Sandbelt Splendour

METROPOLITAN *****

Formed by members who left Royal Melbourne when that club moved away from the city's south-eastern suburbs, Metropolitan was designed by MacKenzie – not Alister, but his namesake, J.B., an Australian engineer. Although unknown by comparison, his layout has stood the test of time magnificently. Renowned throughout the land for its soft couch grass landing areas and fast bent grass greens (and, naturally, its typically wonderful sandbelt bunkering), the course is one of the most environmentally-friendly around – the vast number and variety of native birds that flock here is a testament to the ecologically sensitive practices the club has had in place since it opened its doors at the turn of the twentieth century. Golf's greatest names have flocked here since then too. Peter Thomson won the 1971 Australian Open here; Jack Newton beat an up-and-coming Greg Norman by one shot for the national title in 1979 and Brad Faxon took the coveted Stonehaven Cup in 1993. Walter Hagen described it as the best course in Australia when he visited in 1930, an opinion echoed by LPGA player Katherine Hull, who was left in awe after playing her first round here a few years' back. Straight hitting is the key to scoring well at Metropolitan; it's regular practice at the club to hand-mow the bunker edges, which makes its deep-sided pits some of the easiest to find anywhere.

ARCHITECT: J.B. MacKenzie (1908)
YARDAGE/PAR: 6,718/72
CONTACT: metropolitangolf.com.au; (61) 3 9570 3774