ROSEBUD COUNTRY CLUB

Rosebud is one of the peninsula’s original clubs and is enjoying a resurgence in popularity after hosting the PGA Tour of Australasia’s TPS Victoria event for the past three years.

The TPS tournament is played on a Composite layout of the club’s North and South Courses, both of which have been significantly redeveloped in recent years, with designers Ogilvy, Cocking and Mead (OCM) bringing in changes that really impressed this magazine’s Top-100 Public Access Course ranking judges.

“The design changes of both Rosebud courses have been enhanced further by the great work undertaken by Ian Todd, the former long-time course superintendent at Victoria Golf Club, and his team,” ranking judge Nathan Burgess said of Rosebud after its North and South Courses grabbed No.27 and No.56 respectively in the list published earlier this year.

Fellow judge Phil Nicholls added: “The South Course is much improved, and I would recommend playing this fine layout in the morning, grabbing a bite of lunch and heading out on the North Course in the afternoon.”

With rippling fairways, a handful of semi-blind tee shots, expansive bunkering, wider playing lines and exciting green complexes throughout the two courses, it’s no wonder Rosebud is gaining wide acclaim.

SORRENTO GC

Many of Melbourne’s well-to-do keep membership at Sorrento Golf Club, and it’s also a popular second club for members of Sandbelt clubs. Not only is Sorrento a terrific place to dine, shop and wander around, it’s home to a gem of a golf course tucked away behind town with a beautiful country charm to it.

Founded in 1907 (originally as Sorrento and Portsea GC, which is interesting given recent speculation of a merger between the two), Sorrento is laid out on rolling land dotted with pine trees and low scrub. The course is short by modern standards yet is a tight test characterised by its quintet of fantastic short holes, while the bunkering is also a standout feature. As is the conditioning, which might just be so good as to put Sorrento among the best presented layouts in the nation.

Sorrento is a private club, but visitors can enquire about available tee times Monday, Tuesday afternoon and Thursday.

PORTSEA GOLF CLUB

Portsea Golf Club used to be regarded as one of the best-kept golfing secrets on the Mornington Peninsula.

Not anymore though. Today, a modern $12 million clubhouse with 24 four-and-a-half-star hotel rooms – offering panoramic views over the course and beyond, gives Portsea a resort feel despite remaining a private golf club.

Portsea GC. PHOTO Brendan James

It is a visually striking layout near the tip of the peninsula bordering the Point Nepean National Park. Classically designed, Portsea has evolved from a nine-hole track created by Scottish professional Jock Young in 1926 to a par-71 that was ranked No.37 in Australia by this magazine in 2022.

Commonwealth Golf Club’s long-time secretary Sloan Morpeth created 18 new holes for the club in 1965, which remained unchanged for more than three decades when Michael Clayton was commissioned to remodel the layout. Holes were lengthened, bunkers re-shaped and large tracts of thick ti-tree removed to enhance the view from many of the tees. The design firm of Ogilvy, Cocking and Mead (OGM) was recently appointed course consultants to the club to oversee further enhancements to the course.

Portsea’s sometimes dramatic topography and the occasionally strong breezes offset the fact it is not long by modern standards. That said, it’s no soft touch.

Built among rolling sand dunes and protected by thick native coastal shrubbery and deep bunkers, Portsea offers several approaches up steep ravines as well as a handful of blind tee shots throughout the journey.

Take the short but genuinely tough par-4 10th hole. At 256 metres from the back pegs, there is certainly a temptation to have a crack at the green with the driver. But anything less than perfect will probably finish in the massive scheme of bunkers, surrounded by dense scrub, to be found on the low left side of the fairway.

THE DUNES GOLF LINKS

This Tony Cashmore-designed gem at Rye has been a favourite stop for golfers visiting the Mornington Peninsula more than. 25 years now.

The course, opened for play in 1997, was the first of a generation of links courses to the built in Australia over the next decade, including Links Kennedy Bay in WA, the Barnbougle courses in Tasmania as well as neighbouring layouts like those found at The National and Moonah Links.

The Dunes Golf Links. PHOTO: Brendan James

The layout rocks and rolls across exposed, undulating, sandy terrain and is framed by craggy, rustic bunkers. It has its quirks, but those quirks make Cashmore’s creation so memorable.

But at its heart is 18 holes easily enjoyed and playable for casual golfers, aspiring to be better golfers and those that have already mastered the ability to get the ball in the middle of the clubface.

It is very much a second shot course where the inviting wide fairways tempt you out of your comfort zone and question your ability to leave your ball in the best possible location for your next shot.

One of the many highlights of a round here is playing the stunning 179-metre 17th – a ‘Redan’ style par-3 described by Tom Watson as “an exquisite golf hole”. The pin position dictates whether a high fade or a curling draw is the preferred play and any shot shaped correctly has every chance of catching the contours of the green and feeding close to the flag.