Playing the par-5 second hole at Arabella I was curious about a striped marker pole in the fairway that hadn’t been there on a previous visit. They usually indicate direction of play on blind shots, but No 2 is straight with the green in sight from the tee. And this pole wasn’t in the middle of the fairway, but off to the left next to a fairway bunker. What was its purpose? Two more poles appeared on the back nine, at 12 and 16, this time to the right hand side of the fairway. And on all three holes relatively tall wild pear trees had been planted close to the tee. Golf director Mike Munro revealed this is the outcome of a health and safety project conducted earlier this year to minimise the number of golf balls struck off tees into Arabella residences. A “strike triangle” calculation on every hole shows which estate course homes are vulnerable to off-line golf balls and then determines their level of protection. Arabella identified only three holes where there was a risk of endangered homes, and the poles and trees are positioned to try and prevent that. Golfers are encouraged to aim for the poles, and the trees are placed strategically to prevent tee shots being struck towards houses. Arabella home owners are also asked to report each and every golf ball that lands in their properties. Good to see such proactive measures being taken.