The Australian Golf Club

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The Australian Golf Club
Club Information
Location: Sydney, Australia
Coordinates: 33°55′05″S 151°12′44″E / -33.918159, 151.212131
Established: 1882
Type: Private
Total holes: 18
Website: www.australiangolfclub.com
Designed by: Clark, Hutchison & Martin (1903) / Jack Nicklaus (1976)
Par: 72
Length: 6610m
Course Rating: 76
Course Record: 64 (Flag of Australia Greg Norman, Flag of Australia Steve Elkington, Flag of Australia Craig Parry)

The Australian Golf Club is a golf club located in Rosebery, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. Although it survived numerous course location changes, it is arguably the oldest golf club in Australia. To date the course has held 17 Australian Opens, the most recent being from the 13–16 December 2007, which was won by Craig Parry. The course has been rated the 9th best in the country.[1]

Contents

[edit] Course

[edit] Early history

The Australian Golf Club was founded in 1882, which makes it the oldest golf club in Australia after Royal Melbourne Golf Club (founded 1893). However, The Australian did not have a golf course between the years of 1888 and 1895, which has led to debate as to which golf club is the oldest.

The club's first golf course was situated in Moore Park, a suburb of Sydney, but due to a new road the course had to be abandoned six years later in 1888. In 1895 a second, eleven-hole course was built in Waverley, which was used until 1898, when the club's lease expired. The course then moved to Botany, Sydney. It was this course that hosted the 1901 Australian Amateur Championship, and the first Australian Open in 1904.

[edit] Present day course

The present day location of the course was inspected in 1903, while a year later plans were put forward for the new course by Carnegie Clark, Jock Hutchison and Gilbert Martin. In 1926 Alister MacKenzie, designer of courses such as Royal Melbourne Golf Club and Augusta National Golf Club,[2] was asked to update holes on the course. Due to the popularity of the course, members approved a new layout in 1949 which supplied the club with two starting holes. In 1967 the proposal of a new road threatened the land on which the course was laid out on. As a result, a redesign by Sloane Morpeth was needed, which was completed in 1973. Between 1977 and 1980 Jack Nicklaus made significant alterations to the course, which included adding length and water hazards, which transformed the course into what it is today.[1]

[edit] Course scorecard

The Australian Golf Course
Tee Rating/Slope 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 OUT 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 IN TOTAL
Par 5 3 4 3 5 4 4 4 4 36 4 3 4 4 5 3 4 4 5 36 72
Championship 76 455 194 343 186 551 386 382 405 422 3324 378 175 385 349 510 188 431 392 478 3286 6610
Blue 75 455 168 343 159 542 386 382 405 405 3245 378 175 370 349 510 188 387 392 478 3227 6454
Mens 73 442 162 325 141 492 379 358 392 396 3087 363 155 356 344 487 174 375 371 463 3088 6175
Ladies 75 403 146 291 102 453 366 307 374 305 2747 309 120 278 323 463 155 353 309 430 2740 5487

Source[3]

[edit] Tournaments

The Australian Golf Club has held 17 Australian Opens,[4] with the most recent being from the 13–16 December 2007, which was won by Craig Parry with a score of 11 under par.[5] The various winners of Australian Opens at The Australian are as follows:

Year Winner Year Winner
1904 Flag of England Michael Scott (a) 1976 Flag of the United States Jack Nicklaus
1908 Flag of Australia Clyde Pearce 1977 Flag of Australia David Graham
1920 Flag of Australia Joe Kirkwood, Sr. 1978 Flag of the United States Jack Nicklaus
1925 Flag of Australia Fred Popplewell 1982 Flag of Australia Bob Shearer
1931 Flag of Australia Ivo Whitton (a) 1990 Flag of the United States John Morse
1937 Flag of Australia George Naismith 1996 Flag of Australia Greg Norman
1949 Flag of Australia Eric Cremin 2004 Flag of Australia Peter Lonard
1959 Flag of Australia Kel Nagle 2007 Flag of Australia Craig Parry
1975 Flag of the United States Jack Nicklaus

The Australian has also hosted 12 Australian Amateur Championships – the first in 1901, and the most recent in 1999.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b The Australian Golf Club at GolfTravel.com.au. GolfTravel.com.au. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
  2. ^ History of Alister MacKenzie. The Alister MacKenzie Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Retrieved on 2007-11-27.
  3. ^ Course Tour. AustralianGolfClub.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
  4. ^ This number is supported on The Australian Golf Club's homepage, but on the Golf Australia website it says the club has held 15.
  5. ^ "MFS Australian Open makes NSW home for the next three years", 2007-10-02. 

[edit] External links