King Island - Cape Wickham & Ocean Dunes

[DrivesFourShow]

King Island is set to be the hottest golfing destination in the Southern Hemisphere with Cape Wickham due to open late 2015 and Ocean Dunes due to open early 2016. Put it on your bucket list now!

 

http://capewickham.com.au/

 

http://www.oceandunes.com.au/

[Clael415]

On my way over to King Island next month. Seriously looking forward to it!

[Clael415]

I played both Ocean Dunes and Cape Wickham last week. A bit of a somber start to the trip as we flew out a couple of days after the Essendon incident but it was well worth it!

 

Arrived on the island and headed straight for Ocean Dunes which is a five minute drive from the airport. First impressions were it looks quite unique. Plenty of scenic holes to start both nines and we had a nice 20mph wind accompanying us for the round.

 

I played terribly and started with four doubles on the first five holes to shoot 88. Some notable holes... the 3rd is a long par 4 which played into the wind with a nice big carry to get over the water on an attacking line.. I didn't make it over. The 4th is a short par 3 and can be a challenge in the wind. The 10th is a long par 3 on the edge of the water again which has bunkers littered everywhere.. and when you bail out from the water you will go straight in one!

 

I see the course becoming much better in the year. There is no on course information to help you and I still don't know what distances the white and blue markers were supposed to be; at a guess, maybe 150m and 200m but no mention is made on the card. Several blind tee shots with no guidance where to aim. Overall it was nice and a little frustrating but I will say I might have not have said that if I played well.

 

Cape Wickam

 

What an amazing spot. I can see why it is ranked as highly as it is. We had a nice 30mph wind with gusts to 40 to help/hinder us. The wind had swung around and was playing opposite to the prevailing wind in which the course was designed for. The long holes were playing into the wind and the short ones downwind which resulted in a few drivable par 4's and a few 4 shot par 5's.

 

Highlight of the day would be 9th hole which was playing downhill and downwind and hitting a 340m drive and putting a GW to a foot on the par 5, and then following it up with a hybrid onto the green on the 305m 10th.

 

Cape Wickham is a class above Ocean Dunes and I would rate it up there with Kauri Cliffs and Cape Kidnappers. Embrace the wind and enjoy it, or enjoy a chance to go low if you get it on a calm day. I shot 84 with an eagle, a birdie and a 7 on the 18th!

 

I let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

[Chanceman]

Just got back from our second trip to King island where we played both Cape Wickham and Ocean Dunes which is now complete but a little under-prepared. Warm and sunny for CW but wet and windy next day at OD - that was tough. Both are brilliant courses. Every hole seems different and the scenery is magical. Stayed on site in the CW cabins and had a really good dinner with the boys. Great buddies trip. Took plenty of cheese from KI Dairy home to Melbourne and its only a 45 minute flight across so very accessible.