they take on a more natural links look they will be spectacular. Smith has been bold and inventive with his new holes, making a state- ment of intent on each. He’s an admirer of Charles Blair Macdonald, known as the grandfather of American golf who replicated design features from the greatest holes in the British Isles on his courses, notably the National Golf Links. CB Macdonald identified what he termed “template holes” that would test a player’s game. He didn’t duplicate what he had seen in the British Isles, but designed his own variations with a unique twist. As an example, at Gowrie Farm the par-4 third is a “template” of the Road Hole at St Andrews. You would not make that assumption standing on the tee, but a closer appraisal is revealing. Instead of the high railway sheds along- side the Old Course Hotel over which to drive the ball, he has used a deep hol- low and a wide fairway bunker that
same rule applies at Gowrie Farm. Gowrie was a successful “9-holer” for 17 years, but it was always Smith’s ambi- tion to explore further possibilities, as long as any new holes would comple- ment the existing ones into a seamless 18. And he has done that magnificently, even though golfers who play for the first time at Gowrie this year will detect where the old end and the new begin. That’s after the second hole, a long par 3 over a wetland that is one of the jewels in the crown of this layout. It’s an out-and-back par 71 layout where you don’t return to the club- house. The second nine has a combina- tion of three 5s, three 4s and three 3s. The new holes, from No 3 to No 9, even with their superb greens complexes, are still rough and ready to the eye as the fairway grasses knit and the mounding takes shape and blends in with the sur- roundings. There’s some unsightly long kikuyu grass bordering fairways which you don’t see on the old section. When
a player has to carry for the tiger line from tee to green. There is ample fair- way left for the shorter hitter, but that leaves a longer approach to a narrow green sandwiched between a pot bun- ker and attractive rock wall buttressing the tee for No 4. Another “template” is of the Postage Stamp green at Royal Troon. It’s used on a short 4 (No 9) rather than a short 3. The raised green, bordered by bunkers, is near identical in size, but in square metres instead of yards. It’s a hole many will attempt to drive, and will require a fortunate bounce for the ball to run on to the green. Smith’s favourite hole, though, is the par-4 fifth, where he gathered hundreds of big rocks from the veld to form a low long wall flanking the left side of the fairway which curves right at the end to enclose the right edge of the green from the fairway. It’s a “template” of the “Pit” hole at North Berwick’s West Links and the best angle of approach is from as close to the wall as possible. The par-3 sixth at Gowrie, uphill over a narrow ravine, has a Redan-style green, and the green at No 8, a sharp dogleg left par 4, is modelled on the 18th at Muirfield. No 10, a par 5, uses the fairway and green of what used to be the old No 2 & 12, but additional bunkers have been added on the right, opposite those on the left. As if the bunkers are not enough of a hazard, there now stand stumps of “Ou Hout” between them. These quickly grow into small trees with dense crowns. A South African version of Scotland’s gorse bushes? Gowrie Farm has one dilemma to solve in its changeover, and that’s where to begin the par-5 finishing hole. The old No 9 (short par 4) and 18 (par 5) shared the same fairway but had separate tees and greens. The lower tee boxes at No 9 are handily situated be- hind the current par-3 17th green, and 18 could be played as a par 5 from those. Yet the elevated tees of the old 18th are more impressive. The issue is that to reach them you must climb 150 metres up a steep hill. Fine if you have a cart but tiring late in the round for walkers. Both sets of tees should be retained, and a compromise arrived at.
A bunker guards the front of fourth green (Sahara) and a wall the right side.
Anticipation awaits golfers teeing off in front of the Gowrie Farm clubhouse.
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 91
MARCH/APRIL 2024
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