The top 100 golf course of this late billionaire opens its gates – or never so somewhat

For more than 20 years it has been the white whale of the Top 100 rankings, a valued course that is so elusive that many fabulous rich and well -connected golfers have tried and failed to set up their eyes.

The late Australian media -Mogul Kerry Packer would not have had it in any other way.

Ellerston was tucked away in the pleats of the Upper Hunter Valley, about four hours north of Sydney, that Packer in mind as a private playground for a small group of family, employees and friends. One of those friends was the Aussie Golf legend Greg Norman, who designed Ellerston in collaboration with the acclaimed architect Bob Harrison. Packer gave the duo carte blanche On hectares of rolling grassland and native bushland that had been in his family for decades. They could choose the best package, with only two conditions: the course must be a beauty and a beast.

The architects reacted with a routing of 8,000-plus-yard as too much in his drama as it is in its demands, strategically etched by a heavy landscape, in which Pages Creek wriggled at about half of the holes in the game. While the course was in construction, Packer was closely monitored and was uncompromising in his expectations.

“But is it difficult enough?” He would ask repeatedly.

It was.

At the opening of 2001, the slope assessment of Ellerston 153, the highest of each course in Australia, was. In the following years, Ellerston was a fixture on must-play lists and it has risen as high as no. 62 in Golf’s selection of the top 100 courses in the world.

But if Ellerston goes low, landing of a Tee time is even more difficult. In recent years, fewer than 20 guests have played the annual. But now a course has largely closed its gates for the outside world.

From October, Ellerston welcomes about one group of four to eight players for one of the two chances: a one -day visit with Golf, Caddies, Food and Beverages and Round Tripluchtsport from Sydney; Or a night stay with all the above, plus dinner the first night, breakfast, a second round and lunch prior to departure.

8:00 am Travel is one of a small number of tour operators that Ellerston has chosen to facilitate these trips. For more information, visit 8amtravel.com.