Long Reef Golf Club

Overview: Long Reef Golf Club occupies a coastal site on Sydney's Northern Beaches where the sea, wind and open ground are part of the strategy. The full course is an 18-hole layout with a men's par of 71 and a women's par of 73 in the club's current information. The holes move through exposed and more sheltered ground, with fairway position and control of flight particularly important when the coastal breeze changes direction.

History: The club began as a nine-hole course in 1921 and completed the full 18 in 1931. Eric Apperly redesigned the course in 1946, while Al Howard added the first and second holes in 1965. Those stages gave Long Reef its present mixture of older coastal character and later refinements. The club remains a public-facing Northern Beaches venue with a history that is easy to see in the routing.

Did You Know? Long Reef's coastal setting makes the same hole feel different from one round to the next. A calm morning can reward a direct line, while a stronger sea breeze changes both the club selection and the safe side of the fairway. The course is therefore as much a test of judgement and trajectory as of scorecard distance.