Royal Sydney - New South Wales - Australia

Royal Sydney is one of Australia's great sporting complexes with Tennis, bowls, croquet, squash, a fitness centre and swimming pool all available to members!

Accommodation is available for guests of members as well, with some fine views to be had.

The Championship course is famous for hosting Men's and Women's Australian Open's throughout it's time in the beautiful and leafy surrounds of Rose Bay, one of Sydney's premier suburbs.

The day I was to play the course the heavens opened sadly, the course itself held up very well in these conditions, and as it's exceptionally hard to get on here (it took this writer 3 years) you don't pack up and head back to the clubhouse.

The course has one of the more interesting opening holes in Australia, a short par 4 that has an elevated tee box and has bunkers everywhere posing a problem straight away, lay up is the best option!

Speaking of bunkers the course has significantly reduced it's bunkering from yester year, but it still poses a threat all day and definitely makes the golfer think before their next shot.

The course runs fairly up and back with not too much directional change, or elevation, but what it lacks in these departments in more than makes up for in design of the current holes. You can see why major tournaments are held there.

Greens are a challenge and having local knowledge on the day certainly helped!

The Club is in the midst of a potential change to the course design with the great Gil Hanse reportedly undertaking the redevelop of the Championship course, for myself this could certainly see a rise in the ranking for this mighty course, and I'd certainly enjoy playing here once this change is completed.

Tyson.

I would agree very much with the below reviews. The course starts on a high with a lovely short par 4 with strategic bunkering and a tricky green with the front 9 certainly being the stronger of the two. The other short par 4 8th is a very nice hole that again requires a solid strategy. The back 9 is a bit of a slog over less interesting land. the facilities are glorious and makes me think of what an elite country club in the U.S. may appear like. Unfortunately the quality of the course does not match and although enjoyable, is well below the best in the state at NSW.

It will be interesting to see how the work at bonnie doon goes. If the original work by occm is replicated then it may well elevate itself above its more illustrious neigbours in the city.

There are certainly some strong holes at Royal Sydney. Notable is the stretch from the 1st to the 6th that runs along the entire east side of the property. Things become more pedestrian from the 7th to the 12th. Then things get more compelling again at the tempting uphill par 5 13th and the par 3 14th. After that, it is a less than inspiring run to the finish. The location of the course is remarkable, located in the bucolic eastern harbourside suburb of Rose Bay, a mere 15 minutes from the CBD and 5 minutes from Bondi Beach. That is certainly worth some consideration in terms of the overall experience of playing the course. However, because of apparent land constraints (worsened by the Club’s short course) there is not enough room to plot out the most optimal routing in order to get all the holes up towards a global elite standard. Also, there is a sense that the layout would be a much better course without trees (which might have been the case since the trees on the course don’t look like old growth original – especially the rows of what look to be a type of coniferous tree planted to create separation between some of the holes). Definitely fun to play because of the location. But void of any tee shots or approach shots that are capable of heightening anticipation with the exception of the drivable 1st hole. Still, very much worth playing.

This course has the best greens that I have ever played. Set in the opulent surroundings of Rose Bay, Royal Sydney is an oasis of calm on Sydneys' doorstep. Vast tiered green complexes put a premium on accuarcy and beware the myriad of bunkers that lie like sentinels around the greens. Quite a straightforward course if you manage to keep the ball out of the trees and the bunkers. The standout hole has to be the 18th which is a 90 degree dogleg left requiring a drawing drive to the corner of the dogleg leaving a mid to short iron approach to a large 3 tiered green. The Australian Open returns to RSGC this year so it will be interesting to see how the pros fare on this grand old lady.