Kingston Heath Golf Club
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Tournaments hosted | Australian Open Victorian Open |
Kingston Heath Golf Club is one of the premier golf clubs in Australia in the sandbelt region in the southeast suburbs of Melbourne.
The course at Kingston Heath was once rated as the premier course in Australia, qualifying it as the most outstanding course in terms of layout, shot making, condition and strategy.
Kingston Heath was originally formed as the Elsternwick Golf Club in 1909, and was based at present day Elsternwick Park, before relocating to its present location in Heatherton in 1925 and renaming the club as Kingston Heath.
The course opened as a par 82 and at the time was the longest course in Australia. Its founders were of the opinion that it was easier to shorten the course than to lengthen it.
The design of the course was credited to Dan Soutar before advice was sought from Alister MacKenzie who provided a suitable bunkering strategy during his visit to Australia in 1926.
Kingston Heath currently plays to a par of 72, at 6,352 metres from the Medal tees. It is approximately 100 metres longer for championships.
Kingston Heath has hosted the Australian Open seven times and the Australian Match Play Championships seven times.
The club is highly exclusive with membership requiring the support of several established members, and has a considerable waiting period for membership.
Kingston Heath is the preferred Australian venue of the R&A for the staging of International Final Qualifying for The Open Championship, held each year in January.
In 2009, Kingston Heath hosted the Australian Masters tournament. The tournament featured the world’s best player, Tiger Woods. Woods won the event with a 72-hole score of 14 under, two strokes clear of Greg Chalmers.
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Coordinates: 37°57′34″S 145°05′16″E / 37.9593238°S 145.0878525°E