Pennant Hills Golf Club

The Pennant Hills Golf Club is a golf club in Beecroft, New South Wales, Australia, a suburb of Sydney. Founded in 1923, it is a 5925 metres par 71 eighteen-hole championship course. It has hosted many amateur events including the NSW Men's and NSW Ladies Amateur Championships. In 1925, the original clubhouse was designed by Thomas Pollard Sampson, a playing member of the club, and he extended the building in 1929 and again in 1939.

History
The club was incorporated on 26 February 1923 when it completed the purchase of an area of land of 97 acres, 1 rood and 24 ½ perches, paying £4750 to Mr J.W Meader for the land previously secured by Robert Vicars.

An initial course layout in 1923 included 9 holes on the western end which had previously been cleared for farming and cultivation. The remainder of the course was covered with hundreds of trees and stumps, water holes, and rock shelves which required removal before an 18-hole course could be completed.

The course was extended to an 18-hole course over the next year following advice provided by Professional Golfer, Tom Howard, the then holder of the Australian Open, NSW and Australian PGA Titles, He was paid a fee of £1/1-.

The first 18-hole layout was played in March 1924. Over subsequent years, the layout was changed until a final layout in 1934, which opened on 17 March 1934.

Layout and signature holes
Apart from the initial course layout in 1923/24 designed with the advice of Tom Howard, the subsequent course design was mostly done by club members. There was no master layout for the course, which evolved through five progressive layouts from 1924 to 1934. Each layout was enabled by the clearing of trees, which provided areas for new fairways and greens and lengthening of existing holes to achieve a course of championship length. When considering changes to the 16th hole in 1936 to create a dog-leg, Eric Apperly, then Australian Amateur Champion. was asked to provide a design.

Also in 1952 when the 9th green was reconstructed requiring excavation into the sandstone cliff behind, the advice of Australian Open Champion 1950/52/53, Norman Von Nida was sought.

In laying out the course, the design took advantage of the often steep hilly contours of the site, as well as the many stands of old growth trees and the deep gully carrying Devlins Creek through the eastern end of the course, ensuring there are few even lies. There are favourable comparisons with Augusta National with respect to the steepness of some holes.

The deep gully, only 50 metres in front of the clubhouse, allowed the starting and finishing holes for each nine, to require a carry across the deep gully between trees to either a rising fairway for 1 and 10, or to greens close to the clubhouse for 9 and 18.

The first hole is a 456 metres par four, across the gully to an elevated tree-lined fairway with a slight dog-leg before undulations to an elevated green. The remaining front nine holes follow a sequence around the perimeter, making features of the trees and undulations, before the par three 134 metres 9th hole crosses the deep gully from an elevated tee to a green cut from the rocky cliff on the other side. In 1927, the hole (then the 11th) was described as "hole is of the Spion Kop type, requiring a mashie shot over a creek, where again accuracy and distance must be attained to avoid severe penalties." The 10th 380 metres par four again provides a carry across the deep gully from an elevated tee, between tall trees to a steadily rising fairway and an elevated green. The remaining back nine are tree lined, with four dog-leg holes either downhill or uphill, to mainly small greens protected by bunkers. The 15th is a feature hole of only 285 metres par four, but from a very elevated tee, to a steep uphill tree lined fairway and small green, with heavy fairway and greenside bunkers. The hole was twice driven during the 1982 club championships match-play by Greg Wicks only to lose to a chip-in eagle in the first round by his opponent, the legendary Tony Gresham and halved in birdies in the second round.

The 167 metres par three 18th finishing hole is a long carry across the gully, through a narrow chute between tall eucalypts, to a steep fairway immediately below an elevated green. Early reports of the hole describe the 18th "between the tee and the green is a ‘great gulf’ ; an easy three or a bad twenty."

Heritage listing
In July 1994, the course was given heritage listing stating, "Golf course sited on undulating topography above Devlins Creek which runs through site. Conserving large stands of mature indigenous Eucalypts particularly Blackbutts, Bluegums and Stringybarks to 30 metres between fairways. There are also indigenous trees around boundary and on nature strips including Blackbutt, Smoothbark, Angophora, Stringybarks, and Turpentines to 25 metres high."

Water Recycling treatment plant
In the early 2000s NSW experienced an extended drought which resulted in rapid lowering of the levels of water storage within the dams in the Sydney region. In November 2002, storage was at 65% and by April 2003, the storage level had dropped to 59%. The NSW State Government mandated that when levels were at 55%, restrictions on water usage would be introduced, initially targeting house hold use, but progressing to business, and Local Government Councils.

Foreshadowing the likely impact of the use of Water for Tees, Greens and Fairways on the golf course, the Pennant Hills Golf Club initiated a program to improve water security through the use of recycled sewerage effluent which could be extracted from a Sewer main running underneath part of the course.

Commencing in June 2003, initial meetings were held with Sydney Water and Hornsby Shire Council involving agreement by Sydney Water for long term exclusive extraction rights of effluent carried by the Sewer main, and agreement from the NSW Environmental Protection Agency, to protect the local environment, population and waterways. The project was a ‘first’ for these agencies, which resulted in an extended approval process. The project was completed and officially opened in May 2008.

Description of WRP process
Key elements include a sewerage off-take well in Devlin's Creek, 3 large storage tanks, and the main plant consisting of a balance tank plus 2 processing tanks (one biological and one membrane) as well as a pumping room and computerized control system within a shed. Effluent is extracted from the sewer line in Devlin's Creek, pumped to the balance tank and then put through biological processes in anoxic and aerobic conditions, before final filtering using a high tech membrane process. It then undergoes UV treatment and chlorination before going into the storage tanks. The plant provides between 500 and 650 kilolitres per day of class A water suitable for irrigation with uncontrolled public access (15 to 19 million litres per month).

The treated water contains significant levels of nitrogen and other nutrients which has reduced the requirement for use of artificial fertilisers on the course.

Men
1952 - Set by Kel Nagle on 22 Nov 1952 in his third round of the NSW PGA Championships. His score of 63 set the course record for the course of 6359 yards, par 71. 1968 - Set by Tony Gresham on 13 July 1968 in a stroke round. His score of 63 set the course record for the course of 6376 yards, par 71.

2023 -Set by Christopher Fan of Avondale GC in the 1st qualifying round of the NSW Mens Amateur Championships. His score of 63 on a course of 5915m included 10 birdies with 8 birdies from 10th through to 17th. 

Women
2004 - Set by Julia Boland on 23 September 2004 in a stroke round during qualification for Club Championships. Her score of 66 set the course record for the course of 5329 metres, par 73.