Royal Melbourne Golf Club

Royal Melbourne Golf Club is a golf club just south of the main urbanized area of Melbourne, Australia with two courses. Royal Melbourne has hosted numerous national and international events, including the 1959 Canada Cup (now Mission Hills World Cup), and the 1970 World Cup. It was selected by the PGA Tour to hold the Presidents Cup, for the first time outside the United States, in December 1998. The match was convincingly won by the World team, captained by Peter Thomson, who had himself earlier served as the Club professional at Royal Melbourne. The course was also selected as host for the 2011 Presidents Cup.

History

Founded in 1891 as the Melbourne Golf Club ('Royal' prefix given in 1895), the founding President was Sir James McBain and the founding Captain was John Munro Bruce (father of later Australian Prime Minister Viscount Stanley Melbourne Bruce).

The club had to give up its original site, much nearer the city centre, because of increasing urbanization. It planned a move to its present location in the mid-1920s. Royal Melbourne's two current courses are known as the 'West' and 'East' courses. The West course was designed under the strict standards of famous course architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie. He visited the eventual site, located on the renowned Melbourne Sandbelt, south of the city, in 1926. The actual building of the West course was overseen by the famed Australian golfer Alex Russell, as well as the head...
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