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Kingston Heath Golf Club

Coordinates: 37°34′24″S 145°03′06″E / 37.573357°S 145.051627°E / -37.573357; 145.051627
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Kingston Heath Golf Club
Club information
Kingston Heath Golf Club is located in Australia
Kingston Heath Golf Club
Kingston Heath Golf Club is located in Victoria
Kingston Heath Golf Club
Kingston Heath Golf Club is located in Melbourne
Kingston Heath Golf Club
Coordinates37°57′33.57″S 145°05′16.27″E / 37.9593250°S 145.0878528°E / -37.9593250; 145.0878528
LocationCheltenham, Victoria, Australia
Established1909
TypePrivate
Total holes19
Events hostedAustralian 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
Websitewww.kingstonheath.melbourne
Designed byDan Soutar
Par72

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 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

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Elsternwick Park (1909–1925)

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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)

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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

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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 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

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  • 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

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Professional events

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Year Winner Country Score Winning margin Runner-up
R1 R2 R3 R4 Total
1948 Ossie Pickworth  Australia 72 73 70 74 289 (+1) Playoff Australia Jim Ferrier
1957 Frank Phillips  Australia 68 70 75 74 287 (−1) 1 shot South Africa Gary Player
Australia Ossie Pickworth
1970 Gary Player  South Africa 71 65 70 74 280 (−8) 3 shots Australia Bruce Devlin
1983 Peter Fowler  Australia 72 76 68 69 285 (−3) 3 shots Australia Ian Baker-Finch
1989 Peter Senior  Australia 66 66 69 70 271 (−17) 6 shots Australia Peter Fowler
1995 Greg Norman  Australia 72 69 69 68 278 (−10) 2 shots Australia Peter McWhinney
2000 Aaron Baddeley  Australia 69 69 68 72 278 (−10) 2 shots Australia Robert Allenby
Year Winner Country Score Winning margin Runner-up
R1 R2 R3 R4 Total
2008 Karrie Webb  Australia 72 72 73 67 284 (−8) Playoff South Korea Jiyai Shin
Year Winners Country Score Winning margin Runner-up
R1 R2 R3 R4 Total
2016 Søren Kjeldsen
Thorbjørn Olesen
 Denmark 72 60 70 66 268 (−20) 4 shots China China (Wu Ashun & Li Haotong)
France France (Victor Dubuisson & Romain Langasque)
United States United States (Rickie Fowler & Jimmy Walker)
Year Winner Country Score Winning margin Runner-up
R1 R2 R3 R4 Total
2009 Tiger Woods  United States 66 68 72 68 274 (−14) 2 shots Australia Greg Chalmers
2012 Adam Scott  Australia 67 70 67 67 271 (−17) 4 shots England Ian Poulter
Year Winner Country Score Winning margin Runner-up
1958 Peter Thomson  Australia 289 (−7) 3 shots Australia Barry West
1969 Kel Nagle  Australia 279 (−17) 3 shots Australia Bill Dunk
Australia Peter Thomson
1976 Guy Wolstenholme  England 281 (−7) Playoff Australia Graham Marsh
1979 Rodger Davis  Australia 291 (+3) Playoff Australia Geoff Parslow
South Africa Gary Player
1987 Roger Mackay  Australia 277 (−11) 1 shot Australia Greg Norman
1988 Jim Benepe  United States 282 (−6) 3 shots Australia Ian Baker-Finch
Australia Peter McWhinney
1989 Mike Clayton  Australia 285 (−3) 2 shots Australia Ossie Moore
1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992
Year Winner Country Winning margin Runner-up
Robert Boyd Transport Australian Match Play Championship
1986 Peter Fowler  Australia 6 & 5 Australia Bob Shearer
1987 Ian Baker-Finch  Australia 5 & 4 Australia Ossie Moore
Mercedes-Benz Australian Match Play Championship
1988 Ronan Rafferty  Northern Ireland 1 up Australia Mike Clayton
1989 Ossie Moore  Australia 1 up Australia Peter Fowler
1990 David Smith  Australia 4 & 2 Australia Peter Fowler
1991 Chris Patton  United States 5 & 3 Australia Ken Dukes
1992 Mike Clayton  Australia 4 & 3 Australia Peter McWhinney

The Open Championship International Final Qualifying

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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

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Course ranking

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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

See also

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References

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  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.
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37°34′24″S 145°03′06″E / 37.573357°S 145.051627°E / -37.573357; 145.051627