Kingston Heath Golf Club

Overview

Host of the 2016 World Cup of Golf, Kingston Heath Golf Club is an architectural masterpiece. Situated in the sandbelt region in the southeast suburbs of Melbourne (just a couple of miles from Royal Melbourne), it is regularly ranked in the top 20 courses in the world. The current course was designed by Dan Soutar and was constructed by M.A Morcom. Originally, it played as a par 82 and at the time was the longest course in Australia. Its founders were of the opinion that it was easier to shorten the course rather than to lengthen it. Advice was sought from Alister MacKenzie during his visit to Australia in 1926, who provided a suitable bunkering strategy for the course. Although many link MacKenzie to the actual design of Kingston Heath, his only course routing input was to change the 15th hole. This was a short par 4 (222 yards) which played as a blind tee shot over a hill before descending to the green. MacKenzie's recommendation was to shorten the hole, bringing the green to the top of the rise and becoming a tricky, uphill par 3. Work commenced soon after, with the newly rated par 3 15th becoming one of the most recognisable holes in Australian golf, and Kingston Heath's signature hole. Over the years, the par of the course has gradually dropped, now playing as a par 72 for Men and 74 for Women.The pedigree of the course is backed up by the list of champions who have won around here - Peter Thomson, Gary Player, Greg Norman, Karrie Webb, Tiger Woods and Adam Scott. It was the R&A's preferred Australian venue for International Qualifying for over a decade