Peninsula rated in Australia’s Top Courses.

Golf Australia released it’s 2012 course ratings in January and our North course was rated number 17 in Australia and the South course 28. I find this somewhat amazing. Do the people making the rating actually visit the courses? Do they not take course condition into account? If they did visit our club, they would have seen greens and bunkers in a disgraceful state, out of control rough, paths that are almost impassable and areas that almost rattle your buggy to bits and are liable to sprain your ankle.

So what exactly is it that, in their view, makes our North course top 20? The layout alone? That’s not what they say.

By contrast, Australian Golf Digest, which claims the high moral ground by not making the “preposterous mistake of allowing its judging panel to be infiltrated, even dominated, by course architects – the very people whose work we’re appraising”, has the North course rated at 30 and the South at 41.

It’s interesting to note their comment about Royal Adelaide having a priority of “fixing” Mike Clayton’s contentious 17^th hole. Hey Mike, I suppose it’s just another example of the “subtlety” of your brilliant design work being “beyond” them.

Anyhow, I have been a great critic of Mike Clayton’s work, but I guess one of the main benefits in paying him a truck load of money is the influence he peddles in these course rating matters.