St Andrews Beach Golf Course

The verdict

St Andrews Beach is the course that taught a generation of Australian golfers what Tom Doak was about. Built on a stretch of sandy country at Fingal on the Mornington Peninsula, less than an hour from the famous Melbourne Sandbelt, it opened in 2005 as the Gunnamatta Course and has been open to public play since 2008. Doak worked the routing with the Australian architect Mike Clayton, and the ground did much of the rest.

It is a par 70 of a little over 6,074 metres, which is short by championship standards and entirely beside the point. The greens are large, rolling and full of ideas, the fairways are wide enough to tempt and narrow enough to punish the wrong line, and the wind off Bass Strait turns a gentle morning into a different course by afternoon. It sits comfortably inside Australia's top tier of public access golf, and many who have played the Sandbelt's private giants quietly rate a day here just as highly.

The holes worth the trip

The land here is gently rumpled rather than dramatic, and Doak's genius was to leave it largely alone. Fairways spill over low sandy rises into hollows, bunkers sit where the ground already wanted them, and the firm turf lets a well judged runner do as much work as a high approach. There is almost no rough in the manicured sense, just native grasses, tea tree and the ever present wind.

The short par 4s are the heart of the round. Several can be driven or nearly so when the wind allows, and each offers a tempting line that brings real trouble into play, the kind of decision golf that rewards a clear head over raw length. The par 3s are varied and exposed, asking different clubs on different days, while the greens, big and full of subtle internal movement, are the defence at a course with little water and few forced carries.

Pick the right tees, accept that the wind is part of the test, and play the ground rather than the air. St Andrews Beach is proof that thrilling golf does not need 7,400 yards. It needs great land, a light hand and greens worth thinking about, and on the Mornington Peninsula it has all three.

Where to stay nearby

The Mornington Peninsula is one of Melbourne's favourite weekend escapes, so there is no shortage of places to stay, from coastal cottages and boutique guesthouses around Rye, Sorrento and Portsea to the peninsula's well known wineries and hot springs for the non golfers in the party.

Most travelling golfers base themselves on the peninsula for a couple of nights to pair St Andrews Beach with the region's other layouts, then move up to Melbourne to take on the Sandbelt. That combination, links sand by the sea and the great Sandbelt courses an hour north, is one of the best short golf trips in the world.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near St Andrews Beach Golf Course.