It was the final round of the 1984 Australian PGA Championship and Greg Norman was already well ahead of his nearest pursuer. I joined the throng that only had eyes for the Shark as he clinically closed in on the Joe Kirkwood Trophy with five birdies in a three under 69. He ended up winning by eight shots from Rodger Davis and hoisted the cup, before then baby daughter, Morgan Leigh, got to sit in the newly acquired silverware.
It was a great performance from Norman, matched only, in my eyes, by the quality of the course.
As a wide-eyed 16-year-old kid golfer from the ‘burbs I had never seen playing surfaces like it – carpet-like fairways and bentgrass greens that ran so quick you only had to breathe on 10-foot putts to get them moving. The fairways, in particular, were so immaculately conditioned and they made such an impression on me, they became my yardstick for every kikuyu-grassed course visited in the years that followed.
In the near four decades since, I’ve had the privilege of playing Monash many times and recently photographed the course for this story. While the design has been tweaked, the one constant in all that time has been its immaculate ‘kike’ fairways and Monash living up to its reputation for producing firm and slick putting surfaces.
Best to aim for the middle of the 6th green. Any miss left is wet. PHOTO: Brendan James.
Kikuyu used to be much maligned as a golf course grass but modern agronomy practices now produce a finer leaf version that is simply a dream to hit off. At Monash, it’s better than most. For mine, the only Australian courses sharing the ‘best kikuyu fairways’ podium with Monash are The Lakes and Royal Fremantle.
This is an incredible achievement especially when you consider the club’s humble beginnings, which only date back to the early 1950s. Back then, Monash was a club without a course.
The Monash ‘Social’ Golf Club was formed in 1931 and was named after one of Australia’s most decorated soldiers, Lieutenant General Sir John Monash. The club played at courses all over Sydney including Moore Park, Bonnie Doon and Eastlake before settling into a regular time every Sunday morning at the oceanside St Michael’s course at Little Bay.
In 1946, the club looked to purchase land to build its own course and rugged native bushland adjoining Elanora Country Club on the northern beaches was earmarked.
The short uphill par-4 8th has a hint of Augusta National about it. PHOTO: Brendan James.
Elanora’s resident professional was Carnoustie-born Scotsman James Herd Scott who prepared a favourable report for the club on the suitability of the land for a course and shortly thereafter the land was purchased and Scott was commissioned to design the new layout. The construction was supervised by the then head greenkeeper from Royal Sydney Golf Club, which also provided more than 100,000 square feet of kikuyu to grass its fairways.
Monash officially opened for play in 1951. The timing could not have been better as Sydney was gripped with golf fever. Club memberships were full and waiting lists were long and there is every chance the old Monash Social Club may not have survived had it not developed a course of its own.
It could not have been an easy site to build on.
As you trek around the Monash layout it’s not hard to be impressed with the routing and how adaptable Scott was to the limitations placed on the routing by the grade of the terrain and what was underneath the cleared bushland, namely tonnes of bush rock. But the end result was a course that has certainly withstood the test of time.
Monash’s iconic par-4 13th hole with its terraced fairway. PHOTO: Brendan James.
In recent times there have been significant tweaks to the design with acclaimed course designer Bob Harrison overseeing the rebuild of four greensites – including the bunkering, on the 2nd, 3rd, 8th and 11th holes – between 2014 and 2016.
Monash had long been renowned for the subtle slopes of its greens, which complemented the club’s practice of providing, arguably, the quickest putting surfaces in Sydney. Harrison’s greens are a little more dramatic, with new bunkers and their shoulders as well as other contours adding to the challenge.
The 267-metre par-4 8th offers a prime example. Although the hole is played slightly uphill, it is certainly driveable for the aggressive player. But Harrison’s redesign, incorporating a long, angled putting surface wedged between bunkers short left and dense scrub long and right, can make you second guess your choice of play from the tee. The green’s contouring, somewhat influenced by the shape of three bunkers left, adds another level to the hole’s defence against the modern golfer armed with hi-tech equipment.
Since 2017, course architect James Wilcher has worked with Monash course superintendent Rob Sain on a redesign of the 17th hole and 18th green, the introduction of a new irrigation system and the rebuild of 26 greenside bunkers using the Matrix bunker liner system, which has significantly improved drainage and the long-lasting visual appeal of the bunkers.
Yet, with all these recent changes and more than 70 years on, the outstanding bones of Scott’s original design remain.
The par-3 14th is as demanding on your putting as it is on your tee shot over the water. PHOTO: Brendan James.
On the front nine, I particularly like the trio of holes starting with the uphill par-4 4th hole. From the back tee it is a 365-metre journey where the climb is gradual from the tee to an acute turn to the right and then a further climb towards the green. The key here is to shape your drive around the corner of the dogleg or use less club for the tee shot so as not to run out of fairway. I’ve always found taking one extra club for the approach shot works here to avoid the front bunker but you still don’t want to go long of the green as the putting surface slopes sharply from back to front.
The next hole is a beautiful par-3 of 162 metres played across a ridge top and through a chute of dense bush to a wide, exposed green with two bunkers right, another to the left and a fourth through the back. A steep slope and a water hazard lie beyond the back bunker so choose your club from the tee wisely. The green has two distinct front and back sections, divided in the middle by a slope which falls gradually to the front and back from this spine.
Having climbed to one of the high points on the course, the 363-metre par-4 6th hole leads you back down the hill. A strong drive will have you next to, or just beyond, two fairway bunkers on the outside of the slight dogleg left. The best play for the second shot is to simply aim for the middle of the green as any miss to the left will surely find the lake.
On the back nine you will find one of the great examples of where Scott worked with the rocky site, not against it, to create Monash’s best short par-4 – the 315-metre 13th. Here you will find a terraced fairway with the two sections divided by a massive step created by a bush rock outcrop. The top, nearer section of fairway, is semi blind from the tee but the locals would advise taking aim just left of the Bahai Temple that sits on the peak off in the distance. The lower fairway, beyond the rocky outcrop, is blind from the tee and requires a long hit on a line well left of the temple. Either play will leave a downhill approach to a big green tucked beyond two bunkers.
It is always such a pleasure to venture back for a round at Monash. It is a fun and interesting course to play, which never disappoints in the way it is presented.
FACT FILE
LOCATION: Powderworks Rd, Ingleside, New South Wales.
CONTACT: (02) 9913 8282.
WEBSITE: www.monashcc.com.au
DESIGNERS: James Herd Scott (1951); Bob Harrison (2016); James Wilcher (2017 and ongoing).
PGA PROFESSIONALS: Torie Blakemore, Deepak Jallipalli, Kara Williams, Nathan Cooke and Adam Groom.
PLAYING SURFACES: bentgrass / Poa Annua mix (greens); kikuyu (fairways).
COURSE SUPERINTENDENT: Rob Sain.
MEMBERSHIP: Monash currently has a waitlist in place for membership. Applications are open starting from a well-attended Junior Pathway program, to the full playing categories of five- and seven-day membership options.
GREEN FEES: Private club. Tee time enquiries from interstate club members can be made via the office. Green fees: $140 (weekdays), $200 (weekends).
ACCOLADES: Ranked No.89 in Golf Australia magazine’s Top-100 Courses for 2024.
