Kingston Heath Golf Club

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Kingston Heath Golf Club
Club information
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Australia Victoria location map.svg
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Australia Victoria metropolitan Melbourne location map.svg
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Coordinates 37°57′33.57″S145°05′16.27″E / 37.9593250°S 145.0878528°E / -37.9593250; 145.0878528
Location Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia
Established1909
TypePrivate
Total holes19
Events hosted Australian Open (7)
Women's Australian Open (1)
World Cup of Golf (1)
Australian Masters (2)
Victorian Open (7)
Australian Matchplay (7)
GreensA1 Bent
FairwaysSanta Ana Couch
Website www.kingstonheath.melbourne
Designed by Dan Soutar
Par 72

Kingston Heath Golf Club is one of the premier golf clubs in Australia, located in Cheltenham, Victoria. The course is situated on the sandbelt region in the southeast suburbs of Melbourne famed for its golf courses, with Kingston Heath consistently ranked in the top 3 courses in Australia and top 20 courses in the world.

Contents

The club has hosted many major events, including 7 x Men's Australian Opens, 1 x Women's Australian Open, 7 x Victorian Opens, 2 x Australian Masters and the 2016 World Cup of Golf. The Men's Australian Open was scheduled to return to Kingston Heath in 2020 but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [1]

Kingston Heath will host the Presidents Cup in 2028. [2]

History

Elsternwick Park (1909–1925)

Kingston Heath was originally formed as the Elsternwick Golf Club in 1909, and was based at present day Elsternwick Park. In 1920, the committee discussed a relocation to the South-Eastern suburbs of Melbourne. This area would become world famous as the Melbourne Sandbelt.

Cheltenham (1925–present)

The club relocated to its present location in Cheltenham in 1925. This move included the complete dismantling, moving and re-assembling of the original clubhouse to the new site. The club officially opened in April 1925, and was renamed Kingston Heath 5 months later.

Course

The current course was designed by Dan Soutar and was constructed by M.A Morcom. Originally, it played as a par 82 and at the time was the longest course in Australia. Its founders were of the opinion that it was easier to shorten the course rather than to lengthen it. The original scorecard read as below:

Original Scorecard - 1925
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4323602774161954304894253553,3791324314713515352224184524213,4336,812
Par554535554413554545554182

Advice was sought from Alister MacKenzie during his visit to Australia in 1926, who provided a suitable bunkering strategy for the course. Although many link MacKenzie to the actual design of Kingston Heath, his only course routing input was to change the 15th hole. This was a short par 4 (222 yards) which played as a blind tee shot over a hill before descending to the green. MacKenzie's recommendation was to shorten the hole, bringing the green to the top of the rise and becoming a tricky, uphill par 3. Work commenced soon after, with the newly rated par 3 15th becoming one of the most recognisable holes in Australian golf, and Kingston Heath's signature hole.

Over the years, the par of the course has gradually dropped, now playing as a par 72 for Men and 74 for Women.

In 2002, the club constructed a 19th hole - a par 3 positioned between the 1st green and 2nd tee. This hole was designed to championship specifications, allowing the club to insert it into the course rotation during times of required maintenance of another hole. The 19th has since become a fixture in the club's "Tournament" course, often replacing the 10th hole in major events.

An interesting feature of the course is the adaptability in producing different layouts. Given it does not allow a traditional "9 out, 9 in" layout as many courses of its stature do, an alternative was required for the hosting of major events. The introduction of the 19th hole assisted in allowing the club to produce a more tournament friendly layout, known as the "Inner and Outer" course, routing players through the 9 innermost holes of the property as the front 9, returning them to the clubhouse after 9 holes. They then play the 9 outermost holes of the property as the back 9, allowing them to finish on the 18th hole.

Course records

(Men) Mark Brown: 62 (-10), during Round 2 of The Open IFQ, 2013
(Women) Karrie Webb & Jiyai Shin: 67 (-6), both recorded during the final round of the 2008 MFS Women's Australian Open
(Men) Cruze Strange: 63 (-9), during the 2011 Port Phillip Amateur Championship
(Women) Stephanie Kyriacou: 66 (-8), during the 2017 Port Phillip Amateur Championship

Championships

Professional events

YearWinnerCountryScoreWinning marginRunner-up
R1R2R3R4Total
1948 Ossie Pickworth Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 72737074289 (+1)Playoff Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jim Ferrier
1957 Frank Phillips Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 68707574287 (−1)1 shot Flag of South Africa.svg Gary Player
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ossie Pickworth
1970 Gary Player Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 71657074280 (−8)3 shots Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bruce Devlin
1983 Peter Fowler Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 72766869285 (−3)3 shots Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ian Baker-Finch
1989 Peter Senior Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 66666970271 (−17)6 shots Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Fowler
1995 Greg Norman Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 72696968278 (−10)2 shots Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter McWhinney
2000 Aaron Baddeley Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 69696872278 (−10)2 shots Flag of Australia (converted).svg Robert Allenby
YearWinnerCountryScoreWinning marginRunner-up
R1R2R3R4Total
2008 Karrie Webb Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 72727367284 (−8)Playoff Flag of South Korea.svg Jiyai Shin
YearWinnersCountryScoreWinning marginRunner-up
R1R2R3R4Total
2016 Søren Kjeldsen
Thorbjørn Olesen
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 72607066268 (−20)4 shots Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China (Wu Ashun & Li Haotong)
Flag of France.svg France (Victor Dubuisson & Romain Langasque)
Flag of the United States.svg United States (Rickie Fowler & Jimmy Walker)
YearWinnerCountryScoreWinning marginRunner-up
R1R2R3R4Total
2009 Tiger Woods Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 66687268274 (−14)2 shots Flag of Australia (converted).svg Greg Chalmers
2012 Adam Scott Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 67706767271 (−17)4 shots Flag of England.svg Ian Poulter
YearWinnerCountryScoreWinning marginRunner-up
1958 Peter Thomson Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 289 (−7)3 shots Flag of Australia (converted).svg Barry West
1969 Kel Nagle Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 279 (−17)3 shots Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bill Dunk
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Thomson
1976 Guy Wolstenholme Flag of England.svg  England 281 (−7)Playoff Flag of Australia (converted).svg Graham Marsh
1979 Rodger Davis Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 291 (+3)Playoff Flag of Australia (converted).svg Geoff Parslow
Flag of South Africa.svg Gary Player
1987 Roger Mackay Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 277 (−11)1 shot Flag of Australia (converted).svg Greg Norman
1988 Jim Benepe Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 282 (−6)3 shots Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ian Baker-Finch
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter McWhinney
1989 Mike Clayton Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 285 (−3)2 shots Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ossie Moore
1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992
YearWinnerCountryWinning marginRunner-up
Robert Boyd Transport Australian Match Play Championship
1986 Peter Fowler Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 6 & 5 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Shearer
1987 Ian Baker-Finch Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 5 & 4 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ossie Moore
Mercedes-Benz Australian Match Play Championship
1988 Ronan Rafferty Ulster Banner.svg  Northern Ireland 1 up Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mike Clayton
1989 Ossie Moore Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 1 up Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Fowler
1990David SmithFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 4 & 2 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Fowler
1991 Chris Patton Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 5 & 3 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ken Dukes
1992 Mike Clayton Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 4 & 3 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter McWhinney

The Open Championship International Final Qualifying

Kingston Heath was the preferred Australian venue of the R&A for the staging of International Final Qualifying for The Open Championship, which was held each January from 2004 to 2013.

Amateur events

Course ranking

The course is consistently ranked within the top 3 courses in Australia. It also regularly features in publications such as Golf Digest and Golf Magazine in their "World's Top 100 Golf Courses" lists, which has seen Kingston Heath hold a position in the top-20 for a number of years.

YearSourceRanking
Australia's Top 100 Courses
2020 Australian Golf Digest #3
2018 Australian Golf Digest #2
2016 Australian Golf Digest #2
2014 Australian Golf Digest #2
2012 Australian Golf Digest #2
2010 Australian Golf Digest #1 Golf Course in Australia
World's Top 100 Courses
2020Planet Golf#17
2018Golf Digest#16
2016Golf Digest#18
2014Golf Digest#20

See also

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References

  1. Ward, Roy (16 October 2020). "Golf Australia cancels Australian Opens, Australian PGA due to COVID-19". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  2. "Australia's Kingston Heath to host 2028 Presidents Cup". ESPN. Associated Press. 26 June 2023.

37°34′24″S145°03′06″E / 37.573357°S 145.051627°E / -37.573357; 145.051627