Sandringham Golf Course

Overview: Sandringham Golf Course, now presented as Sandy Golf Links, is a public Melbourne Sandbelt course designed to make a strategic style of golf available to everyone. The current 18-hole layout is par 65 and about 4,875 metres, or 5,331 yards. Firm greens, short par threes, carefully shaped bunkers and tight landing decisions create the test. It is shorter than the classic private Sandbelt courses, but the architecture still asks players to think about angles, ground game and the cost of missing on the wrong side.

History: The site began as a public nine-hole course in 1945-46 after Sandringham Council acquired land formerly associated with Royal Melbourne. Vernon Morcom designed the early course, which grew into 18 holes by the mid-1950s. Between 2017 and 2020 the site was transformed as part of the Australian Golf Centre project, and Mike Cocking of OCM Golf created the new layout that opened in 2021.

Did You Know? The course is maintained by the Royal Melbourne team while remaining publicly accessible. That makes Sandy Golf Links a rare bridge between Melbourne's public golf culture and the preparation standards associated with the Sandbelt. The redevelopment turned the old Sandringham routing into a compact par-65 test with no par five. That unusual scorecard shape makes the course a study in consecutive par fours, short strategic holes and precise approach play.