The Australian

The Australian Golf Club in New South Wales, Sydney, is one of Australia's most elite golf clubs and also considered to be its oldest, being founded in 1882.

History of the course:

The Australian Golf Club was founded way back in 1882, although golfing at the current location in Kensington was not before 1904.

The Australian Golf course was initially designed in 1904 by the team of three professionals, Hutchison, Martin and Carnegie Clark, but was then later re-designed in 1976 by famous golfer and architect, Jack Nicklaus.

The par 72, 18 hole golf course of The Australian is a well groomed and a visually pleasing course. The layout consists of firm fairways, fast greens, well-placed bunkers and water hazards, all of which provide challenges to golfers right through to the final 18th hole.

Some of Golf's greatest that have played at the Australian Golf Club were Bill MacKenzie, Greg Norman, Kel Nagle, Bruce Devlin and J. Nicklaus.

The Australian Golf Club has a grand and magnificent clubhouse that overlooks the picturesque course and also provides a luxurious and relaxing environment for tired golfers!

Course Trivia:

Although the Australian had no golf course for seven years (1888-1895), the Club continued its string of tournaments with other outdoor sports and social activities, thus remaining Australia's oldest sporting institution.

The Australian Golf Club underwent financial crisis during World War II due to its clubhouse being used extensively as barracks or the course being converted into an air-defense range by the U.S Forces; thus, the Club had to undergo a complete makeover for the damages caused to its course, fairways and clubhouse.

The Australian's clubhouse, originally built in 1905, was destroyed by fire on two occasions- in 1931 and in 1982; an ill fortune during the club's developing years!

The oldest golf trophy that is still played for by members of the Australian Golf Club is the 1884 Cadogan Cup.

The recent major tournaments to be hosted at The Australian include the 2004 Centenary Open, won by Peter Lonard, and the 1996 Australian Open, won by Greg Norman.

The very first Australian Open was hosted by the Club at its Botany course in 1904; since then, the Australian Golf Club has been host to an astonishing 15 Australian Open championships.

The Australian Golf Club is a private golf course. Guests must be accompanied by a member.

As per the Australian Top 100 Golf Courses (2006 rankings), the Australian Golf Club has been ranked as No. 9.

As we continue on this tour we will learn about the other top-50 golf courses in Australia.