‘Bulls***!’ – Cam Smith tears into golf course organisers

The tournament hasn’t even started yet but in some ways, this is an underwhelming homecoming to his national open for Cam Smith.

Smith has been desperate to play Melbourne’s revered Sandbelt layouts at this week’s ISPS Handa Australian Open the way they were designed to played.

Firm and fast.

Instead, the 2022 Open champion will be competing at courses at Kingston Heath and Victoria Golf Club which are “soft and slow.”

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Smith has been left disappointed by course setups akin to what he finds in America, but is not accepting a recent deluge of rain in Melbourne is responsible for the sluggish test.

“This is the softest and slowest I have seen a Sandbelt course which is not ideal,” Smith said in his pre-tournament press conference.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on the weather down here and was really quite excited with the weather they had last week, with the hot temperatures, to play a firm and fast Sandbelt, but it seems like there has been a lot of water on there and not exactly what I was expecting.

“The courses are in great condition, don’t get me wrong, but they are going to play so differently to how they are supposed to be played and designed to be played.”

“It’s something that my (LIV) teammates and I spoke about. We love coming down here and playing these events because the golf courses (are firm and fast) and it’s just not going to play like that. It’s going to play more like an American golf course – kind of target golf.”

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Smith, who is the star attraction the field for this week’s mixed event, added: “The weather down here the last couple of weeks has been pretty good.

“I know they got some rain over the weekend and again this morning, but I’ve played down here in rain before and it’s still been like that the next day. So, I think that’s a bulls*** excuse, to be honest.

“I think it’s been prepared like this for a reason and it’s not how these golf courses are meant to be played.”

Smith feels that this week’s Australian Open offers an inauthentic version of a unique Sandbelt test.

“I played down here at Kingston Heath in the Aussie Masters (in 2013), and I’ve told this story a lot actually, where I was allowing 25-30 metres of run out with a pitching wedge which is a lot,” he said.

“Usually around the world you’re trying to take spin off, make sure it doesn’t spin back too much. I think when you get a place like this, where it’s meant to play like that, you have to create spin and create shots to get close to pins which is what everyone really loves.”

Smith has spent the winter competing back in Australia, finishing third at the Queensland PGA before back-to-back runner-up finishes at the New South Wales Open and the BMW Australian PGA.

“I think I’ve done all the right steps,” he added. “The last three weeks have been really solid, but if I wanted to pick one of those this would be it, so hopefully it all comes together.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.