Day 2 – Ocean Dunes
Today we were playing at Ocean Dunes which is a 45 minute trip from Cape Wickham where we are staying. So we were up early and off down the road. We had met some guys from The National and they had said that they were v very disappointed with Ocean Dunes, so our expectations were low. Again, we were blessed with a beautiful warm day with no wind and the course was spectacular. Unlike Cape Wickham the Ladies Tees were set at reasonable difficulty with a slope rating of 135, so the challenge was on.
Game of the day was Better Ball matchplay the LiSAs versus the Rest of the Worlds (aka Shaz and Sue vs. Cath and John). Shaz and Sue are 3 down after 4, so it wasn’t looking good for the LiSAs. Enough about that – let’s talk about the course. Where as Cape Wickham has sea views on every hole, Ocean Dunes has a smaller ocean footprint but is a true Scottish links layout and what a challenge it was.
I cannot recommend these courses highly enough, they really are a MUST do!
On the island before you play you do get a warning about the snakes, Copper heads and Tiger snakes. The golf buggies have first aid kits and you get to call the number (if you have Telstra reception), so it clearly is a common occurence. The scale of the dunes and ups and downs is very difficult to see in the photos, but trust me they are 2 and 3 storeys high. If you hit a drive on the wrong slope, it goes and goes and goes and goes. Sometimes you hit a shot in the wrong direction and get a good bounce and yippee your shit shot is now awesome.
It is true links where you have to land before the green then the ball runs up, you have to play to the right part of the green – it is so challenging and we had very little wind, I cannot imagine how hard this is in the wind.
The LiSA versus the ROWs match turned out to be a clincher with Sue taking a 5 pointer to get us to all square with 2 to play, unfortunately the very annoying Shugzee and Thommo were too good for us and won 2 up.
After golf we went into town for a pie, some King Island Cheese and petrol. Filling up with petrol was entertaining as the petrol station was also the local dress shop, Sweet shop and gift shop. Small island life! Then back to the airport for the short 50 minute flight to Launceston on mainland Tassie.