Metropolitan Golf Club
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Tournaments hosted | Australian Open Victorian Open |
The Metropolitan Golf Club is one of the renowned sandbelt courses of Melbourne and is widely recognised as one of the finest championship courses in Australia. It is located in Oakleigh South, in the city's south-eastern suburbs, approximately twenty minutes' drive from the CBD.
Metropolitan shared a common origin with Royal Melbourne in 1891 as the Melbourne Golf Club, the Royal title was granted in 1895.
The original links at Malvern were engulfed by housing so in 1901 many members moved nearer to Port Phillip bay to the present Royal Melbourne course. Those who remained formed the Caulfield Golf Club and in 1906 purchased a farm in Oakleigh with a two storey house. In 1908 the members moved to the new course and began play as The Metropolitan Golf Club.
Designed by engineer member J B MacKenzie, the farmland was transformed by the establishment of magnificent plantations of Australian native trees and shrubs and has the most famous specimen of red flowering gum (Corymbia ficifolia) in Australia. This huge tree, magnificent in bloom in February and well over 100 years old, is the Club emblem with the winged golf ball.
The flora at Metropolitan Golf Club attracts many different species of native birds.
Over the years the course has moved with the demands of the times and staged its first Australian Open in 1930 after modifications suggested by famous golf course architect Dr Alister MacKenzie in 1926. The Victorian Centenary Open was here in 1934 and Gene Sarazen won the Australian Open at Metropolitan in 1936. Sarazen included the 14th hole as one of his world favorites.
Sadly this hole, with some others, was lost in 1960 when land was taken from the Club for school development.
Notable American architect Dick Wilson designed a series of new holes on adjacent land, and it is now hard to pick old from new.
The course has continually challenged the best players in the world. Peter Thomson began his brilliant career with a win here in the 1951 Australian Open. In 1968 the P.G.A. Championship was won by Kel Nagle, who defeated a strong field that included Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. Jack Newton won the 1979 Australian Open by one shot from a young Greg Norman, who three putted the final green.
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