Royal Melbourne Golf Club

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The West is simply elite golf architecture. Every hole asks a question and rarely offers an obvious answer. Width is everywhere but angles off the tee matter enormously & positioning is everything. Miss the fairway by a few yards & the next shot becomes infinitely harder. Bunkering is artful and terrifying in equal measure. The green complexes are extraordinary - demanding imagination, nerve and touch. Nothing feels forced, nothing feels repetitive. It’s obviously a course that challenges your mind as much as your swing & I say that even after a day when my swing had gone very badly missing! Despite my torment, it’s easy to see why low handicap & pro golfers rate Royal Melbourne as one of the best courses on the planet, something I’d not understood when here many years ago. Utterly sensational! The East may live in the shadow of West but it would be the standout course at almost any other club. It’s maybe a touch more forgiving but is quality architecture packed with exclelent holes and similarly superb greens. Firm, fast & magnificent, the routing flows well & the course builds momentum as you go. A wonderful companion piece that complements rather than competes with the West. Bunkering is fantastic, with a superb & consistent sand covering throughout and I say that having visited 16 of them on our visit this week!! Greens were a lot firmer & spicier since we were here only 2 weeks ago. Liked the East a lot

The West is simply elite golf architecture. Every hole asks a question & rarely offers an obvious answer. Width is everywhere but angles off the tee matter enormously. Positioning is everything. Miss the fairway by a few yards & the next shot becomes infinitely harder. Bunkering is artful and terrifying in equal measure. The green complexes are extraordinary - demanding imagination, nerve and touch. Nothing feels forced, nothing feels repetitive. It’s obviously a course that challenges your mind as much as your swing & I say that even after a day when my swing had gone badly missing! Despite my torment, it’s very easy to see why low handicap & pro golfers rate Royal Melbourne as one of the best courses on the planet, something I’d not understood when here many years ago. Utterly sensational! The East may live in the shadow of West but it would be the standout course at almost any other club. It’s may be a touch more forgiving but is also quality architecture packed with excellent holes and similarly superb greens. Firm, fast & magnificent, the routing flows well & the course builds momentum as you go. A wonderful companion piece that complements rather than competes with the West. Bunkering is fantastic, with a superb & consistent sand covering throughout and I say that having visited 16 of them on 1 of our 2 visits!! Greens were a lot firmer & spicier than just 2 weeks ago when we first played. Liked the East a lot!

Royal Melbourne offers arguably the finest 36 holes of golf in the world. Within 12 hours of arriving Down Under we were drinking coffee in the beautiful modern clubhouse overlooking the East’ course's 18th hole. We were lucky to be hosted by a longstanding member who gave us a wonderful insight into the course that provides six of the holes for the fabled composite Royal Melbourne track used in major events such as the Presidents Cup. The opening four holes of the East demonstrate its wonderful variety and show off its hallmark bunkering and swirling greens. The first three holes are all part of the back nine of the composite and Mrs W nailed a 25ft foot an the first, a birdie on the second and almost chipped in on the third. The quality of the turf was outstanding, the bunker positioning was mesmerising and the cacophony of bird song was deafening. The East is more than a mere hors d’oeuvre before playing the more acclaimed West at Royal Melbourne. It is a course which features in several world top 100 lists in its own right and understandably so. We enjoyed it enormously. Meanwhile, The West is a true masterpiece, crafted by the legendary Alister Mackenzie – the designer of Augusta National and Cypress Point. Every hole is an adventure, and we were lucky to play it on a windless, sun-drenched day. Royal Melbourne has no water hazards, but the club is situated in the heart of the sand belt, and Mackenzie cleverly utilised its natural elements to defend the West. The bunkers are plentiful and large but fair. They are designed with such artistry that the ball settles away from the edges, giving the player a fighting chance to escape. Meanwhile, the greens are quintessential Mackenzie – undulating, speedy, but wonderfully consistent. If the player can sync with the pace, they have a chance of an impressive score. For me, the variety of holes provides the course's joy. They demand precision rather than brute strength and require the use of every club in the bag. Royal Melbourne's West had lived up to the superlatives, as had this fantastic club where everything is on point.

Our group had high expectations. The course was in very good condition and had excellent practice facilities. However, compared to other courses in the region this course lacked character and was not worth three times the price of these other courses.

Our group ranges from 7 to 36 handicap.