Layout
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Layout
A splendid park-like setting has been created; one which nevertheless retains the old links character born of its unusual sporting antecedence as the site of the original Edithburgh oval—commemorated in the local name of the seventh. Martinsfield also has the distinction of being the first greened course on the peninsula.
First hole
The first demands a well controlled pitch, nine or wedge, as the tee is tightly hedged with boobiallas on the right and wattles and mallee guard the approach to the green on the left; to chip and run requires the steady hand of a needle threader and the ground, although flat, is very hard. To err short is safe—if complicated by a gentle swale in front—as the unwary enthusiastic hitter can be snared by the out of bounds just ten paces beyond the green.
Second hole
The second, although some twenty-two metres shorter than the first, requires an equally steady hand as the tiered green is closely guarded at back right by a venerable exotic aloe, a misplaced survivor from the early ornamental garden hedges of the district. This is especially so when the cup is set in the upper tier at the back of the green. The brave player may choose the high approach, confident of stopping the ball on the green, but risks being intercepted by an even more venerable—and decidedly original—melaleuca characteristically leaning with the prevailing wind yet still standing guard over this picturesque hole.
Third hole
A carefully struck chip from the third tee, directed with precision through a glade, should land on the generous though undulating green set in an enclosure of native cypress pines, ti-trees and sheoaks which mask the out of bounds a handful of paces beyond the green.
Fourth hole
The fourth being more than double the length of the third offers the player their first chance to indulge in a full swing. From an elevated tee, sheltered from the south-west, the hole doubles back beside the previous two and runs due east with an out of bounds on the right formed by the southern boundary of the course. Due account must be taken of the prevailing wind—southeast in summer and south west in winter—to avoid running off the green into the scrubby rough close by the left fringe. If fortune favours you with a three then a good foundation has been laid for your round as the next two holes are comparatively easy.
Fifth hole
Except under extreme conditions such as a searing northerly in summer or a howling westerly in winter—making any play unlikely—the fifth requires only a well directed and weighted chip to achieve an easy three in spite of the out of bounds close to the right of and behind the rather elongated green.
Sixth hole
Turning to the west again, the player standing on the sixth tee faces one of Martinsfield’s most attractive vistas. The shot to the sixth is played through a chute of mallees and ti-trees to an elevated and undulating green with the cup set in a deep depression at the back. The overhanging sheoaks at the back and the sprawling boobiallas masking the boundary fence on the right will trap a wayward shot but a well played pitch resulting in the ball nestling in the hollow below the cup should be rewarded with a birdie.
Eighth hole
The line to the eighth hole is stretched tight by the copse of native cypress pines encountered on the previous hole marching up the knoll and onto the front right-hand edge of the green. Your ball, if properly struck, should do the same—but a few metres to the left—and settle comfortably on the green leaving you with a favourable chance for a birdie. The risks to dropping a stroke on this hole, which runs for seventy three metres in a north westerly direction, lie mainly on the right and beyond, so that careful consideration of the wind must be made in order to keep control of your round with one hole to go on the outward nine.