Royal Melbourne is the club most golfers mean when they talk about the sandbelt. Its two courses at Black Rock, the West and the East, were laid out between 1926 and 1931 by Alister MacKenzie, Alex Russell and greenkeeper Mick Morcom, and the composite of the two has hosted three Presidents Cups. The club is private, but international and interstate golfers who belong to a club can ask for a visitor time on three weekdays.
The Royal Melbourne Golf Club green fees and tee times.
The Visitors link on the club website now leads to a separate booking site, play.royal.melbourne. Complete the verification step there: the club emails your home club’s administrator, who confirms that you are an active member, and you can then browse visitor tee times and request one. The club says this replaces its old letter-of-introduction system. Its home page lists visitor times on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, subject to availability and excluding public holidays. Groups of more than eight should email golfbookings@royal.melbourne, and tour operators can ask for access to a separate booking portal. Members of reciprocal clubs enter their home club details and request a date and time range under their own club’s agreement. The green fee is not published, so it is confirmed when the club responds to your request.
The courses at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
West Course (Alister MacKenzie, 1926 design)
The course most visitors hope for. The club ranks it with MacKenzie’s Augusta National, Cypress Point and Lahinch, and it supplies 12 of the 18 composite holes used for championships. Tom Crow set a West Course record of 63 in 1956. Expect wide landing areas, steeply faced bunkers and greens that run away from poorly angled approaches.
East Course (Alex Russell and Mick Morcom, 1931)
Russell’s own course, built with Morcom five years after the West. Six East holes join the composite layout, and the 18th East is one of the three closing holes chosen for the 1998 Presidents Cup. In 1935 a touring British women’s team played Australia on the East, and the Australian Women’s Amateur followed on the same course a week later.
The round, in perspective.
The club was founded in 1891 at Caulfield and moved to Sandringham in 1901 before buying the Black Rock land. MacKenzie came out in 1926, spent a few weeks on the site and produced the layout that became the West Course; members accepted it on 10 December that year. Alex Russell, a member and the 1924 Australian Open champion, supervised construction, and Morcom built the greens and bunkers with horse-drawn plough and scoop. Russell and Morcom added the East Course in 1931. The famous Composite Course dates from the 1959 Canada Cup, when 12 West and six East holes on the main paddock were combined so that players and crowds need not cross busy roads. The club maintains the courses to MacKenzie’s principles: generous fairways, fast and firm conditions, and bunkers cut right into the edges of the greens.
Know before you go.
Who can play
International and interstate members of a recognised club
Verification
Home-club administrator confirms by email
Visitor days
Mon, Tue and Fri, not public holidays
Groups over eight
golfbookings@royal.melbourne
Caddies
A$220 per player, cash on the day
Clubhouse
Hats and visors off indoors
Make the trip work.
Allow time for the verification email: your home club has to reply before you can see tee times, so warn your club secretary before you start. Allocation can change around course works and tournaments, so read any notice on the booking site. The 2026 visitor brochure, linked from the booking site, sets out detailed dress rules: men’s shirts collared and tucked in, plain white socks with shorts, golf shoes with non-metal spikes, and no hoodies, denim, cargo shorts, coloured socks or men’s mock-neck collars. Large tattoos on the arms, legs or neck must be covered.
From Melbourne Airport (MEL), allow about an hour to Black Rock by car, longer in peak traffic. The club entrance is on Cheltenham Road. Sandringham, the end of the Sandringham railway line from Flinders Street, is a short taxi ride away, which makes a car optional if you stay in the city.
Black Rock itself is residential, with a few cafés around the clock tower on Beach Road. Sandringham and Brighton have small hotels and short-stay apartments a few minutes from the club. For more choice, St Kilda and the central city are about 30 to 40 minutes north along Beach Road or the Nepean Highway, and both put the rest of the sandbelt within easy reach.
Make a trip of it.
Kingston Heath is about ten minutes east, and Victoria Golf Club, another Open venue, is close by. The club also runs Sandringham Golf Links, a public course rebuilt by Ogilvy Cocking Mead around the Australian Golf Centre, with a floodlit Toptracer range for a warm-up the evening before. Away from golf, the Bay Trail runs along the cliffs from Black Rock to Beaumaris, and Ricketts Point is good for a swim.
Find your season.
The sandbelt plays fastest from December to March, when the fairways brown and the ball runs. October and November are mild and green, and April usually gives settled autumn days. Winter, from June to August, is cool and damp but the sandy soil drains quickly. The club hosted the 1998, 2011 and 2019 Presidents Cups and, in 2025, its 17th men’s Australian Open and first since 1991, so watch for tournament closures.
Yes, if you are an international or interstate golfer and an active member of a recognised club. You complete the online verification on the club’s booking site, your home club confirms by email, and you then request one of the weekday visitor times.
Do I still need a letter of introduction for Royal Melbourne?
No. The club says its email verification, where your home club’s administrator confirms your status, replaces the old letter-of-introduction system. Make sure you enter the correct administration email address, since the request goes there.
Which days can visitors play Royal Melbourne?
The club’s home page lists Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, subject to availability and excluding public holidays. Groups of more than eight should email the club, and reciprocal-club members request a date and time range under their own club’s agreement.
How much is a caddie at Royal Melbourne?
A$220 per 18 holes for a caddie carrying one player’s bag, or A$270 for one caddie shared by two players. If caddies are short, one may carry two bags at A$200 a bag. Fees are paid in cash in Australian dollars at the end of the round.
Last checked 11 November 2026. This is an independent planning guide, not a first-hand review or a booking service. Check live availability, access, fees and travel details with the operator before booking. Airport suggestions are starting points for route planning.
