The Australian Golf Club is a

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

club located in Rosebery, a suburb of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Although it survived numerous course location changes, it is arguably the oldest golf club in Australia. To date the course has held 20

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

events and most recently in 2017 the event was won by Australian Cameron Davis. The course has been rated the 9th best in the country.

Course

Early history

The Australian Golf Club was founded in

1882 Events January–March * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in ...

, which makes it the oldest golf club in Australia followed by

Royal Melbourne Golf Club Royal Melbourne Golf Club is a 36-hole golf club in Australia, located in Black Rock, Victoria, a suburb southeast of Melbourne. Its West and East courses are respectively ranked number 1 and 6 in Australia. The West course is ranked in the to ...

(founded 1891). However, The Australian did not have a golf course between the years of 1888 and 1895, which has led to debate as to which golf club is the oldest. The club's first

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

was situated in Moore Park, a suburb of Sydney, but due to a new road the course had to be abandoned six years later in 1888. In 1895 a second, eleven-hole course was built in

Waverley Waverley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott ** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel * Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...

, which was used until 1898, when the club's lease expired. The course then moved to Botany, Sydney. It was this course that hosted the 1901 Australian Amateur Championship, and the first Australian Open in 1904.

Present day course

The present day location of the course was inspected in 1903, while a year later plans were put forward for the new course by

Carnegie Clark Carnegie (Neg) Clark (1881–1959) was a champion golfer, golf club manufacturer, a golf course architect and an organiser of professional golf in Australia. Early life Clark was born on 27 July 1881 in Carnoustie, Scotland. He was a member of ...

Jock Hutchison Jack Falls "Jock" Hutchison (June 6, 1884 – September 27, 1977) was a Scottish professional golfer. Hutchison was born in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, the son of William and Helen (née Falls). His name was registered as John Waters Hutchis ...

and

Gilbert Martin Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters *Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South A ...

. In 1926

Alister MacKenzie Alister MacKenzie (30 August 1870 – 6 January 1934) was a golf course architect whose course designs span four continents. Originally trained as a surgeon, MacKenzie served as a civilian physician with the British Army during the Boer War ...

, designer of courses such as

and

Augusta National Golf Club Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. Unlike most private clubs which operate as non-profits, Augusta National is a for-profit corporation, and it does no ...

, was asked to update holes on the course. Due to the popularity of the course, members approved a new layout in 1949 which supplied the club with two starting holes. In 1967 the proposal of a new road threatened the land on which the course was laid out on. As a result, a redesign by Sloane Morpeth was needed, which was completed in 1973. Between 1977 and 1980

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

made significant alterations to the course, which included adding length and

water hazard A hazard is an area of a golf course in the sport of golf which provides a difficult obstacle, which may be of two types: (1) water hazards such as lakes and rivers; and (2) man-made hazards such as bunkers. The governing body for the game of ...

s, which transformed the course into what it is today. Present works are under way to improve the course, including the re-routing of a number of holes. The changes will create a more contemporary feel. The club has again commissioned Jack Nicklaus to design the changes, and the course is set to re-open in autumn of 2013.

Course scorecard

Source

Tournaments

The Australian Golf Club has held 20 Australian Opens,This number is supported o
The Australian Golf Club's
homepage, but on th
Golf Australia website
it says the club has held 15. with the most recent being from the 23–26 November 2017, which was won by Cameron Davis with a score of 11 under par. The various winners of Australian Opens at The Australian are as follows: The Australian has also hosted 13 Australian Amateur Championships – the first in 1901, and the most recent in 2015.

References

External links

Official websiteThe Australian Golf Club Profile, Golf Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Golf Club 1882 establishments in Australia Sports clubs established in 1882 Sports venues completed in 1882 Golf clubs and courses in New South Wales Sporting clubs in Sydney Sports venues in Sydney Golf clubs and courses designed by Jack Nicklaus