Australia: Seven Sisters of the Sandbelt

In the fall of 1926, Dr. Alister Mackenzie embarked on a monthlong voyage from Britain to Australia. He had already designed some 50 golf courses in the Old World, and earlier that year had accepted a commission to build a new track on California’s Monterey Peninsula — to be called Cypress Point. But first, he had to attend to other business.

Members of The Royal Melbourne Golf Club had asked him to construct a new course in the “Sandbelt” to the southeast of their city. Today, the Sandbelt is one of the great golf destinations of the world, home to the “Seven Sisters,” a collection of prestigious clubs, all hospitable to international visitors. MacKenzie needed just 23 days to produce plans for the new West Course at Royal Melbourne, but he also traveled to four other sites in the Sandbelt, drafting new course designs and advising on the intricacies of construction and maintenance. MacKenzie was understandably excited by the opportunities: The sandy soil provided good drainage so the courses would play firm and fast like a British links course; the subtle undulations gave the land distinctive character; and the wind that blew off nearby Port Phillip Bay ensured that the layouts would seldom play the same way twice.

Any golfer who wishes to follow in my footsteps should begin with a round on MacKenzie’s West Course, a track considered the best in Australia and often ranked among the top five in the world. The wide fairways offer players reasonable chances to make par, as do the massive greens, some as large as 14,000 square feet. But the bunkering can be positively sinister.

It is impossible not to notice similarities between the West Course and the two courses in America for which MacKenzie is most famous: Cypress Point, which he built in 1928, and Augusta National, which opened four years later. Many of the bunkers are the same sizes and shapes, and the greens share the same daunting undulations.

Just down the road from Royal Melbourne is Kingston Heath, generally regarded as the second-best golf course in the country. The other three members of the Seven Sisters associated with MacKenzie are the Victoria Golf Club, the nearby Metropolitan Golf Club and the Yarra Yarra Golf Club. (The final two members of the Seven Sisters are Commonwealth and Huntingdale.)

When in Melbourne, I invariably stay at the excellent Park Hyatt, a smartly styled 240-room hotel in a leafy downtown neighborhood near Parliament House. However, one of my favorite Australian country retreats, Chateau Yering, lies just 33 miles northeast of the city, about an hour’s drive from the Seven Sisters golf courses. Approached by a mile-long avenue of elms, the substantial 1854 Victorian manor is set on a 250-acre estate in the Yarra Valley wine region, overlooking the Yarra River and the hills of the Great Dividing Range. Its 32 comfortable accommodations come with antique furnishings, as well as modern amenities, and many feature spa baths and open fireplaces. Eleonore’s Restaurant is widely (and justly) regarded as one of the finest in Australia.