> Course Overview & Design
Course Overview & Design
Steve Smyers, Course Architect
"Golf courses should not be designed to conform to whimsical trends of the day. Rather, they should be designed according to proven, classical principles that withstand the test of time”
Steve Smyers.
Following in the footsteps and philosophies of the great golf architects of The Golden Age of golf course design, Steve Smyers’ magnificent design and layout at Cypress Lakes has its roots in the strategic, risk reward principles that make golf such a great game for players of all abilities.During his career, Smyers has worked on many types of projects, including residential, resort and public daily-fee facilities, as well as private, golf-only clubs. He has designed and built more than 30 courses across the U.S. and 10 in various countries around the world, including Australia, the Philippines, South Africa, England, Ireland and Portugal. Blessed with vision, creativity, and imagination, Smyers has the flair of an artist and the ability to produce drama and variety in his designs. He has done just this at Cypress Lakes.
Smyers’ only Australian design to date has capitalised on the unique attributes and topography of the spectacular property. Such is the rarity of this type of property; golfers are confronted in unconventional yet interesting ways – where vineyard carries offer a different challenge for the experience-seeking golfer.
Even the distinctive wine-bottle shaped tee markers afford first time visitors a unique and differentiated experience.The recent re-routing of the course affords the golfer the opportunity to experience both the challenges of an exceptional inland links-style course for the front nine holes, while the back nine offers a completely different challenge, encompassing traditional park-land holes with sloping fairways.Cypress Lakes offers a challenge for golfers of all abilities.
From the Championship tees, the 6359 metre course offers a stern challenge to even the most experienced golfers. The men’s tees offer a challenge of 5975 metres, while the ladies face a distance of 5107 metres allowing for avariety of challenges for golfers of differing abilities. There is an excellent mix of holes as you will see on our online Course Tour.
The four par fives offer all quite different in terms of length and difficulty, while the par fours are also very nicely varied. The mix of dog-legs both left and right maximise the variety of shots that will need to be played. The beauty of the par threes on the course is that they extend to all four points of the compass, ensuring that golfers will have to play shots on each of these holes in varying wind conditions.
In the 16th hole, Cypress Lakes is proud to boast Australia’s longest Par 5, measuring a daunting 603 metres from the Championship markers. So go on, be the envy of your golfing friends and boast to them after your visit that you birdied the longest hole in Australia.