Courses
Royal Melbourne
Kingston Heath
Victoria
Metropolitan
Peninsula Kingswood
Royal Melbourne West Course
Few golf courses carry the weight of history quite like Royal Melbourne's West Course. Widely regarded as the epitome of Sandbelt excellence, it is the course around which many discerning golfers choose to build their entire Australian journey — and for good reason.
Designed in 1926 by the legendary Alister MacKenzie, the West Course stands as his only complete course design in Australia, and a testament to his enduring genius. Remarkably, the layout remains largely untouched from MacKenzie's original sketches — a rare distinction in an era of constant course renovation. What he envisioned nearly a century ago still challenges, humbles, and captivates the world's finest players today.
This is strategic golf at its most unforgiving. Sharp doglegs, precisely positioned bunkering, and deceptively complex green complexes demand that every shot be thought through well before a club is drawn. Distance is rarely the answer at the West Course — angle of approach is everything.
For clients seeking the pinnacle of Australian golf travel, a round here is not simply a highlight — it is the standard by which all others are measured.
Ranked Top 10 in the World.
Royal Melbourne East Course
Where the West Course set the benchmark, the East carries the legacy forward with equal distinction. Designed by Alex Russell — Alister MacKenzie's trusted right-hand man — the East Course channels the same Sandbelt principles into an entirely its own challenge, stretching across multiple paddocks kilometres from the clubhouse.
The same precise bunkering, strategic doglegs, and demanding approach angles are all present, yet the character here feels distinctly different. Patient, thoughtful golf is rewarded at every turn.
It is the closing stretch that truly etches the East Course into memory. A par three sixteenth, sweeping par five seventeenth, and commanding par four eighteenth returning to the clubhouse form what many consider the finest finishing sequence in the game.
Consistently ranked among the world's top 100 courses, the East Course is widely regarded as some of Melbourne's finest golf — an unmissable chapter in any luxury Australian golf tour with Sandbelt Signature.
Ranked Top 100 in the World.
Kingston Heath
Kingston Heath and Royal Melbourne's West Course have long waged a quiet battle for supremacy — not just on the Sandbelt, but across Australia entirely. Two giants separated by little in quality, yet entirely different in how they feel beneath your feet.
Where the West Course demands precision from distance, Kingston Heath seduces with arguably the finest collection of short par fours on the Sandbelt. Firm, fast conditions reward strategic thinking over raw power, and every tee shot presents a genuine decision — attack the angle, or play it safe and leave yourself exposed.
Designed by Dan Soutar in 1925, Kingston Heath bears another familiar signature. Dr Alister MacKenzie was brought in to lay all the bunkering — his trademark sharp, artistic hazards cutting into fairways and greens with characteristic drama. Most famously, MacKenzie sliced the fifteenth hole in half, creating a short, uphill par 3 that many consider the single greatest par 3 on the Sandbelt.
For Sandbelt Signature clients, Kingston Heath is essential. A course that challenges your strategy, rewards your nerve, and leaves you quietly convinced you've just played something very special.
Ranked Top 25 in the World.
Furrows
Kingston Heath’s par 3 course opened in April 2023, The Furrows is a thoughtful addition to one of Melbourne's most celebrated clubs. Designed by the acclaimed OCM — Ogilvy, Cocking, Mead — this nine-hole short course is carved from a 20-acre parcel on Kingston Heath's eastern boundary, with holes ranging from 50 to 140 metres of pure Sandbelt character.
Strategic and imaginative, each hole offers multiple ways to play, with the ground game actively encouraged. Short grass runs to many tees — on some holes, a putter from the tee is an entirely legitimate choice.
For Sandbelt Signature guests, an afternoon on The Furrows alongside a morning on the championship course is the perfect way to savour everything Kingston Heath has to offer.
Peninsula Kingswood - North
The North Course at Peninsula Kingswood is the Sandbelt's most exciting modern statement. Where the classic layouts of Melbourne's traditional clubs have long defined the region's reputation, the North Course dares to push boundaries — and does so with breathtaking conviction.
Dramatic elevation changes roll across the property with a boldness rarely seen on Australian soil, while the bunkering is among the sharpest and most visually arresting anywhere in the world. This is a course that demands to be seen to be believed. The design holds nothing back, offering everything the traditional Sandbelt layouts approach with restraint — and for many golfers, that is precisely the point.
Rapidly climbing the ranks both in Australia and globally, the North Course is widely tipped as one of the great modern courses of our era. It is also a personal favourite of Sandbelt Signature founder Ritchie — a course he counts among the finest he has ever played.
The closing hole alone justifies the journey. A sweeping dogleg left that slowly unveils the magnificent clubhouse through a theatre of bunkers, it is a finishing hole that encapsulates everything Peninsula Kingswood stands for — drama, ambition, and golf at its most spectacular.
Ranked Top 10 in the Australia.
Peninsula Kingswood - South
Where the North Course commands attention with drama and elevation, the South Course pursues it closely with a character entirely its own. A meandering creek winds its way through the layout, at times splitting fairways and separating holes in a way that adds both beauty and strategic intrigue to every round.
The South Course offers a more open, player-friendly environment — but make no mistake, this is no easy afternoon. Bunkers are plentiful and strategically punishing, and the course demands the same thoughtful approach that defines great Sandbelt golf.
What the two courses share, however, may be their greatest common asset — the greens. Purity of roll on distinction grass is something Peninsula Kingswood does better than almost anywhere, and the South Course is no exception. Pace and precision are everything here; lose your concentration and you'll be watching putts drift well beyond the hole.
Together, the North and South courses make Peninsula Kingswood one of the most compelling two-course destinations on any luxury Australian golf tour. A modern masterpiece in two acts — and an essential stop on any Sandbelt Signature itinerary.
Ranked Top 100 in the World.
Victoria
Sitting adjacent to Royal Melbourne — so close that several of its holes sit nearer to Victoria's clubhouse than their own — Victoria Golf Club occupies one of the most prestigious parcels of Sandbelt land in Australia, and plays every bit the part.
The tone is set immediately. The opening hole is one of the great short par fours in Melbourne golf — a 240-metre downhill test that seduces you into attacking from the first swing. With trouble lurking everywhere around the green, the decision is yours: go for it and make three, or misjudge it and walk away with six. Few opening holes anywhere in the world frame the round ahead quite so honestly.
Victoria's bunkering is, in Ritchie's view, the finest on the Sandbelt. Where other courses cut bunkers into fairways, Victoria bites into its greens with a sharpness and drama that is nothing short of extraordinary — each hazard sculpted to demand perfection on the approach.
What many first-time visitors overlook is Victoria's remarkable vegetation. Towering trees and sweeping horizontal cypress frame hole after hole, lending the course an identity distinct from its Sandbelt neighbours — lush, characterful, and quietly spectacular.
Add to this a collection of outstanding par threes and a back nine that closes with back-to-back par fives, and Victoria delivers one of the most exhilarating finishes in Melbourne golf. A course that rewards those who look closely — and punishes those who don't.
Ranked Top 100 in the World.
Metropolitan
Fresh from a significant program of maintenance and course updates, Metropolitan Golf Club has re-emerged as one of the finest tests of golf in the country — and one of the Sandbelt's best kept secrets. It is a course that many guests arrive at without great expectation, and leave speaking about in the same breath as any of its celebrated neighbours. Metropolitan rewards those who take the time to understand it, and that understanding rarely takes long.
The history here runs deep. Metropolitan and Royal Melbourne were once the same club — a shared heritage that lives on today in the wings logo both clubs proudly carry. Tournaments have been contested here across decades, and the course carries that weight of history in every fairway and green.
Metropolitan occupies its own distinct sliver of Sandbelt land, and the layout will surprise even the most widely travelled golfer with just how good it is. The bunkering, the pace of play, the conditioning — all of it speaks to a club quietly operating at the very top level.
The greens here are scary and often roll quicker than any other due to its relative elevation, which in tail firms up the greens even more.