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The Australian Golf Club

Coordinates: 33°55′4″S 151°12′54″E / 33.91778°S 151.21500°E / -33.91778; 151.21500
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The Australian Golf Club
Club information
Coordinates33°55′4″S 151°12′54″E / 33.91778°S 151.21500°E / -33.91778; 151.21500
LocationSydney, Australia
Established1882; 142 years ago (1882)
TypePrivate
Total holes18
Events hostedAustralian Open
Websitewww.australiangolfclub.com
Designed byClark, Hutchison & Martin (1903) / Jack Nicklaus (1976) / Jack Nicklaus (2013)
Par72
Length6610m
Course rating76
Course record61 (Rod Pampling)

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 20 Australian Open events and most recently in 2017 the event was won by Australian Cameron Davis. The course has been rated the 9th best in the country.[1]

Course

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Early history

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The Australian Golf Club was founded in 1882, which makes it the oldest golf club in Australia followed by Royal Melbourne Golf Club (founded 1891). 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.

Present day course

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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]

Present works are under way to improve the course, including the re-routing of a number of holes. The changes will create a more contemporary feel. The club has again commissioned Jack Nicklaus to design the changes, and the course is set to re-open in autumn of 2013.

Course scorecard

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The Australian Golf Club
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
Men's 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]

Tournaments

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The Australian Golf Club has held 20 Australian Opens,[4] with the most recent being from the 23–26 November 2017, which was won by Cameron Davis with a score of 11 under par. The various winners of Australian Opens at The Australian are as follows:

Year Winner Year Winner
1904 England Michael Scott (a) 1977 Australia David Graham
1908 Australia Clyde Pearce 1978 United States Jack Nicklaus
1920 Australia Joe Kirkwood Sr. 1982 Australia Bob Shearer
1925 Australia Fred Popplewell 1990 United States John Morse
1931 Australia Ivo Whitton (a) 1996 Australia Greg Norman
1937 Australia George Naismith 2004 Australia Peter Lonard
1949 Australia Eric Cremin 2007 Australia Craig Parry
1959 Australia Kel Nagle 2014 United States Jordan Spieth
1975 United States Jack Nicklaus 2015 Australia Matt Jones
1976 United States Jack Nicklaus 2017 Australia Cameron Davis

The Australian has also hosted 13 Australian Amateur Championships – the first in 1901, and the most recent in 2015.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "The Australian Golf Club at GolfTravel.com.au". GolfTravel.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 September 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
  2. ^ "History of Alister MacKenzie". The Alister MacKenzie Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original on 7 October 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
  3. ^ "Course Tour". AustralianGolfClub.com. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
  4. ^ This number is supported on The Australian Golf Club's Archived 31 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine homepage, but on the Golf Australia website[dead link] it says the club has held 15.
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