Royal Melbourne Golf Club

Overview

The Royal Melbourne - West Course
Undisputedly one of the world's great golf courses. It is full of dramatic undulation, fertile sandy soil and a natural rugged appearance. Alister MacKenzie’s 1926 routing fits snuggly into the contours of the rolling sandbelt land. Fairways are reasonably generous but play firm and fast. Most holes dogleg, so distance means nothing and angle into the pin is everything. Just like Augusta National, the greens are almost like a challenge within a challenge. Getting there in regulation by no means guarantees a regulation par. It's also a club steeped in history and everything is done with a touch of class. It recently played host to the President's Cup, and this was played on a composite course using mainly holes from the 'West' but also some from the 'East' below.

The Royal Melbourne - East Course
Former Australian Open champion Alex Russell and greenskeeper Mick Morcom built the West Course to Alister MacKenzie’s plans, then added the East in 1931. The bunkering and green contours are very similar to the West. (Mackenzie had routed a nine-hole East Course that was never built, and so Russell incorporated a few of those holes.) Played both together is without doubt the best 36 hole day in world golf.