Barwon Heads Golf Club

Although not the length of modern championship courses, Barwon Heads is a fair test of golf. The course lies on the south coast of the Bellarine Peninsula 20 minutes from Geelong and 75 minutes from Melbourne. It’s located on land adjacent to Thirteenth Beach Golf Links sharing a strip of coastline that gives way to the Bass Straits.

Barwon Heads was founded in 1907 in Geelong and was initially a nine-hole links on land north of the village of Barwon Heads. The links on the present site was developed in 1920, being laid out by Victor East, then the Royal Melbourne Golf Club professional.

The course was initially 5,720 yards with a bogey of 77. The first six holes that circulate on a piece of land across the access road to the beach, northeast of the clubhouse are in fact the most recent additions. These six holes are my favourite combination on the course on account of their closeness to traditional Scottish links in both atmosphere and playing character. They are also closest to the dunes and the beach beyond. This section of the course has a very open feeling to it. You play all holes within sight of the traditional weatherboard clubhouse, one of the most handsome golf structures in Australia.

The above passage is an extract from The Finest Golf Courses of Asia and Australasia by James Spence. Reproduced with kind permission.

According to the club's website: "The course was always intended to be a ‘links rather than a man-made golf course’, and was designed by Vic East,the professional at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club. Work began on it in May 1920 by S F Mann and by the end of November the whole links wasplanted with grass, cleared of rabbits, and an extensive tree planting scheme had been initiated.

By November 1921 nine holes were playable and by Easter 1922 eighteen holes were open for play. In 1929 the first six holes of the course were relocated to land to the south-east (which was purchased in 1960), facilitating the development of the current 9 hole Par-3 course to the north-west of the Clubhouse. It was designed by Member C L Winser, winner of the Australian Open Amateur Championship in the 1920s.

In 1926 Dr Alister MacKenzie, considered to be the world’s foremost golf course designer, visited the course, was consulted on the course design,and appears to have reinforced the design ideology of a links course at Barwon Heads.".

Crafter & Mogford were appointed as Barwon Heads Golf Club architects in June 2004, producing a Course Development Plan which detailed course and landscape improvements to many aspects of the property, including practice facilities, the Par 3 course, the tennis court and car park.

One of the firm’s key objectives on the course was tightening up the green complexes by remodelling bunkers and making greater use of tightly mown contour hazards such as hollows and drop-offs to add interest and variety to the challenge.