St Andrews Beach is nestled along the south-western coast of Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula, near the thundering surf of Gunnamatta Beach and Bass Strait. Designed by world-renowned course architect, Tom Doak, the St Andrews Beach Gunnamatta Course weaves across a spectacular stretch of land evoking the famous links courses of Scotland and Ireland, with a quality that is on-par with the nearby famous Sandbelt golf courses of Melbourne. It has been voted Australia’s 9th best golf course and has been open for public access to play since 2009. It has since maintained its position as the best public access course in Victoria. St Andrews Beach Golf Course features on our Mornington Peninsula travel package. Nearby golf courses that are worth playing while visiting the Mornington Peninsula include The Dunes, Eagle Ridge, The National Golf Club and Moonah Links. Various images supplied by St Andrews Beach Golf Club.
The course features wide-open panoramic views of the wild bush dune-scape that comprises the Bass Strait side of the Mornington Peninsula. When the southerly breeze blows it’s fresh in summer but devilishly cold in winter. The fairways are wide and undulating which makes the course a dream for big hitters and those who love driving the ball; although Doak has designed the greens thoughtfully. The approach shots are very tricky with many bottle-necks and undulations in the greens themselves that often spells the difference between a bogey and par if you hit the wrong shelf. Long fescue grass borders most holes and many greens, but if you don’t spray your shots the course can be quite forgiving.
The St Andrews Beach golf team maintain the course to world-class standards, but as the Australian summers encroach each year, the ground steels over and golf balls can go for miles. The routing of the course follows the traditional links style of the in-out-in layout; the 9th hole is away from the clubhouse, which makes the course predominantly an 18-hole affair. The main challenges on the course are predominantly the wild grasses and undulating sand dunes that the grass inhabits. If you miss your shot, you’ll have a hard time getting back on the fairway or in the hole for a reasonable score. Doak’s use of bunkers is thoughtful in the way that makes them look as wild as the surrounding landscape, and they are plentiful. Often ill-shaped and of varying depths, they can wreak havoc on your scorecard if you end up beached too often. Overall this is a fantastic course that showcases some of the very best Mornington Peninsula golf.
St Andrews Beach Golf Course is in the process of implementing practice facilities but for the moment it is just a golf course and clubhouse, with a putting green and pro shop, very much befitting the traditional links set ups in Ireland and Scotland and taking a minimalist approach to the game.
The clubhouse is a very relaxing pre and post-match hub that provides a fully stocked on-course food and beverage cart. The clubhouse itself offers food and beverages with indoor and outdoor seating. The pro shop, located in the clubhouse, offers the full range of golfing accessories and golf-wear including professional hire equipment. You can also rent motorised golf carts and manual-pull trolleys.
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