Which is just the way its original developer, Bob Johnson, wanted it.

In the late 1980s, Johnson was arguably the biggest mover and shaker in the New South Wales North Coast holiday haven of Coffs Harbour. The entrepreneur had links to a host of new development in the region at that time, including the $30 million refurbishment of the famed Big Banana, the construction of an adjoining theme park, as well as a resort project north of town.

He also had plans for a reforested property his mother owned at Bonville, about 15km south of the tourist hotspot.

When Coffs Harbour’s most renowned tourist attraction was sold to Japanese investors in early 1989, Johnson shifted his focus to Bonville and the 250 hectares of hilly land covered in Flooded Gums, Bloodwood, Ironbark and Blackbutt trees as well as dense tracts of sub-tropical rainforest.

He commissioned course designer Ted Stirling and course superintendent/builder Terry Watson to create his dream world-class layout, with one underlying request. This course needed to have the “feel” of Augusta National.

The 4th hole’s sweeping fairway tempts bold shots; strategy determines your score. PHOTO: Brendan James.

“There was nothing really striking about the property at all, except lots of big, beautiful trees,” recalls Stirling.

Aided by aerial images and topographic maps, Stirling and Watson trekked the site many times noting where golf holes could, and could not, be built. Stirling says the more detailed aspects of Bonville’s terrain were hidden deep beneath the trees and thick undergrowth.

“When we walked the site, you had all these great big beautiful trees which were obviously going to frame the holes. The trees were just magnificent,” he said.

“We felt if we could leave a lot of the trees and move the holes around them, it would look great. And it did and it still does today.”

The layout has rarely, if ever, looked quite as good as it does today. PHOTO: Brendan James.

The course officially opened for play in January 1992 and by the end of the summer, the golfer’s grapevine was abuzz about the new Aussie course that looks like Augusta. The dramatic terrain, towering stands of Flooded Gums and beautifully manicured playing surfaces all contributed to the Augusta “feel”. And, if then you were still not convinced, thousands of colourful azaleas planted beneath the gums lining the then-9th and 18th holes really added to Bonville’s homage to Augusta.

While the design was very good and the setting impressed all comers, Bonville had a reputation in its first seven years of being hit and miss when it came to its presentation. The choice of Penncross bentgrass putting surfaces was not a good one, as Bonville’s trademark tall timbers cast shadows for long periods, leading to poor growth.

When former Olympian and successful businessman Peter Montgomery purchased Bonville in 1999, it was the turning point the golf resort and course needed to fulfil its world-class potential. Montgomery recognised the need to invest heavily in the layout to ensure the difference between Bonville’s very best presentation and periods of not so good conditioning were minimal.

The opening tee shot to a sloping fairway with a creek slicing diagonally through it quickens the heart rate. PHOTO: Brendan James.

Converting all the greens to the hardier Bermuda 328 couch grass – which is far more suited to the Coffs Harbour climate than bentgrass – was vitally important, as was the select heavy pruning to open up air flow and sunlight exposure through the walls of trees surrounding most greens. Bonville’s greens today are some of the finest Bermuda surfaces in the country.

This didn’t happen overnight though, and it was no easy task to overcome the idiosyncrasies of the site, with dramatic terrain, vegetation and sub-tropical climate all playing their part in creating a unique set of problems for growing high-quality turf. But the succession of talented long-term course superintendents at Bonville across the past 25 years have all contributed in some way to the local knowledge now held by the course management team and, as a result, the layout has rarely, if ever, looked quite as good as it does today.

Current course superintendent Aaron Banks and his team have also solved one of agronomy’s great mysteries … how to grow healthy turf on heavily sloping land. I have been a regular visitor to Bonville since its earliest days and I have never seen as much healthy, thriving turf across its fairways, greens and rough as I saw when I visited to compile this story in February. There was barely a weed to be seen (which is an amazing achievement, given the ideal warm and humid growing conditions) and dramatic sloping areas of fairway all had a beautiful coverage of manicured couch grass.

Bonville’s greens today are some of the finest Bermuda surfaces in the country. PHOTO: Brendan James.

While the azaleas have long been replaced by native plants, the comparisons to Augusta National remain courtesy of an extensive bunker renovation program, which began in 2022 and has seen each bunker remodelled with improved drainage and the addition of high-quality white bunker sand.

Many bunkers have been reshaped and bunker mat material installed. Bunker mat is a three-dimensional sand-retention and drainage matting, which is laid on the steep slope of bunker faces (all of which at Bonville are no longer steeper than 30 degrees). The sand is trapped within the open structure of the fibres, allowing the sand to be held in place. Even in heavy downpours, the matting allows water to flow internally to the drainage in the base of the bunker without washing sand away with it.

But it’s not just the visual highlights which draw comparisons with Augusta.

It has often been said that Augusta National is one of the game’s greatest challenges to a player’s course management skills. There are so many courses where you can score well simply by hitting the ball well. At Augusta, your strategy from tee to green needs to be on song, as does your club and shot selection. Then you need to hit the ball well. The moment you make an aggressive play chasing a par, birdie or better, your chances of coming unstuck greatly increase.

Bonville’s 18th. A dramatic par-5. With risk-reward decisions to make… and a tricky green. PHOTO: Brendan James.

I have always found Stirling and Watson’s Bonville creation possesses similar characteristics. There are many holes where if you pursue a par or birdie too hard, you’re bringing bogey, double-bogey (or worse) into play. This can be attributed to the shape and slope of the greens and their surrounds, which determine that the margins for error playing attacking golf are slim … very slim.

One of the finest examples of this can be found on Bonville’s signature 460-metre par-5 18th hole, which was inspired by Augusta’s 15th hole. Having driven over the crest of a hill to a fairway that doglegs slightly left, you are faced with a tough decision as you look at your downhill lie, glance up at the snaking water hazard that lies 40 metres short of the angled green, which you know you can reach in two shots with a solid hit. Do you lay-up or go for it? The latter brings a grandstand finish eagle into play, while also exposing the possibility of a double-bogey seven. The former takes both off the table and almost guarantees a bogey being the worst possible result. Or does it?

As is the case with many of Bonville’s greens, the slope on the 18th green is predominantly from back-to-front and, in this era of the putting surfaces here being pure and a good speed, you can really hurt your score by leaving yourself a downhill putt here. Aggressive plays by taking dead aim at the flag with approach shots will ensure lots of downhill putts, usually with significant break, and that won’t help your scorecard one bit.

The 18th is the last of a terrific collection of par-5s you will encounter at Bonville. For mine, I can’t split the closing hole and the 481-metre 4th hole as being the best of them. The 4th is a visually dynamic driving hole with a saddle-shaped fairway funnelling even slightly off-line shots back to the centre of the fairway. The aggressive player may consider going for the green in two shots here, but it is a shot that must be solid and shaped from right-to-left around the dogleg and the tall Flooded Gums lining the fairway. Longer hitters may also need to use a fairway wood from the tee to avoid a deep gully that cuts the fairway in two. Two fairway traps and a huge swale, both about 60 metres short of the green, are in play and can complicate the errant second shot lay-up. Again, the best leave for any approach shot is short of the flag, preferably in the left half of the green.

As you might expect on a course covering such dramatic terrain, there are plenty of visual and golfing highlights during the round. The opening tee shot to a sloping fairway with a creek slicing diagonally through it quickens the heart rate, while the drive from the elevated tee at the next is a cracker. For mine though, some of the best moments can be found in the closing holes.

The 17th is a par-3 reminiscent of Augusta’s 12th, complete with its own swirling winds. PHOTO: Brendan James.

The 356-metre 15th is a terrific rolling dogleg right par-4 played alongside and over a creek which feeds into a lake left of the fairway. The water hazard also lies in front and left of the bunkerless green, which offers another “looks like Augusta” moment.

As does the 138-metre par-3 17th. The moment you wander off the back of the 16th green and venture down the hill to bring the penultimate hole into view, you can’t help but have your thoughts drawn to Augusta. Here, the green is perched slightly above a still, lily-covered lake, while two stark white bunkers lie to the right of the putting surface. There is a densely treed hill long and left, which causes the wind above the lake to swirl here, just as it does on Augusta’s famed 12th hole, Golden Bell.

There is much to enjoy about “Australia’s Augusta” and given the five-star quality of the layout presentation and the off-course service, it is no wonder it was voted Australia’s favourite course by Golf Australia magazine readers seven years in a row. It is also now listed as a signature course in the Great Golf Courses of Australia collection of layouts being marketed internationally alongside the likes of Cape Wickham, Barnbougle Dunes, Royal Melbourne, Victoria and Royal Adelaide Golf Clubs. 

FACT FILE

LOCATION: North Bonville Rd, Bonville, NSW.

CONTACT: 1300 722 444; (02) 6653 4544 (pro shop)

WEBSITE: www.bonvillegolf.com.au

DESIGNER: Ted Stirling and Terry Watson (1992).

GREEN FEES: $195 pp (Monday and Tuesday); $275 (limited number of non-stay tee times, Wednesday to Sunday).

PLAYING SURFACES: CT2 Couch (fairways), Bermuda 328 (greens).

PGA PROFESSIONAL: Daniel Dosen.

COURSE SUPERINTENDENT: Aaron Banks.

STAY, PLAY & DINE: Bonville has 30 well-appointed rooms all overlooking the picturesque 1st fairway. All feature king-size beds which can be split in two, ensuite bathroom and reverse-cycle air-conditioning. There is also the award-winning Flooded Gums restaurant to look forward to. Stay, Play and Dine packages start from $440 per person twin share. Check the website for seasonal package deals.

RANKINGS: Bonville was No.38 in Golf Australia magazine’s Top-100 Courses ranking for 2024.