447m par 4 uphil, almost no landing zone for the tee shot and what there is is sloped severely uphill and left to right which means the ball drains into a pair of fairway bunkers. Miss the bunkers and you have a blind shot of 200m plus to a pushed up, heavily sloped and crowned green. Oh and it plays into the prevailing wind. You make 4 here about as often as you get a compliment from Jim.

JJ

i've never really thought much of RMW 18.

I'll also put in another vote for Robina Woods

QUOTE: John J Jones @ Nov 27 2005, 08:39 PM

You make 4 here about as often as you get a compliment from Jim.

Actually, I think he made 4 there when I played there with him.

I didn't compliment him though.

Best are Kingston Heath, Metropolitan, Royal Melbourne East
Toughest are National Ocean, Baarnbougle and Kennedy Bay

Toughest;

Nat Moonah, Nat Ocean, Barnbougle

Royal Melbourne (East), Royal Melbourne (West) and Barnbougle Dunes are perhaps the best three.

Toughest three would have to be The Glades, National (Ocean) and Sanctuary Lakes.

MM

Another vote for the 18th at Robina Woods. Its a great hole.

Has Sanctuary Coves Pines lost its teeth?

It hasn't rated a mention yet among the Gold Coast closers, but from the tips it is a tough finisher.

Around Melbourne, Heritage normally played into the prevailing wind (a gentle 455m par 4) and Sanctuary Lakes are exacting and unyielding. I'd rate both tougher than Nat Ocean (says me who ends up playing into Nat Open from the centre bunker on the 1st).

Peanuts,

Appreciate National (Ocean) is a brute of a hole (for all the wrong reasons) but am interested as to your views as to why you rate Mt. Broughton's 18th so highly ?

From what I can remember it's a downhill finisher to a raised green...but I am keen to hear your salient points on it's design

St Andrews

National Ocean is brutish and there's enough people better qualified than me to tell you why/how. I don't hate it as much, as in a headwind I just play it as a par 5 anyway.

Mt Broughton 18 is a well-constructed short-medium par 4 that suits my eye - a gentle left to right shot from the tee is ideal. Depending on the breeze you can take the safe tee shot short of the pond-level (on the right side) and leave a medium iron in, or be aggressive with the dogleg and leave a short iron - good risk/reward option. I see the green as not so much a "raised" green as one built into the slope with right side high and left low. The green's got some slope that it's better to miss left of the flag too, risking missing low side, but if you miss slightly right you might get run down to the flag.

All up it's a hole (unlike some others at Mt Broughton) that can be played by most standards of golfer, and can be played aggressively or defensively equally well.

The vista from the tee and on approach is very pleasing to the eye, and after several holes avoiding brutal rough this one provides a pleasant ending.

i will put a vote in for robina woods as well, only cause i eagled it!!!!

my favorites, or the best in my opinion are kingston heath, the dunes, huntingdale, hope island

the toughest would be moonah links, the heritage and national ocean.

Hoe Island 18 is average. 16 and 17 are way better holes.

Hoe Island. Where's that???? i gotta get there one day!!!

QUOTE: butchy @ Dec 1 2005, 09:54 AM

huntingdale

Since the changes, it is crap.

That used to be a very good closing hole with a good if very subtle sandbelt green complex. Now it is rubbish, and the lovely CUB annex on the clubhouse gives members a great vantage point over a terrible green.

Yep ill put another vote in for robina woods. It has everything

Hyatt Regency Coolum

Tough…play the CUT in the wind in summmer when the greens are rock hard…there isnt a tougher test in golf when the cut bares its teeth

sorry its 551 meter par 5

that can play into the wind…bunkers galore before the green. its very very tough to attack it with your second shot

Albany

398 meter par 4 that is narrow, its nicnamed gunbarrel…it plays into the easterly in summer….bush both sides….two tiered green also

havent come across two tougher holes to finsih than these

I vote robina as well, only pared it once. Score never safe until it is holed out!

The 18th at Hills (jimboomba) is brutally long :-) 575m and the second shot needs to clear a hazard at around 400m, so a layup is at least a longiron for third.

The 18th Kooralbyn at 400+ with all carry to the green across and you cant hit more than 220 off the tee as it runs into a hazard.

The 18th at Helensvale still gives me nightmares. around 380m straight narrow hole but Water on both sides, and always cross wind, shallow green that faces 90deg away from you and is completely protected by water front, right and long.

and Toowoomba city is just downright scary. similar to Kooralbyn.

18th at Araluen?
Great design and probably the hardest closing hole in WA