Just across Reserve Road from Royal Melbourne and 10 minutes away from Kingston Heath, Victoria Golf Club tends to get overlooked in discussions of golf in the Melbourne Sandbelt. It deserves better. The club was founded in 1903, but the current course in the southeastern Melbourne suburbs opened in 1927, with a design by club founder Bill Meader and club captain Oscar Damman. During his tour of Australia in 1926, Alister MacKenzie offered design suggestions, including a bunkering plan. He was generally impressed by Meader and Damman’s efforts, saying, “Little more is required to make this a magnificent golf course.” MacKenzie must have admired Victoria’s routing—how it works through relatively subtle land on the front nine before exploring more dramatic topography on the back. In recent decades, the club has enlisted Mike Clayton and his former partners at OCCM Golf (now just OCM Golf) to restore original bunker positions and styles, reintroduce native vegetation, and renovate green complexes. Their work has helped turn Victoria into one of the most historically authentic representations of Sandbelt golf in Melbourne.
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Take Note…
Proximity. The fifth fairway at Victoria Golf Club is approximately 110 yards from the par-3 second hole at Sandy Golf Links. The nearby 12th green at Victoria is just 90 yards from the 17th green on the East Course at Royal Melbourne. On the other side of Victoria’s property, the 17th green is about 180 yards from the East Course’s 10th green. Vegetation and fences block visibility in all three cases, but it’s striking how close Victoria, Sandy, and Royal Melbourne are to each other. In the days before the area was developed, it would have been easy to walk back and forth between the courses. One could have created the composite routing to end all composite routings.
Aussie hospitality. Whenever a guest from overseas plays at Victoria, the club flies the flag of the player’s home country from the flagpole outside of the clubhouse. This friendly stance toward visitors is typical of the Melbourne golf community.
A proper cuppa. Melbourne is famous for its coffee. There are a number of excellent cafes near Victoria Golf Club, but I’d particularly recommend FABRICA and Two Bob Snob.
The Melbourne Tiger. Peter Thomson, five-time Open champion and doyen of Aussie golf, grew up in the Melbourne area and became a member of Victoria Golf Club when he was 16. In 2009, nine years before Thomson passed away at the age of 88, the club erected a statue of him next to the championship 10th tee box. In a time when the quality of athlete-honoring sculpture varies considerably, I’m happy to report that Victoria’s Thomson statue is well executed, depicting the relaxed follow-through of his famously fluid swing.
