Melbourne Sandbelt: What we learned playing the best golf in the world

A trippy thing happens when you fly to Australia. The monitors on the seat back in front of you display the location of your jet, soaring over the Pacific Ocean. Pretty soon the west coast of America disappears off the right side of the screen, and nothing immediately replaces it on the left side. You are cruising, high in the sky, and all you see is blue. 

It’s a wild realization that the place you’re visiting requires a direct jump over the largest puddle on the planet, but any qualms with that are washed away by what comes next: You cross the international date line and the equator at nearly the same time. From Wednesday to Friday and from winter to summer, just like that. And for the golf sickos in the cabin, it’s not just another day and another season — you’re transported to another world of golf. 

We made this journey about 12 months ago, from late, drab winter in the Midwest to late, delightful summer in Melbourne. And while the trip would have been completely sufficient if we spent it just enjoying the sights, sounds and sporting events Down Under, we were smart enough to bring the sticks with us, lining up three consecutive rounds on three of the best courses in the world: Kingston Heath (No. 22), Victoria (No. 96) and Royal Melbourne’s West course (No. 7). 

Below is a synopsis of lessons learned at all three. But first, a video that explains it even better.

1. Kingston Heath is Thinking Man’s Golf 

If Kingston Heath were Scottish and not Australian, it would look different, but I’m not sure it would leave you feeling different. With its hellishly firm turf, your ball moves on the ground just like it does in July at Carnoustie. And like some of the links courses on Scotland’s eastern seaboard, Kingston is flat as sandpaper. To some, that puts a ceiling on this course’s rank. There are no vistas or bodies of water to gaze over. It’s just grass and sand and brush and trees — all woven together in a way that reveals itself only once you’re on top of it. You know, like the Old Course in St. Andrews. 

Kingston Heath is rather welcoming off the 1st tee, located just outside the clubhouse windows. Slowly and surely, though, it starts to feel treacherous. The boundaries of each hole start to cinch inward. The brush feels thicker on the back nine. The preferred angles into its greens look one way on the tee and feel very different from the fairway. 

Why? Because of that flatness. It allows for bunkers to hide behind other bunkers, and for corners of the green to be much bigger (or smaller) than they appear. The difficulty of shots at Kingston Heath is not greater than what you’ll find elsewhere in the Sandbelt, but the result of this deceitful routing is your brain must be switched ON at all times. There is no throttling down your focus. This is Thinking Man’s Golf, as I like to call it. Four hours of maneuvers that leave you feeling accomplished if you can squeeze out something in the 70s or 80s. 

2. Victoria: home of my favorite short 4s

The best opening hole and best hole (period) on our trip both took place at Victoria Golf Club, the course our entire group agreed was better than its rank of 96th-best in the world. There may not be a more tempting hole than Victoria’s 1st, which plays just 254 yards downhill, parallel with the Magnolia Drive-esque entrance to the property. 

Everyone can go for Victoria’s 1st green, but do you want to? You don’t if your typical ball flight is a draw. And with a bad angle from the right, you also sneaky don’t want to hit a fade. The smartest play is something that rolls up just short and left of the green, but that requires a carry over perfectly placed fairway bunkers left. And anything that leaks out right will leave you with the most daunting approach in the game: a 40-yard bunker shot. If this is a handshake opener, it’s one of those handshakes with your future father-in-law who wants to remind you who is boss in this household. 

As far as short par-4s go, it’s among the best, but it isn’t even the best on property. That distinction goes to Victoria’s 15th, a softly bending dogleg left that measures about 315 yards from the back tees. A mess of bunkers lines the left side of the fairway, which gets progressively thinner as you move toward the green. But the hole tells you a simple thing up front: play whatever you’d like off the tee, be it a mid-iron, a long-iron, a 3-wood or a driver. Going long bounds you into a low gully with tight lies. So, how short do you want to play it for safety off the tee? Our foursome took four different clubs off the tee, made three very different pars and one triple bogey. A perfect result. 

3. Royal Melbourne has it all

Josh Sens, our travel expert, prepped us for Royal Melbourne’s West course — the crown jewel of Aussie golf — by referring to it as a baked-out Augusta National. And while most every comparison to ANGC feels irresponsible — and I held my doubts — this one doesn’t. Royal Melbourne does a lot of what Augusta National does. Like ANGC, you’re right next to a busy street, in the middle of a town, and you wouldn’t know it. The movement of land isn’t quite as drastic, but it is serious. You play down these heaves of wide-open land on par-4s and then shoot back up them on par-3s. There isn’t a hole on property that feels like intermission, or akin to another hole you just played.

Simply put, what Royal Melbourne offers you is endless variety. Which makes for a string of 18 holes you can immediately play back in your mind, post-round. And what the course asks in the process is: What kind of shots can you hit? You’re going to want them all out here. That’s what a top 10 course in the world should stand for.