LinksMag | Golf Courses | Confidential Guide to Australia


Destination: Confidential Guide to Australia Before he became a world-class architect, the author was known for his unvarnished course critiques. He updates his legacy with his opinions of the best layouts Down Under
By Tom Doak It takes a long time to get to Australia—more than 14 hours by air from Los Angeles—but today’s trip is hardly as taxing as the six weeks’ ocean voyage that Dr. Alister MacKenzie had to endure to make his landmark consulting visit to Royal Melbourne Golf Club in 1926. Because he went, so do you have to, if you are really intent on seeing all of the best courses in the world sometime in your life. The sandy suburbs on the southeast side of Melbourne are home to a tremendous concentration of courses. Royal Melbourne’s 36 holes touch boundaries with Victoria Golf Club and the public Sandringham; Commonwealth and Yarra Yarra share a boundary about three miles away; and within five miles lie Kingston Heath, Metropolitan, Woodlands and several other good layouts. Farther south along the bay, there is a batch of newer courses, including Peninsula, and an even newer grouping of courses all the way to the tip of the Mornington Peninsula, including the public Dunes Golf Links, three 18s at the National, the Australian Golf Union’s Moonah Links and the older Portsea Golf Club. Altogether there are more than a dozen top-flight courses to play, and at least one you could play for the rest of your life. To help you sort out which ones to play, here are my opinions on the best of Australian golf. Following each profile is a rating on my Doak Scale. Amstel Golf Club The Australian Golf Club Barnbougle Dunes Commonwealth Golf Club The Dunes Golf Links The Golf Club at St. Andrews Beach Huntingdale Golf Club Kingston Heath Golf Club Kooyonga Golf Club Metropolitan Golf Club Moonah Links The National Golf Club New South Wales Golf Club Portsea Golf Club Royal Adelaide Golf Club Royal Melbourne Golf Club Royal Sydney Golf Club Sandringham Golf Club Victoria Golf Club Woodlands Golf Club Yarra Yarra Golf Club

Destination:
Confidential Guide to Australia
Before he became a world-class architect, the author was known for his unvarnished course critiques. He updates his legacy with his opinions of the best layouts Down Under

By Tom Doak

It takes a long time to get to Australia—more than 14 hours by air from Los Angeles—but today’s trip is hardly as taxing as the six weeks’ ocean voyage that Dr. Alister MacKenzie had to endure to make his landmark consulting visit to Royal Melbourne Golf Club in 1926. Because he went, so do you have to, if you are really intent on seeing all of the best courses in the world sometime in your life.

The sandy suburbs on the southeast side of Melbourne are home to a tremendous concentration of courses. Royal Melbourne’s 36 holes touch boundaries with Victoria Golf Club and the public Sandringham; Commonwealth and Yarra Yarra share a boundary about three miles away; and within five miles lie Kingston Heath, Metropolitan, Woodlands and several other good layouts.

Farther south along the bay, there is a batch of newer courses, including Peninsula, and an even newer grouping of courses all the way to the tip of the Mornington Peninsula, including the public Dunes Golf Links, three 18s at the National, the Australian Golf Union’s Moonah Links and the older Portsea Golf Club.

Altogether there are more than a dozen top-flight courses to play, and at least one you could play for the rest of your life. To help you sort out which ones to play, here are my opinions on the best of Australian golf. Following each profile is a rating on my Doak Scale.

Amstel Golf Club
The Australian Golf Club
Barnbougle Dunes
Commonwealth Golf Club
The Dunes Golf Links
The Golf Club at St. Andrews Beach
Huntingdale Golf Club
Kingston Heath Golf Club
Kooyonga Golf Club
Metropolitan Golf Club
Moonah Links
The National Golf Club
New South Wales Golf Club
Portsea Golf Club
Royal Adelaide Golf Club
Royal Melbourne Golf Club
Royal Sydney Golf Club
Sandringham Golf Club
Victoria Golf Club
Woodlands Golf Club
Yarra Yarra Golf Club