CRAIG Parry has no time for golf these days.
Only kidding! I meant ‘Paz’ has no time to actually play the game.
In reality this former US Tour winner has never been busier ON the golf course.
Based on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Parry decided to focus on the golf design side of the game several years ago.
And frankly that’s when golf clubs began to queue up for his expertise.
He is now leaving his fingerprints all over the Northern Beaches, the North Coast and elsewhere as he looks to improve the courses that we do have.
“The Northern Beaches has so many great courses and I’m just trying and hoping that I can improve a lot of them,” Parry told Inside Golf.
“I began to take the course design side of the business a lot more seriously and that really didn’t leave me time to practise.
“And with nothing really to play for, it just wasn’t worth putting in the hours on one or two aspects of my golf, just to have the occasional competitive game.”
Several golfing members have contacted Inside Golf to marvel at the improvement at one of his more-recent projects, Wakehurst Golf Club, regarded as one of the ‘hidden gems’ on the Sydney Basin.
And Parry receives many of the accolades.
One member was happy to go on record to point out the improvements there.
“They have new management, fresh greenkeeper staff, five new high-class greens areas (including bunkers) expertly designed and built by Craig Parry and his crew (holes 9,10, 14, 15 and 18), three additional green areas (holes six, seven and 17) will be completed this year,” said the member.
“There’s also improved drainage on several holes, an improved practice area designed and executed by Craig’s firm.
“Wakehurst is situated in rather hilly bushland terrain but it is cleverly designed so that only the ninth is an uphill battle, yet the club still has elevated tee boxes on many holes.
“And to top it off it is an unusually varied design with no two holes remotely alike.”
He also pointed out that Wakehurst Golf Club, now 51 years old, was situated by Manly dam and in a highly urban area (Seaforth) with hardly any housing visible from the playing areas, except for breathtaking views of Manly and the ocean beyond from a few of the uppermost holes.
Parry has also been busy at Roseville Golf Club with some serious improvements there in recent months including the 18th and the 14th before moving to the front nine.
“In April we’re doing construction of the fifth green at Roseville,” he said.
“It’s a beautiful hole. In fact, there’s a stack of beautiful holes there and when it rains, the waterfalls at Roseville really are absolutely magnificent on that front nine.
“Filling in those bunkers on the right of the 18th may have upset one or two players but, frankly, the guys that do hit it in there need all the help they can get.”
Parry is very ‘hands-on’ when he takes on a project and clubs are thrilled when the legend himself spends so much time there overseeing their projects.
Palm Beach and Cromer are projects he has completed on the Northern Beaches – and the improvements have been so well accepted that he must feel it’s leaving a legacy that even a tournament win [or 10] could not provide.
He is also planning major changes at Long Reef, reducing the number of bunkers from 71 to 42.
Other projects he has been working on include Port Kembla, Wyong, Hawks Nest, Forster, Tuncurry, Teven and Ballina.
No wonder he doesn’t have much time to play golf these days.
