Spaniard Rafael Cabrera Bello was almost in a daze after an unbelievable round of 60 brought him his first European Tour title at the Austrian Golf Open.
According to the European Tour web site Cabrera Bello said, “It's just amazing - I played the best golf of my life and I can't believe it.”

What’s even more amazing is that the Spaniard had missed eight of his previous ten halfway cuts.
And while on the European Tour, this piece of news for Kiwi golfers. Gareth Paddison tied for third at the Kazakhstan Open.

Last week I mentioned how envious I was of the Stanford guys playing Pine Valley.
And so when I saw this headline at Bloomberg “Pine Valley, Golf’s ‘Slice of Heaven,’ Opens Gates to Public”

I just had to go have a look.
My first thought was hey maybe they are opening their course to the public. And so they are, but alas only for spectators.

Erik Matuszewski writes, “Pine Valley continues a long-standing, if little-known, tradition on Sept. 20 by opening its gates to the public for the final day of the 85th Crump Cup, one of the nation’s most prestigious amateur events. While not a chance to play, it’s a rare opportunity for weekend golfers to experience a course that Hall of Fame architect Robert Trent Jones said has more classic holes than any other in the world.”

Geoff Shackelford reports on another member of the Jones family, Robert Trent Jones Jnr. who said, some would say pontificated that “Nicklaus’s courses are all predictable. He's myopic. He looks straight forward. All of his greens and his [design] thoughts are very, very generic. His courses are beautiful and highly competent but predictable.”
"Excuse me Jnr!" There’s nothing “predictable” about the Golden Bear’s Kinloch course in NZ.

For those of you planning your golfing holiday in NZ, I recommend that you click on the above link and view a magnificent collection of photographs of the course.

I was also interested in what one commentator had to say in Geoff’s Reader’s Comments section

.”…Bunkers are like jewelry on a beautiful woman: You don't need that many.”
Which brings me to the matter of bunkers.

At the weekend at an Auckland golf course which shall remain nameless because I may not be permitted to play there again should my thoughts become known to the club's management. 

The matter of the number of bunkers on the course came up while I was having a wee dram at the 19th.
The question was asked, “How many bunkers are there at Augusta National?”
The best I can come up with on a Google search is 43.
If that’s the case then one or more golf courses in the Auckland area are very well off when it comes to jewelry. More’s the pity the clubs’ bank balances don’t reflect their wealth.

Thought for the day.
Has to be, “Bunkers are like jewelry on a beautiful woman: You don't need that many.”

Slainte

Stan