Stars Brighten At Choice Of Course

The Age

Wednesday January 30, 2008

Martin Blake

PAUL McNAMEE'S mantra is to take the Australian Opens to the best courses, and then success will follow. That's the theory, anyway.

It is the reason why the Women's Australian Open is coming to Kingston Heath - by general consensus one of the top two courses in the country (the other is Royal Melbourne) - for the first time this week, and the reason why it was at the excellent Royal Sydney last year, and the reason why the men's Open is almost certainly going to the brilliant NSW Golf Club later this year.

Whether the tournament burgeons is yet to be seen, of course, but at least McNamee, Golf Australia's executive chairman for the Opens, has the endorsement of the players, accustomed as they are to playing on vastly inferior courses in Europe, and new housing estates and tricked-up resorts in America.

Karrie Webb, the world No. 3 who said earlier this week that players on the American LPGA Tour were "good for selling real estate", believes that if this week's tournament were part of the LPGA, it would rate "top three" in terms of venues. "For the Europeans, it's probably top two," she said.

Laura Davies, England's former world No. 1, went further. "I think it's probably the best course," she said. "I like Sunningdale (in England). But I think this is probably a better version of Sunningdale. I'm trying to think of courses I would prefer to play. The only ones I can come up with are St Andrews and Royal Lytham. This rates as my third-favourite course I've ever played."

Birdie Kim, the 2005 US Open champion, provided the best evidence that McNamee's plan was beginning to work. When Kim heard that the tournament was at Kingston Heath, she contacted Golf Australia and asked if she could play. Kim has been waylaid in New Zealand with a visa problem, but she was flying to Melbourne last night.

Webb said all the players were excited about the venue in the world-famous sandbelt. "You never get bored playing this course . . ." she said. "When you win tournaments on world-class courses, it means more. The course here, all you want to do is keep playing because it is such a fantastic test of golf. It's a fair test and it's in great shape."

The seven-time major championship winner is refreshed after a break at home in Queensland, but she knows that the grind begins this week. "I haven't hit a bad shot for a couple of months," she joked. "It (confidence) is higher than it was at the end of last year. I feel pretty good about things."

Davies is coming off a win in the NSW Open last week, first-up after a break at home in London in which she did not touch the clubs.

"I don't like playing friendly golf," she said. "I like playing competitive golf."

The 44-year-old is seeking to dispel the notion that she is past it. "I'm probably playing better now than I ever did. Now it's just a matter of turning top-10 finishes into wins. Then people start taking you seriously again.

"When you keep finishing top-10 and not winning, there's always a question mark that you're not a winner any more."

© 2008 The Age

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