Potential can be a millstone around the neck of a golf course. Sure, the venue might be ideal and suit a wide cross-section of the local golf market. But if the little things aren’t done correctly, there can be just as many double-bogeys inked on the bottom line as the golfers’ scorecards.
Certainly Mount Compass Golf Course once fell into the dreaded ‘potential’, category, which can often be merely a code word for ‘good, but not great’. But not any more. Instead, this enticing course is beginning to truly flourish. Word began spreading back when the layout was still known as Fleurieu Golf Course. Golfers from or visiting South Australia would repeatedly reference this difficult-to-pronounce but alluring course in a beautiful region south of the city. More recently, Mount Compass has altered its name and its thinking to capitalise on its considerable offerings. Tucked away on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula, the course is a leisurely 50-minute drive south of the Adelaide CBD in an area known for its premium wines, food and other attractions. Great golf is a natural fit, yet drawing golfers to play was another matter because even the most majestic of courses loses if not enough people know about it.
The re-emergence of Mount Compass was a multi-step process. It began with an astute plan, one hatched by Stephen Connor, who bought the course in 2016. Quite rightly, it centred on the golf course but extended to the clubhouse, accompanying facilities and sensibly included the approach to marketing and golfer interaction.
The club got the recipe right, as today Mount Compass Golf Course sits 96th on Australian Golf Digest’s biennial Top 100 Courses ranking, and is fast blooming into more than just a golf course.
People Power
Sand and golf make for perfect bedfellows, in course construction terms at least. The Mount Compass site was formerly a sand mine and the natural benefits such a surface affords are evident today. Built progressively during the 1990s under the architectural eyes of Neil Crafter and his late father Brian, the golf course showed promise but largely wallowed until the Connor-led revival began three years ago.
Firstly, Connor changed the name of the course to Mount Compass Golf Course to improve its identity and focus attention on the exact, rather than general, location. He also made some smart personnel acquisitions and involvements, including calling back in Neil Crafter to revitalise the layout. More recently, popular PGA professional Michael Clough was appointed golf manager after a decade spent at Federal Golf Club in Canberra.
On the course, Connor says the focus fell on, in order, greens, fairways, bunker reconditioning and tree management. Plus the seemingly little things received consideration.
“Our customers want to play the best possible standard golf course they can conveniently access, year round,” Connor says. “It must appeal to the very low handicapper right through to the very casual recreational golfer. Our tee and flag positions, rough cuts and general presentation of the course strive to get this balance right, which is no easy feat.
“The course superintendent, Philip Tripodi, and I established a clear vision and plan for course works that is intended to progressively reveal the links-style nature of the design by Neil Crafter of Golf Strategies. We meet every two weeks to review progress and fine-tune our action plan.
“We have 90 bunkers on the course that all needed weeding, re-sanding, edge treatments and general maintenance. We have weeded, treated and edged the bunkers, and are roughly a third of the way through re-sanding them. Many of the trees around the course had overgrown and intruded into play – they have been trimmed, pruned or removed as required to reveal bunkers and hazards that should have formed part of the decision-making process for golfers. There is more to do on this front.”
The bunkering at Mount Compass Golf Course is a highlight, a happy combination of Crafter’s touch and the site’s natural assets. Overall, the layout does get right Connor’s desired mix of being a constant challenge for expert players yet entirely playable for novices. It’s a tidy, links-style layout with a distinct Sandbelt approach to much of its bunkering, where heather, ferns and other attractive foliage hems the non-fairway/green side of the hazards. The course meanders around a central ridge where the clubhouse sits. Two holes in particular stand out: the intriguing par-4 sixth where carrying an expansive penalty area is required from the tee but it’s up to the player to decide how much to bite off, and the demanding par-3 12th with its broad green that pushes towards a lake on its right edge. The tough par-4 11th also deserves praise for the way it trundles down a hillside towards a green that welcomes approach shots bouncing from the left.
Off-course, The Range bar and restaurant are close to being fully renovated, while the pro shop will be the next area of focus, likely to be accompanied by a casual sprig bar/lounge area on the lower level of the clubhouse. On-course accommodation, in the form of houses with frontage to the golf course, will be available for short-term rental from 2020. Meanwhile, the land development and sale program continues with more course frontage and course view allotments coming on line this year.
Additionally, Mount Compass has upgraded its website, adding an electronic booking system for playing rights holders and visitors. The club also engaged in a Facebook campaign that has been effective in attracting new business and keeping in touch with regular players. Word of mouth has been its best source of custom, Connor says. “Our revenue from golf has grown 80 percent – albeit from a low base – since I took over in 2016 and continues to trend upwards at 15 to 20 percent per annum.
“All of this is working. We have seen increased patronage from local and interstate players.”
Indeed, for golfers the result is simple: when in and around Adelaide, you simply have to add Mount Compass Golf Course to your itinerary.
THE DETAILS
Mount Compass Golf Course
Where: George Francis Drive, Mount Compass SA 5210
Phone: (08) 8556 8500
Web: mcgc.com.au
