Royal Melbourne Golf Club (Presidents Cup Course)

Overview: Royal Melbourne's Presidents Cup Course is the Composite routing, a tournament combination built from the club's celebrated West and East courses. It is a Melbourne Sandbelt layout where sandy ground, native vegetation, rumpled fairways and boldly shaped bunkers create the strategy. The course does not depend on length alone. Angles into the greens, the lie beneath the ball and the safest side of a fairway often matter more than simply finding the centre.

History: The West Course dates from Alister MacKenzie's 1926 visit and was in play by 1931. Alex Russell designed the East Course, which followed in 1932 and continued the design ideas he had developed with MacKenzie. The Composite was assembled in 1959 for the Canada Cup and has since served as Royal Melbourne's principal championship routing for major international events, including the Presidents Cup.

Did You Know? The Composite is not a separate third course in the usual sense. It is a carefully selected blend of the two existing routings, allowing tournament golf to use the most suitable holes on the property. That mixture is why a visit can feel both familiar and constantly changing, even for players who know one of the full courses.