Every course has a ‘least good hole’ and at Royal Sydney it’s the medium length par four, 12th. At Kingston Heath it’s the 4th hole but that hole is impossible to criticize architecturally. It just happens to fall on the flattest piece of land and because
The 12th at Royal Sydney is a hole of similar length and difficulty and it is flat but it is an oddity that you can drive to the middle of the fairway and still have to play over trees to get to the flag.
Some might think that is an acceptable piece of architecture it is hard to find a great hole where that is the case. Golf is a much better game when it is played over things on the ground as opposed to things in the air.
The 12th is not a difficult hole and there will be plenty of birdies here but there are some much harder – and better – holes to follow.