Royal Melbourne West: MacKenzie's course of angles on the sandbelt

Royal Melbourne’s West Course sits in Black Rock, about 18km south-east of Melbourne’s city centre, on the city’s sandbelt. The club says it has long been ranked No. 1 in Australia and among the top ten courses in the world. Most of its difficulty comes from where you put the ball: which side of the fairway, how close to a bunker, and whether you finish above the hole on greens kept fast and firm.

A doctor, an Open champion and a greenkeeper

Royal Melbourne was founded in 1891 and is Australia’s oldest club still in continuous existence. It moved twice as the city spread before settling at Black Rock in the mid-1920s.

Dr Alister MacKenzie arrived in late 1926 and laid out a routing that the club says fits “snuggly” into the rolling sandbelt land. He then went home to Britain, leaving the job of building it to two men. Alex Russell, the 1924 Australian Open champion and MacKenzie’s local partner, saw the design through and went on to create the East Course himself, opening in 1932. Russell did the work without charging fees, to protect his amateur status.

The second was Mick Morcom, a farm boy from Stawell who had been head greenkeeper since 1906. He shaped the bunkers and grew the turf. The West opened for play in 1931. When Morcom died in 1937, his assistant Claude Crockford took over and spent 40 years making Royal Melbourne’s greens a byword for speed and firmness.

Angles over length

From the back tees the West measures 6,077 metres (6,651 yards) at par 72. Most holes bend one way or the other, and the club itself says that on this course “distance means nothing and angle into the pin is everything.”

The fairways are wide enough for anyone to find, but the best line in is almost always tight against a bunker. Play safe and you’ll often be left with an awkward approach over sand to a green tilted away from you.

Morcom’s bunkers are big and deep, cut into the sandy ground with jagged edges, and press right up against the putting surfaces. The greens are large and boldly contoured, with native grasses framing the holes.

From the 5th to the 16th

The 5th (par 3). A carry across a valley to a raised green set into a scrub-covered dune, with bunkers all around. The club calls it one of the best par threes in Melbourne. Miss on the wrong side and par is a big ask.

The 6th (par 4). Often described as a textbook MacKenzie hole: a sweeping fairway that bends around corner bunkers, with a green that can be approached from more than one angle.

The 10th (par 4). A short par four that tempts longer hitters to go for the green over the course’s most famous hazard, a huge bunker in the hillside. Laying back is always an option.

The 14th (par 4). The club calls it the most heavily guarded green on the course, with nine bunkers around it.

The 16th (par 3). At 202 metres, the longest par three on either course.

The composite course and three Presidents Cups

For the 1959 Canada Cup (now the World Cup), the club combined 12 West holes and six East holes into a composite course that stays on the main property. That layout has since hosted three Presidents Cups: 1998, when the International team won for the only time; 2011; and 2019, when Tiger Woods was playing captain and the United States came from behind on the final day to win 16–14.

The most recent big event came in December 2025, when the Australian Open returned for the first time since 1991. Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen won by one shot from Cameron Smith, saving par from beside the bunkers on the 18th for his first DP World Tour title. Golf Australia says the 2026 Open goes to nearby Kingston Heath, which the PGA TOUR has also chosen for the 2028 Presidents Cup.

Booking as a visitor

Royal Melbourne is a private members’ club, but visitors from other states and overseas are welcome if they’re active members of a recognised golf club. Instead of the old letter of introduction, the club now asks your home club to verify your membership. Once you’re verified, you can book online through the club’s visitor booking system. Groups of eight or more should email the club’s golf bookings team. Members of reciprocal clubs can also ask for tee times.

The club doesn’t publish green fees on its visitor pages, so check the rate when you book. Remember that the seasons are reversed: Melbourne’s spring runs from September to November and autumn from March to May, and both are popular times for a golf trip.

Sources

• Royal Melbourne Golf Club: The West Course
• Royal Melbourne Golf Club: The Creators
• Royal Melbourne Golf Club: The Composite Course
• Royal Melbourne Golf Club: Visitor golfer verification
• Royal Melbourne Golf Club: Visitor bookings
• Planet Golf: Royal Melbourne West Course
• Golf Australia: Neergaard-Petersen wins Australian Open crown
• Presidents Cup: 2028 Presidents Cup to be contested at Kingston Heath
• Wikipedia: Royal Melbourne Golf Club
• Wikipedia: 2019 Presidents Cup