Lonsdale Links

Point Lonsdale Golf Links was founded in 1921 on 45 acres of land with a 9-hole course laid out by George Lowe Jr., the professional at nearby Barwon Heads and son of George Lowe who designed Royal Lytham & St Annes. The club acquired another 52 acres to the south of the original course in 1937, with a view to Vern Morcom expanding the layout.

Four holes were brought into play in 1939 then another three were added in 1947. More property deals were done in the early 1950s to exchange small plots of land before an 18-hole course opened for play in 1954.

During the 1980s, 21 lakeside acres sold thirty years earlier were re-acquired and the course redesigned. As author Toby Cumming says in The Golf Courses of Vern Morcom, “in the decades since, there have been many routing changes, with holes reordered, modified, taken in and out.”

At the end of 2020, Lonsdale Links re-opened after an extensive re-design by OCM, the design company of Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Cocking and Ashly Mead. Five new holes were added on new land to the southwest of the old course, with a new clubhouse built close to where the old 1st green was once situated.

Lonsdale Links is a highly unusual Australian creation; the style is a throwback to beginnings of the Golden Age of golf course architecture. Charles Blair Macdonald’s pioneering design at the National Golf Links of America opened in 1909, featuring a smorgasbord of iconic holes from classic European courses which later became known as "templates", such as Redan, Biarritz, Double Plateau and Road. Here at Point Lonsdale, OCM have created the southern hemisphere’s equivalent of the USA’s NGLA, albeit on a more modest scale. Maybe they'll add a windmill later.