Kingston Heath Golf Club

Overview: Kingston Heath Golf Club is a private Melbourne Sandbelt course in Cheltenham, built over sandy, well-drained ground and shaped by a compact routing through heath, gum trees and natural clearings. The par-72 layout is listed at 6,946 yards, but its challenge is more about angles, lies and the quality of the next shot than raw distance. Fairways move through a landscape that can look open from the tee, while heather, trees and carefully placed hazards narrow the useful lines into the greens. The course has a firm, fast character, and its small-scale changes in elevation become important because the green complexes are closely tied to the contours of the site. The route is especially rewarding for golfers who notice how a preferred side of the fairway changes the approach.

History: The club began at Elsternwick, where informal nine-hole play started in November 1909 and the first official Opening Day took place on 30 April 1910. Kingston Heath acquired its present 127-acre Cheltenham site in 1923. Dan Soutar designed the course, while Mick Morcom and Vernon Morcom carried out the construction. The course opened for play on 4 April 1925, initially without bunkers. Alister MacKenzie inspected the course in October 1926 and supplied a bunkering plan, including a proposal to move the fifteenth green onto the ridge. That change created the present par-three character of the hole and became the major early alteration to Soutar's layout. Later work by Graeme Grant restored firm playing conditions and clarified the relationship between greens, bunkers and native vegetation.

Did You Know? Kingston Heath's fifteenth began as a blind 222-yard par four. After Alister MacKenzie's 1926 visit, the green was moved to the ridge and the hole became a par three. The change is a small architectural intervention with an outsized effect on the rhythm and identity of the course.