King Island Australia - Cape Wickham Links, Ocean Dunes and King Island GC

[Peaksy68 5,104]

Last weekend I journeyed to King Island for 3 days and 81 holes of golf.  King Island is situated between Victoria and Tasmania, and sits at the western edge of the Bass Strait, which connects the Southern Ocean and the Pacific.  It's renowned for having some serious wind, which thankfully we avoided the worst of.

 

We flew out of Torquay (home to Rip Curl, Quicksilver and Bell's Beach Surf Classic)  We organised a private charter for the 4 of us, which sounds pretty fancy but the convenience far outweighed the extra cost.

 

I'm 3rd from the left.

 

After dodging some kangaroos we took off safely and had an early look at Cape Wickham and Ocean Dunes before landing 40 minutes later.

Cape Wickham

 

Ocean Dunes

 

 

More to follow

 

 

[GolfSpy_APH 8,611]

Wow, absolutely spectacular. Can't wait to see and here more about the trip!

[tony@CIC 22,827]

7 hours ago, Peaksy68 said:

Last weekend I journeyed to King Island for 3 days and 81 holes of golf.  King Island is situated between Victoria and Tasmania, and sits at the western edge of the Bass Strait, which connects the Southern Ocean and the Pacific.  It's renowned for having some serious wind, which thankfully we avoided the worst of.

 

We flew out of Torquay (home to Rip Curl, Quicksilver and Bell's Beach Surf Classic)  We organised a private charter for the 4 of us, which sounds pretty fancy but the convenience far outweighed the extra cost.

 

I'm 3rd from the left.

 

After dodging some kangaroos we took off safely and had an early look at Cape Wickham and Ocean Dunes before landing 40 minutes later.

Cape Wickham

 

Ocean Dunes

 

 

More to follow

 

 

You can't keep us hanging like this - more photos please!

[MaxEntropy 8,275]

13 hours ago, Peaksy68 said:

More to follow

You've had 13 hours and my interest is piqued. Need more info and pics!

[Peaksy68 5,104]

The format for the weekend was as follows

Friday - Ocean Dunes 4BBB Stableford, ball toss for partners. King Island GC - 9 Hole Skins

Saturday - Cape Wickham Links AM Individual Stableford, PM 2 Man Scramble Stableford

Sunday - Ocean Dunes Modified Foursomes Stableford.  

Different partners for pairs events

 

Strongly recommend this type of format for a trip like this. Stableford takes the pressure off a bit and keeps play moving, and the enjoyability factor was great.

 

Ocean Dunes

 

1st Par 5 with a blind second shot, drops steeply down to the green. Long is no good, I know that from personal experience

 

2nd Short Par 4 with a steeply sloped green. Fun short 4 easy hole if you don't get greedy

 

3rd Tough Par 4 across the water into the wind. How much do you want to bite off?

 

4th Par 3 with another tee shot over the water. Room left, wet right

 

 

5th Par 5 Blind 2nd shot, uphill 3rd to a tiered green. Very nice grouping of approach shots

 

Missed photos on a few holes, by this stage I was very caught up in my round

 

8th Par 3 Tough green that front half slopes up, back half slopes down. Imperative to pick the right club. Missing right leaves a tough chip from well above the putting surface

10th Par 3 Again over the water. Probably the signature hole at Ocean Dunes. My best hole for the weekend. 5 wood from 190 into the wind Friday to 12 feet, 7 iron from shorter tee Sunday to 6 feet. Friday was off the tee to the left of photo, Sunday middle of photo

 

 

12th Par 5 Uphill tee shot with a blind 2nd. Green has 2 large tiers, really need to on the right level. Actually a double green, but you would need to be a long way off line to use the other half. For fun we all putted from about 60 yards across 2 deep swales, 2 of my mates managed to 3 putt.

 

13th Par 4 Short uphill hole. Small green that has severe slopes, lots of room for creativity. Fun hole

 

14th Par 3  Very short par 3. Elevated tee playing back into the wind. Played 115 yards and 100 yards when we played. Roller coaster green, make sure you're on the right level. Fun hole with great views

 

15th Par 4 Blind tee shot, and depending on where that goes, a blind 2nd into the double green. Another fun hole with some dramatic slopes on the fairway

Looking back down the fairway

Into the green

 

16th Par 4 Tough hole into the wind, difficult to pick your line off the tee. Much easier second time around

 

 

17th Par 4 Blind tee shot again. massive green, we played it with the pin at the front. About 3 clubs shorter than a back pin. Played this hole well, as I should as it's my namesake "Peacock"

 

18th Par 4 Very long into the wind, steep slopes will roll the ball back 50 -70 yards if you don't quite make the it to the plateau. Very strong finishing hole

 

Both pairs finished on 40 points after the 4BBB, my partner carried me with 5 birdies, although I parred 4 of those. We played the Modified Foursomes with each player teeing off, swapping balls for 2nd and then alternate shot. It was much easier 2nd time around knowing where to go as there are lots of blind shots.  Fescue fairways and bent grass greens were beautiful to play on. 

Friday PM - King Island GC

A quaint community golf course, with a quirky layout. 14 tees, 12 greens. We played skins after a couple of beers in the clubhouse, which has one of the best views of any clubhouse I've been in. Unfortunately I didn't get many photos, probably due to the beers and Bundy's I had while playing.  Played well and made the most of the soft greens, shot 1 over and won 6 skins

This hole the aggressive line is over the bay with a 240 yard carry. I chickened out, but proceeded to pull it 30 yards left of where I intended, 10 yards through the green. The next day one of the members holed his tee shot.

 

Finished the day with a meal at a local restaurant. Stunning piece of local beef, cooked to perfection. Blue cheese sauce from local cheese was beautiful

Actual finish to the day was a fair bit later after too many beers at the pub, shared with incredibly friendly locals

More to come

 

 

[MaxEntropy 8,275]

Great stuff, looks amazing!

[StrokerAce 11,773]

what an awesome looking trip!

thanks for posting the pics

[Kenny B 34,348]

A wonderful trip and great pics!!!  Well done Peacock!

[Peaksy68 5,104]

Cape Wickham Links

 

Unfortunately, I haven't got as many photos. Partly due to a few too many beers the night before, but mostly due to being absorbed in the moment.  This course is breathtaking.

 

The drive in to the property takes you past the lighthouse and the closing loop of 5 holes.  Straight away, we knew we were in for something beyond special.

 

This is view as you walk in to the rudimentary clubhouse facility

 

 

After checking in you are taken through to view a brief video presentation, and a briefing on the current course conditions. The course has the rare combination (in Australia) of fescue fairways and greens. We were warned that conditions were extremely firm, and that flying the ball to the pin was more than likely to have you going through the back of the green. We were also told to not expect to see any pitch marks, again very accurate. 

1st Par 4  Advise on the tip sheet was simple, "Just hit the fairway" To say this is a daunting opening would be understating things, especially with a 1 1/2 club wind into nd from the left.

Leaked my second a little right of the green, after a chip and run 8 iron holed out from 6 feet. The ground game is important here.

 

2nd Par 4  Short par 4 that played longer straight into the wind.  Concentration is a challenge due to the stunning views

Looking back from the 2nd tee to the closing loop

 

By this stage, my mind was already blown, and taking photos was completely forgotten for a while.

One of my best ball strikes came on the Par 3 3rd, 190 yards into the wind, pured my 3 wood to the back of the green. Unfortunately I neglected to use my rangefinder to get the yardage to the very front pin. 34 yard 1st putt!  The combination of fescue throughout and sea in the background made judging distances very difficult. Happy to walk away with a 4

I'll include the website link to the flyovers to give some idea what the next 6 holes were like.

https://capewickham.com.au/course-overview/#holeinfo

 

Didn't remember to get any more photos until the 10th. The intervening holes were all of the highest quality, but as I keep saying, this course just absorbs you.

Downhill tee shot to a fairway that disappears below you.

About 1/2 way down the fairway

Further down to the green

 

The 11th is a shortish par 3 along the edge of the water. One of the boys misjudged the wind to leave himself 1.5" from the hole. We started to get excited

12 is a short par 4 that would be driveable in the right conditions. Left of the fairway is a cliff. I wasn't tempted.

13 Par 5 with a green that the back half slopes down. A couple of great looking shots went 20 yards through (luckily not mine)

14th Par 4  Massive fairway that is a lot flatter than it looks. 2nd shot into the green at the bottom of a hollow. Lots of fun

 

15 Par 5  Steep right to left slope on the fairway, affects tee shot and second. I played this hole poorly

16 Par 4  Moderate carry to reach the fairway, with the ocean on the right.  Long shot into what looks like a small green guarded by a bunker 20 yards short. Tough but breathtaking hole.

17 Par 3 Truly stunning golf hole. Elevated tee across the wasteland to a great green complex. Hit a gently faded 6 iron to about 15 feet despite having to catch my breath after taking in the view.  18th fairway is above the beach in the right of the photo

 

 

18th Par 4  Truly amazing closing hole. The fairway is barely visible from the tee, but by this time you will have had lots of chances to see it.  The beach is in play, but no one in my group hit it there.

I will get a smile on my face for the rest of my life when I think about this hole. An amazing finish to a truly wonderful golf experience. It almost assaults your senses, the sea air, the freshly cut grass, the stunning vistas and the most pure putting surfaces. Having played the only course in Australia rated more highly (Royal Melbourne West) I'm not certain the raters have got it right.  

I tried to find some photos online to fill the gaps, and interestingly I couldn't find any that were different to mine. This place must have the same affect on everyone. It's a tough but fair challenge, where every aspect of your game will be asked questions, but good shots are definitely rewarded. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GolfSpy_APH 8,611]

Just wow! Thank you for posted and sharing. I now have another trip to add to my bucket list and really enjoyed reading and seeing the photos. 

[fixyurdivot 18,254]

These photo sequences are awesome @Peaksy68!  Those look like great courses and lots of fun... almost have a Scotland/Ireland look to them. 

[tony@CIC 22,827]

OMG what beautiful courses - I'm envious. 

BTW as great as Barnbougle was - the views at King Island are just a bit better.