GOLF: AUSTRALIA

Sandy Golf Links, Cheltenham Road, Cheltenham, VIC 3192

• Great value!
• Course review from Fried Egg

UK Golf Guy 2027 Trip

NEW SOUTH WALES
New South Wales Golf Club, Kamay Botany Bay National Park, 101 Henry Head Lane, La Perouse NSW 2036

• 13km from Sydney airport
• Alistar Mackenzie course
• Open to 27-handicap players

TASMANIA

Visit in July, Mike Clayton advises.

7 Mile Beach, 

• Designed by Mike Clayton
• Seven Mile Beach prepares to open CDP-designed course by Richard Humphreys, Nov. 28, 2025

Barnbougle, 425 Waterhouse Rd, Bridport TAS 7262

VICTORIA
St. Andrews Beach Golf Club, 209 Sandy Rd Fingal Victoria 3941

• An hour south of Melbourne
• Tom Doak Design
• MUST PLAY
• Fried Egg Course Review: 3 Eggs

Alexander Mackenzie Courses

• The Royal Melbourne Golf Club (West)—Black Rock, Victoria, Australia
• New South Wales Golf Club—New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
• Kingston Heath Golf Club—Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia

Mailbag: The Australian Sandbelt by Garrett Morrison, The Fried Egg, 1/8/25

"I’ll put it this way: if you live in the States and plan to visit at least four big international golf destinations in your lifetime, I think the Sandbelt should be one of those. It offers a type of golf that you’ll find nowhere else in the world."

Golden Age Sandbelt Clubs:

• Royal Melbourne
• Kingston Heath
• Victoria
• Course Profile: Victoria Golf Club (Australia)
• Metropolitan
• Yarra Yarra
• Commonwealth
• Woodlands
• Huntingdale
• Sandringham (now owned by the local government and known as Sandy Golf Links)

Mike Clayton's Top Ten in Melbourne:

1. Royal Melbourne East
2. Royal Melbourne West
3. Commonwealth
4. Kingston Heath
5. Metropolitan
6. Peninsula North
7. Peninsula South
8. Victoria
9. Woodlands
10. Yarra Yarra

from Clayton: Whither the Sandbelt 2, Golf Australia, 2/13/2025

If you can get an invite as an accompanied guest or afford the international rates for one of these excellent SandBelt courses, great…go for it!

Otherwise, there is a ton of additional excellent public & accessible private golf on the two peninsulas of Melbourne’s Port Philip Bay – Mornington and Bellarine.

Mornington – Moonah Links, St Andrews Beach, The Dunes, Portsea, The National and more.

Portsea Golf Club

Portsea Hires CDP, Design Notebook, June 24, 2025

Bellarine – Barwon Heads, 13th Mile, Lonsdale Links.

From Mark Chatfield in the comments on The Quadrilateral:

If you ever Go Down Under, a few suggestions:

- Sandringham - local muni maintained by Royal Melburne's greens crew.

- Mornington Peninsula and Bellarine Peninsula - beyond the Sand Belt there is an overwhelming wealth of excellent links and sandy golf courses that are a mix of daily play, resort and accessible private.

- Tasmania! Barnbougle and Seven Mile and King Island

I could spend a full month just in Melbourne and Tasmania and probably not be able to play every course that calls to me.

 

Geoff's response:

Great tips. I’d only add Portsea as a notable. Victoria is as close to perfect as it gets for me in terms of the “every day” fun factor.