Kooyonga Golf Club

About the club

The historic Kooyonga Golf Club near Adelaide was established in 1923 after a railway strike forced course architect Herbert Rymill to go by car to Henley Beach, where discovered some land for sale. On this stark piece of ground right at sea level the first eighteen holes were set out, and many architects have contributed to its improvement, the last few being Mike Wolveridge, Jack Newton and the team of Graeme Grant and John Spencer. The Kooyonga is a real test, with tree-lined fairways that are reasonable but not wide that lead to carefully defended greens rendered formidable by the speed and topography. After Peter Thomson was crowned the 1972 Australian Open Champion here, he declared that the course "needs to be played with the head as much as the hands." Five Australian Opens and three Australian Amateur Championships later, the club has earned the admiration of the leading lights in golf.