66 pine trees that littered the site we’ve got rid of all but about 80 of them. “We’ve pretty much settled on the holes. We were debating whether the sixth would finish up as a par four or five. Now that eighteen’s a five, six is probably going to be a four, which unfortunately gives a par 72, which is really conventional and boring. We might finish up putting it back. Mike was talking about building architects’ tees, that only we know about. It’s such a cool second shot into the sixth that if there was a back tee that took the hole from 480 yards to 550 yards, there would be a really awesome par five. We might just smooth off a back tee and if people want to play there, they can. But on the card it’s more than likely going to be a par four.” Clayton says golfers can expect something extremely special: “The only two shots that don’t have a view of the water, which is pretty spectacular, are the second to the first hole and from the back tee of the second. On every other shot you can see the water, to a point where you almost start taking it for granted. I go and look at it every morning, when you get in the right light it’s beautiful. By the end of the day, it’s just there and you forget about it. But for golfers seeing it for the first time, it’s a pretty awesome experience.” There are some parallels with Clayton’s other famous Tasmania newbuild, Barnbougle Dunes, co-designed with Tom Doak, which opened in 2004 and has topped Australia’s public access rankings ever since. “It stands on the edge of the sea with the same sort of big, rolling dunes. It’s much windier at Barnbougle than it is in Hobart, but you’ve still got to make fairways pretty wide, so you’ve got to drive the ball well, but you don’t have to drive it straight. The test is to drive it properly through the wind and there are parts of the fairways where the second shots are easier. If you can figure out where to drive it to get the easier approach, that’s part of thinking your way around the golf course. There’ll be some holes where if you drive to one part of the fairway, you get a clear view to the green. If you don’t, you’ll be INTERV I EW “ We’ve got to make sure that Seven Mile Beach is one of the best two or three courses in Australia, which I think is doable given how good the site is and how good the land is” Photo: Lukas Michel Mike DeVries, left, and Mike Clayton ponder design decisions at Seven Mile Beach
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