The Dunes Golf Course | Designed by Greg Norman
The Copper Club at Port Hughes
Port Hughes and the Copperclub ‘The Dunes’ Golf Course designed by Greg Norman was always on the agenda when we hit South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula in ‘Fork the Bus’. I have never really played a true links course let alone one designed by Greg Norman and here was my chance to do so. Booking a round online is slightly cheaper and more convenient so the day before, I booked and payed the $28 green fees for my 10 am tee off time.
Not sure why but I was a little anxious and nervous when I went to the pro shop to announce my arrival, 30 minutes early. I was pleased to see that the course didn’t look too busy and the friendly staff told me I was good to tee off straight away. I probably stuffed myself up a little because I was planning a few practice swings before tee off. Well that’s my excuse for the first three holes and I’m sticking to it.
Of course I have a backup excuse and that is I am recovering from a recurring back injury and besides some practice swings I hadn’t played a proper round of golf in over six months. I suppose it is obvious now that I started my anticipated challenge of this Greg Norman designed course in what could and should be described as nothing short of woeful. First hole par 5, me 10, second par 4, me 10 and third par 4, me 8. Miss Linda had come along for the walk and I got the somewhat patronising “It’s only a game” and “Maybe your distracted.” Even the groundsman on the second, armed with a whipper snipper, said from a distance of around 30m, “Tee off mate you’re alright”. He was in no danger, I didn’t reach him and lost my ball in the scrub.
The greens on The Dunes Golf Course are well protected by bunkers
The greens on The Dunes Golf Course are well protected by bunkers and they were a little deeper by the time I hit the fourth tee. At this point I stopped took a DEEP breath and said “Common Finchy it’s only a game” and “Maybe I have been a little distracted”. Golf is truly a great game and anyone who has tried to play this game knows that your head is half or more of the battle. The Greg Norman designed championship course had nothing to do with the first three holes, it was the grey matter between my ears and my lack of ability to control it. Anyway not all was lost, except any chance of a reasonable score.
Things changed after that deep breath and the rest of the round I appreciated the challenge of such a course and even met some of those challenges. This included a twenty meter putt from the lower tier of the two tiers on the fourth green. Much to my surprise when I turned to face Miss Linda with both my arms raised in a triumphant manner, like I had just won the Masters, after the impossible putt dropped in the hole, she had the Go Pro running and caught the lot on camera.
The rest of the round I played relatively good golf, by my standards, bogeying the next three holes, par on the difficult eighth and blowing out the last with a triple bogie but I did three putt. All that aside it was the experience of playing a Greg Norman designed championship links course that I craved and the experience did not disappoint.
My bubble was a little burst when the locals informed me over a beer in the club rooms that the playing conditions don’t get much better than they were that morning. I found the stiff breeze a challenge on the links course but apparently this was nothing compared to what the weather normally dishes up. Hey wind or not my golf game is what it is and whether it be ‘The Dunes’ Golf Course at Port Hughes or a black scrapes green somewhere on the Nullarbor it is always fun and a challenge when swinging a golf club.
The course is a wide open links course that winds and undulates it’s path through the dunes.
No black scrape greens here though, the course is a wide open links course that winds and undulates it’s path through the dunes. For the most part the fairways and greens were in excellent condition and they do boast some of the best playing surfaces in the state of South Australia. However there were some dry patches and the locals tell me this was because of some reclaimed water quality issues. Still the surface was some of the best I have played on and doesn’t that keep your game honest.
Fairways have deep gullies, one nicknamed by the locals as Greg’s Gully
Due to the nature of the course design if you are marginally out on a chip shot you can often see your ball gently run back past your feet or over the green into one of the many challenging bunkers. Fairways have deep gullies, one nicknamed by the locals as Greg’s Gully, with tricky above and below feet lies. These are the challenges of such a course and for me personally I loved the challenge.
Each hole has a pro tee, a good player tee, an average player tee and a ladies tee.
The course is only a nine hole course but there is still plenty of variety if you choose to play a full eighteen. The front nine has black flags and the back nine has red flags strategically placed on the greens. This along with the fact that there are four different tee blocks for each hole gives the golfer a lot of chance to mix, match and challenge themselves. Each hole has a pro tee, a good player tee, an average player tee and a ladies tee. I played off the average player tee and I found that challenging enough for my average ability.
We parked ‘Fork the Bus’ up at the Port Hughes Caravan Park which literally backs on to the golf course and is surrounded by housing developments which would be quite at home in any capital city. The view from our evening stroll on the jetty looked more like the view from Adelaide’s Brighton jetty than a seaside town on the Yorke Peninsula but it is still a great destination. If you get the chance, no matter what your level of golf is, having access to a course such as the Greg Norman designed Copperclub The Dunes golf course at Port Hughes is a bonus for any golfer and I highly recommend putting this location on your golfing bucket list.
Finchy
