User:Grovermj/The Australian Golf Club

The Australian Golf Club is a golf club located in Rosebery, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. Although it survived numerous course location changes, it is recognised as the oldest golf club in Australia. To date the course has held 16 Australian Opens, and is scheduled to hold another from the 13–16 December 2007. The course has been rated the 9th best in the country.

Early history
The Australian Golf Club was founded in 1882, which makes it the oldest golf club in Australia after Royal Melbourne Golf Club (founded 1893). However, The Australian did not have a golf course between the years of 1888 and 1895, which has lead to debate as to which golf club is the oldest.

The club's first golf course was situated in Moore Park, a suburb of Sydney, but due to a new road, the course had to be abandoned 6 years later, in 1888. In 1895, a second, eleven hole course was built in Waverly, which was used until 1898, when the club's lease expired. The course then moved to Botany, Sydney. It was this course that hosted the 1901 Australian Amateur Championship, and the first Australian Open in 1904.

Present day course
The present day location of the course was inspected in 1903, while a year later plans were put forward for the new course by Carnegie Clark, Jock Hutchison and Gilbert Martin. In 1926 Alister McKenzie, designer of courses such as Royal Melbourne Golf Club and Augusta National Golf Club was asked to update holes on the course. Due to the popularity of the course, members approved a new layout in 1949 which supplied the club with two starting holes. In 1967 the proposal of a new road threatened the land on which the course was laid out on. As a result, a redesign by Sloane Morpeth was needed, which was completed in 1973. Between 1977 and 1980 Jack Nicklaus made significant alterations to the course, which included adding length and water hazards, which transformed the course into what it is today.

Course scorecard
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Tournaments
The Australian Golf Club has held 16 Australian Opens, and is due to hold another from the 13–16 December 2007. The various winners of Australian Opens at The Australian are as follows: The Australian has also hosted 12 Australian Amateur Championships, the first in 1901, and the most recent in 1999.