Wow! Not often am I blown away by a course like I was at Gowrie. What an exceptional layout. You can see that a lot of time, thought and effort has gone into its design and construction. What amazed me is that even though you play some greens twice, it doesn’t feel like the same green. A good example is that for holes 7 (short par 4) and 17 (par 3). The way the green has been shaped for the different angles of play is genius. The design theory that a green is to a golf course what a face is to a portrait, rings so true here. The routing has utilised all the prominent features of the land and takes you on a wonderful walk. The fairways are some of the best conditioned I’ve seen. The greens were great and ran true, although the poa and bent are fighting for dominance. The rugged look of the bunkers was a personal favourite. I could visit Gowrie Farm for its clubhouse alone. Heaven for a golf nut with wonderful memorabilia. I can only think it is not in the Top 20 due to it not being 18 holes. Hopefully this changes when the new holes open for play.