Kingston Heath Golf Club

Kingston Heath Golf Club
Club information
Coordinates	37°57′33.57″S 145°05′16.27″E
Location	Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia
Established	1909
Type	Private
Total holes	19
Tournaments hosted	Australian Open (7); Women's Australian Open (1); World Cup of Golf (1) ; Australian Masters (2) ; Victorian Open (7) ; Australian Matchplay (7)
Greens	A1 Bent
Fairways	Santa 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.

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 is scheduled to return to Kingston Heath in 2020.

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
Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	432	360	277	416	195	430	489	425	355	3,379	132	431	471	351	535	222	418	452	421	3,433	6,812
Par	5	5	4	5	3	5	5	5	4	41	3	5	5	4	5	4	5	5	5	41	82

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 inner most holes of the property as the front 9, returning them to the clubhouse after 9 holes. They then play the 9 outer most holes of the property as the back 9, allowing them to finish on the 18th hole.

Course Records

Professional

(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

Amateur

(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

Australian Open: 7

1948, 1957, 1970, 1983, 1989, 1995, 2000, Scheduled to host in 2020

Year	Winner	Country	Score					Winning Margin	Runner Up
Year	Winner	Country	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	Winning Margin	Runner Up
1948	Ossie Pickworth	Australia	72	73	70	74	289 (+1)	Playoff	Jim Ferrier
1957	Frank Phillips	Australia	68	70	75	74	287 (-1)	1 shot	Gary Player Ossie Pickworth
1970	Gary Player	South Africa	71	65	70	74	280 (-8)	3 shots	Bruce Devlin
1983	Peter Fowler	Australia	72	76	68	69	285 (-3)	3 shots	Ian Baker-Finch
1989	Peter Senior	Australia	66	66	69	70	271 (-17)	6 shots	Peter Fowler
1995	Greg Norman	Australia	72	69	69	68	278 (-10)	2 shots	Peter McWhinney
2000	Aaron Baddeley	Australia	69	69	68	72	278 (-10)	2 shots	Robert Allenby

Women's Australian Open: 1

2008

Year	Winner	Country	Score					Winning Margin	Runner Up
Year	Winner	Country	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	Winning Margin	Runner Up
2008	Karrie Webb	Australia	72	72	73	67	284 (-8)	2nd Playoff Hole	Jiyai Shin

World Cup of Golf: 1

2016

Year	Winners	Country	Score					Winning Margin	Runners Up
Year	Winners	Country	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	Winning Margin	Runners Up
2016	Søren Kjeldsen Thorbjørn Olesen	Denmark	72	60	70	66	268 (-20)	4 shots	China (Wu Ashun & Li Haotong) France (Victor Dubuisson & Romain Langasque) United States (Rickie Fowler & Jimmy Walker)

Australian Masters: 2

2009, 2012

Year	Winner	Country	Score					Winning Margin	Runner Up
Year	Winner	Country	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	Winning Margin	Runner Up
2009	Tiger Woods	United States	66	68	72	68	274 (-14)	2 shots	Greg Chalmers
2012	Adam Scott	Australia	67	70	67	67	271 (-17)	4 shots	Ian Poulter

Victorian Open: 7

1958, 1969, 1976, 1979, 1987, 1988, 1989

Year	Winner	Country	Score	Winning Margin	Runner-up
1958	Peter Thomson	Australia	289 (-7)	3 shots	Barry West
1969	Kel Nagle	Australia	279 (-17)	3 shots	Bill Dunk Peter Thomson
1976	Guy Wolstenholme	England	281 (-7)	Playoff	Graham Marsh
1979	Rodger Davis	Australia	291 (+3)	Playoff	Geoff Parslow Gary Player
1987	Roger Mackay	Australia	277 (-11)	1 shot	Greg Norman
1988	Jim Benepe	United States	282 (-6)	3 shots	Ian Baker-Finch Peter McWhinney
1989	Michael Clayton	Australia	285 (-3)	2 shots	Ossie Moore

Australian Match Play Championship: 7

1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992

Year	Winner	Country	Winning Margin	Runner-up
Mercedes-Benz Australian Match Play Championship
1992	Michael Clayton	Australia	4 & 3	Peter McWhinney
1991	Chris Patton	United States	5 & 3	Ken Dukes
1990	David Smith	Australia	4 & 2	Peter Fowler
1989	Ossie Moore	Australia	1 up	Peter Fowler
1988	Ronan Rafferty	Northern Ireland	1 up	Michael Clayton
Robert Boyd Transport Australian Match Play Championship
1987	Ian Baker-Finch	Australia	5 & 4	Ossie Moore
1986	Peter Fowler	Australia	6 & 5	Bob Shearer

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

Australian Men's Amateur Championship: 1

1963

Australian Women's Amateur Championship: 2

1952, 1996

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.

Year	Source	Ranking
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
2020	Planet Golf	#17
2018	Golf Digest	#16
2016	Golf Digest	#18
2014	Golf Digest	#20

External links

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