Special Places - Royal Melbourne Golf Club

The second of three big weeks for Australian golf sees the Presidents Cup taking place at Royal Melbourne Golf Club sandwiched between the Australian Open and Australian PGA events. The International Team are looking to repeat their only victory in the series when the Cup was previously hosted at this famous venue in1998. Royal Melbourne is Australia's oldest golf club and was founded in 1891 at a site near Melbourne city centre. A decade later, urbanization forced a move to its present location in the Sandbelt, just south of the Australia's second most populous city. This jewel in the crown of Australian golf boasts two courses, the East and the West, both of which are ranked in the Top 100 in the world.

The West Course, designed in 1926 by iconic architect Dr.Alister Mackenzie, opened for play in 1931 and is the only course in the world Top 20 that is outside the British Isles and the USA. The East Course was designed by famed Australian golfer Alex Russell who had assisted Alister Mackenzie with the West Course, and it was laid out during 1930 and 1931. Royal Melbourne head green-keeper Mick Morcom supervised the construction and the East Course was ready for play in 1932. In 1959 the club combined 12 holes from the West Course with 6 holes from the East Course to host the first of many international tournaments. This layout became known as the Composite Course and is ranked in the world Top 10. The Presidents Cup is played over this course but in a different sequence of holes.

The Cup layout is a compact par 71 over 6397 metres, with only three par 3's - none of which exceeds 170m - and a single par 5 on each nine. The opening hole is a 320m dogleg par 4 where the longer hitters will go for the green, especially in the Friday and Saturday four-balls. The 6th and 11th are even shorter par 4's at 285m and 304m respectively, and are sure to induce more players to go for glory. Add in the par 5's that are reachable for most in two and we should see a number of cases where making birdie doesn't even guarantee a half.

There are several world-class holes carved out through the blue gum trees of Royal Melbourne waiting to test some of the games very best players, and the setting is a worthy venue for the ninth edition of what has already become one of golf's premier events.

Golfweather Editorial