The Royal Melbourne Golf Club is recognised as one of the leading golf clubs in Australia with two of the pre-eminent golf courses in the world.
The Club was founded in 1891 and has been host to numerous national and international tournaments including being the host of the 2019 Presidents Cup. We have a proud reputation of providing Members and guests with a friendly, welcoming and inclusive experience.
Royal Melbourne’s West Course was ranked No. 1 in Australia and No. 5 in Golf Digest’s 200 Greatest International Courses 2018
Much has been written on the qualities of The Royal Melbourne Golf Club but put simply it’s a combination of great design and construction. It is full of dramatic undulation, fertile sandy soil and a natural rugged appearance.
Highlights include bold bunkering while the rough areas around the tees and bunkers are a mix of native grasses which naturally frame each hole, providing great definition and contrast. The greens are brilliant and for decades have consistently provided the finest putting surfaces in Australia.
They are large and beautifully contoured they are built to accommodate approaches from a number of angles with each progressively more difficult the further the tee shot strays from the perfect line.
Dr. Alister MacKenzie (30 August 1870 – 6 January 1934) was a British golf course architect whose course designs span four continents. Originally trained as a surgeon, MacKenzie served as a civilian doctor with the British army during the Boer War where he first became aware of the principles of camouflage. During World War I, MacKenzie made his own significant contributions to military camouflage, which he saw as closely related to golf course design.
He is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. He designed more than 50 golf courses including 3 that remain in the 2018 top 10 golf courses in the world Augusta National Golf Club and Cypress Point Club in the USA, and Royal Melbourne Golf Club (West Course) in Australia.
Notable Holes
5th Hole West – Par 3
161m Men / 130m Women
The fifth is the first one-shotter on the West Course. It is one of the best par threes in Melbourne, which makes it one of the best in the world. The hole plays down from the tee, across a valley and up to a green sitting on the opposite hill.
The key aim in playing the fifth is to get the ball up onto the putting surface; anything short is swept back down the bank fronting the green. Anything too long leaves a treacherous downhill putt.
6th Hole West – Par 4
391m Men / 337m Women
The sixth hole is one of the great two-shot holes, a wonderful example of how to perfectly position a ground hazard on the inside corner of a dogleg. The tee shot is played over a magnificent expanse of heath and sand. The player must then make a decision whether to attempt to carry over the bunkers at the corner of the dogleg, or to opt for discretion and hit further to the left.
A long drive over the bunkers to the far edge of the fairway leaves a difficult second shot over one of the most awkward greenside bunkers on the course
The green slopes sharply from front to back and the rule is a simple one: never hit the ball above the flag when it is cut in the right half of the green.
10th Hole West – Par 4
285m Men / 235m Women
Off the tee, players are confronted by a multitude of choices of both club and line. The most obvious hazard to avoid is the huge bunker – known to Members as hell’s half-acre – embedded in the left hillside. From the tee the land drops sharply down, then rises up around the bunker and turns towards a small green at the highest point of the hill.
The green is protected by deep bunkers to the right and a swale at the front of the green, which gathers up any pitch shot landing short of the putting surface.
The Royal Melbourne Golf Club is a private Members’ club. Members may invite guests to play on most days.
Members of our reciprocal clubs are extended playing rights aligned to their club’s reciprocity agreement with Royal Melbourne.
International and interstate visitors, who are members of a golf club, are welcome to inquire about visitor tee times which are available on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays (subject to availability and excluding public holidays)
Royal Melbourne is a walking course only.
Course Information
| Course | Par | Length |
| West Course – Blue | 72 | 6077m |
| West Course – Red | 73 | 5246m |
| East Course – Blue | 71 | 6007m |
| East Course – Red | 74 | 5316m |
