The Canberra Golf Club, later known as the Royal Canberra Golf Club, was formed in 1926. Its original grounds were behind the Hotel Canberra on the river flats on both sides of the

Molonglo River The Molonglo River, a perennial river that is part of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Monaro and Capital Country regions of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, in Australia. ...

History

The club's Club House was on a site near the

Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...

and included the old brick

fireplace A fireplace or hearth is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the design ...

and chimney of the nearby Kaye family's slab cottage. The Kaye family took over the lease of Klensendorlffe's stone villa in 1854 and in the early 1890s constructed a new slab home with the brick fireplace and chimney mentioned above. The site of this building, like the greens, is below the waters of

Lake Burley Griffin Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River, which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle, was dammed. It is named after Wal ...

. Shortly before work commenced on the lake (early 1960s) the Royal Canberra Golf Club moved to its present site in Yarralumla. The history of Royal Canberra Golf Club, or its predecessors, is almost as long as the history of the national capital itself. The foundation stone for the city was laid in 1913 and in that same year, a few golfing enthusiasts established a nine-hole course on a site near to, what is now the city centre. Subsequently, in 1922, those stalwarts domiciled themselves on a new nine hole, sand green layout at Acton, sharing space with the Acton racecourse and leading to problem lies through omni-present hoof marks on the fairways. In 1926, the Federal Capital Commission constructed a new golf course on an adjacent site at Acton, where the Canberra Golf Club had its first real home. That Acton course was built on the banks of the Molonglo River and, with the river as a constant threat to wayward shots, soon earned a reputation as a superb and challenging test of golf. With minor changes only to the layout, but major changes to the clubhouse, it remained the home of Royal Canberra Golf Club until 1962, the "Royal" status having been granted by King George V in 1933. The Walter Burley Griffin plan for Canberra called for the damming of the Molonglo River to form a lake and so it was that, in 1962, with its Acton site due to be submerged in that plan, the Club moved to its present site at Westbourne Woods. In the 40 years since that move the Royal Canberra Golf Club has developed into one of Australia's pre-eminent inland golf courses. Canberra native and future professional golfer David Galloway began his career at Royal Canberra. Galloway honed his skills at the club and won a number of junior championships there. As of early 1969 he was a club professional at Royal Canberra. Royal Canberra hosted the 2013 ISPS Handa

Women's Australian Open The Women's Australian Open is a women's professional golf tournament played in Australia, operated by Golf Australia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia, long co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET). Beginning with the 2012 event, it i ...

. The length of the course was increased from 5,891 metres to over 6,000 metres.

Tournaments hosted

* 2013

*1988 Australian Amateur * 1988

ESP Open The ESP Open was a golf tournament held in Australia in February 1988 at the Royal Canberra Golf Club, Canberra. The tournament was originally intended to run for an initial three years, but this was changed to a year-by-year arrangement after titl ...

*1970 Dunlop International * 1969

Australian PGA Championship The Australian PGA Championship is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. It is the home tournament of the Australian PGA. Since 2000 it has been held in the South East Queensland region. The tournament was part of the OneAsia Tour fro ...

*1967

Dunlop International The Dunlop International was a golf tournament held in Australia and played annually from 1965 to 1972. Prize money in 1965 was A£4,000, A$8,000 in 1966 in 1967, A$15,000 in 1968 and A$25,000 from 1969 to 1972. A few weeks after the conclusion ...

References

External links

* *
ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open
{{Coord, 35.304, S, 149.09, E, type:landmark_region:AU-ACT, display=title 1926 establishments in Australia Sports clubs established in 1926 Sports venues completed in 1926 Sporting clubs in Canberra Organisations based in Australia with royal patronage Golf clubs and courses in the Australian Capital Territory Royal golf clubs

History

Tournaments hosted

See also

References

External links