Sandy Golf Links- hole 11 green
Sandy Golf Links
History
Sandringham Golf Course originated in 1932 on a site close to the current course.
The Sandringham Golf Club was formed in 1937.
The land for the current course was bought by the local council in the 1940's and Vern Morcom was employed to design the course, starting with 9 holes in 1946.
It wasn't until the early 50's that the 18 hole course was completed.
In 2019 the Victorian Government funded the building of the Australian Golf Centre using a sizeable chunk of what was the Sandringham Golf Course.
The centre was set up to house Golf Australia, Golf Victoria, and the PGA of Australia in a cutting edge facility.
Ogilvy, Cocking & Mead oversaw the redesign of the course to the newly branded Sandy Golf Links on the reduced acreage.
Course
Sandy Golf Links scorecard
Sandy Golf Links abuts Royal Melbourne and shares some of that famous rolling sandy terrain
The course is maintained by Royal Melbourne ensuring standards are high.
The links has a typical sandbelt feel with tee tree, bracken and gum trees framing the holes.
Although water does feature on a few holes, the typical sandbelt bunkering and firm raised greens define the course.
Sandy Golf Links- hole 6
OCM have delivered a course which is fun to play, suitable for long handicappers, but still challenging for the better player.
The original layout of The Sandringham Golf Course was reconfigured to fit in the extensive facilties of The Australian Golf Centre, so significant acreage was lost to the course.
Rather than reduce the number of holes OCM converted some of the longer holes to two shorter holes.
The finished product has seven par 3's and no par 5's and plays 5000 metres off the back markers- so it is a shorter course!
But it is no pushover.
Many of the par 3's are quite testing..
The other compromise was that the routing now jumps around a little leaving a couple of significant walks from green to tee- that's no big deal, it's just not ideal.
Overall the OCM design is first class, but I do have a grumble about the set up of the greens.
Much as they did at Peninsula's North course, the impressive green complexes are comprehensively bunkered and then have bracken and vegetation surrounding the bunkers.
This leaves limited access/exit points to the green and bunkers.
If you carry your bag- no problem, but if you roll a buggy you will find yourself walking completely around a green to get to a bunker, putt out, and move on.
It adds considerable time to a round, and a lot of additional walking..
Notable holes include:
- the par 4 sixth hole, nicely bunkered off the tee and with a lovely raised green complex which really tests a players control
- the longer par 3 eleventh hole (see pic top of page)
- the well bunkered downhill par 3 twelfth hole
Sandy Golf Links- hole 12
- the longer par 4 thirteenth hole is a classic sandbelt hole, and beautfully bunkered
Sandy Golf Links- hole 13 tee
Sandy Golf Links- hole 13 approach
Sandy Golf Links- hole 13 bunkers
- the dogleg par 4 fifteenth hole with water threatening on the inside of the dogleg
Sandy Golf Links- hole 15
Sandy Golf Links is a terrific addition to the Melbourne Sandbelt.
If you lived in the area the idea of a carry bag, and a small number of clubs would bring you back day after day for a quick nine.
The greens are superbly shaped and conditioned and are the key to the course.
You will quickly find that missing these greens in the wrong places will make scoring very difficult.
Yet the occasional golfer will enjoy the walk without being challenged by length.
And at $43 for 18 holes, it is value for money!
Sandy Golf Links- Local Rules
Golf Tours
The Travelling Golfer can tailor a golf trip to suit your group.
For suggested destinations see: Golf Destinations- The Melbourne Sandbelt
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