Below the southern outskirts of one of the world’s most liveable cities, is a rich vein of sandy loam subsoil upon which are situated eight of the best golf courses in Australia, known throughout the world as the famous Melbourne Sandbelt.
The eight courses, built on former farmland in what is now the midst of Melbourne suburbia, are:
Commonwealth Golf Club
Huntingdale Golf Club
Kingston Heath Golf Club
The Metropolitan Golf Club
Peninsula-Kingswood Golf Club
The Royal Melbourne Golf Club
Victoria Golf Club
Yarra Yarra Golf Club
“The Sandbelt Region of Melbourne is one of my favourite places in the world of Golf. Very few cities can offer such wonderful golf courses, and I have travelled the world playing them all.”
Ian Baker-Finch
1991 British Open Champion
CBS Golf Commentator
All eight private clubs of the Sandbelt are highly acclaimed championship courses, with the sandy loam soil providing the ideal foundation for beautifully designed layouts which lend themselves to undulating greens, spectacular tight-cut greenside bunkering and all year round playability.
In contrast to much of Melbourne, which is covered by heavy clay subsoil, the Melbourne Sandbelt region is a geographic anomaly resulting from a prehistoric flood which deposited heavy sandstone into low lying areas. The sandy loam can reach a depth of up to 80 metres in some places.
