Poulter On Kingston Heath: "Someone please tell modern day architects we don't need 8000 yard tracks..."

The defending Australian Masters champion Ian Poulter got his first look at Kingston Heath Tuesday (he won last year at the equally fantastic Victoria).

Not surprisingly, Poulter liked what he found at the Heath and Tweeted accordingly:

 And this about the famous 15th.

Golf Channel hosts live coverage in the United States beginning at 5:30 Pacific Wednesday. Not only a chance to see great players dealing with one of the world's most idyllic courses, but Australian coverage is nearly always excellent.

Getting In The Mood For Kingston Heath

The Australian Masters returns to Kingston Heath this year and after several weeks of some truly horrifying golf architecture on television, we get a welcome opportunity to cleanse ourselves by watching the game played on one of the world's very best designs.

While the neighboring Royal Melbourne might be the superior tournament course because of its grand scale and ability to hold up better under the technology onslaught, the more intimate Kingston Heath is the course you'd probably enjoy playing the most on a daily basis. You can't go wrong with either one.

Don't sue me for linking this, but the club's guest page offers a course tour which includes a 360 degree photo tour of the holes. It's a massive time killer and great fun once you get the hang of it.

For a refresher, here is Darius Oliver's excellent Kingston Heath review at Planet Golf, a super resource for course design insights.

Kingston Heath features one of my favorite logos and the most elegant course guide I've ever seen, created by Michael Cocking of Ogilvy-Clayton design. You can see a sample on his website.

I visited the area last year for the Presidents Cup, which led to this Golf Digest feature on The Australian Way and below, this admittedly substandard photo gallery of the course in not-the-best light. Still, it should be enough to whet your appetite to watch.

Golf Channel offers coverage Wednesday through Saturday nights starting at 5:30 p.m. Pacific time.

Update on 2012-11-13 08:28 by Geoff

**Graeme McDowell had lots of nice things to say about Kingston Heath, reports Patrick Sexton.

"It's a fantastic golf course, just a real advertisement for, you know, how a golf course doesn't need length to be tricky and tough," he said.

"It's very unique. Obviously we're on one of the greatest pieces of golfing land maybe in the world down here. It reminds me a little of the west coast of England there with your Birkdales and your Hillsides and that little stretch of phenomenal golf courses you have there.

"I played here on Sunday and I played in a northerly wind, then I played nine holes yesterday afternoon (Monday) in a very strong southerly wind and (that) obviously changed the dynamic of the back nine, so it's a big factor, the wind this week."

Update on 2012-11-13 17:05 by Geoff

**Check out Mark Bourgeois' aerial comparison of Kingston Heath, 1945 vs. 2012.

Tom Watson Playing Australian Open!

They return to The Lakes this year December 6-9 and we can only hope Golf Channel picks it up again.

Barnbougle Legal "Stoush" Finally Over

Lost Farms 15th, as viewed from the resort restaurant (click to enlarge)From an unbylined ABC report, landowner Richard Sattler has prevailed in a dispute that has paralyzed one of the great golf destinations from moving forward with future plans and better coordinating operations between two world class designs, Tom Doak and Mike Clayton's Barnbougle Dunes, and Bill Coore's Lost Farm.

Links Golf Tasmania, the operator of Barnbougle Dunes, sued Richard Sattler the owner of the land upon which Barnbougle and the neighbouring Lost Farm courses are built.

LGT claimed Mr Sattler, a former director and chief executive officer of the company, used expertise gained while involved with Barnbougle to set up the rival Lost Farm course.

LGT claimed it should have had the opportunity to build and operate the Lost Farm Course and Mr Sattler breached his position of trust and duties under the Corporation Act when he developed it as his own. But Federal Court Justice Christopher Jessop has found as the owner of the land it was up to Mr Sattler how he used it.