The Australian Golf Club at Rosebery is the oldest golf club in New South Wales and the second-oldest in Australia. Founded in 1882 and at its current Rosebery site since 1904, the club has hosted more Australian Opens than any other venue.
The golfing history at Rosebery spans three architectural eras. The original 1904 routing by Carnegie Clark was extensively reshaped by Alister MacKenzie during MacKenzie’s 1926 Australian tour, which also produced the original Royal Melbourne West design. MacKenzie’s 1926 routing at The Australian was the basis for the next half-century of championship play at the venue. Jack Nicklaus then performed a full redesign in 1977, converting MacKenzie’s strategic routing into a longer, more aerial-driven layout that hosted Greg Norman’s first Australian Open win in 1980.
The 2013 Kyle Phillips restoration was commissioned by the club to restore the MacKenzie footprint while retaining the Nicklaus elements that had become integral to the course’s tournament identity. Phillips, the Californian architect best known for Kingsbarns in Scotland, kept the Nicklaus routing intact but rebuilt every bunker on the property toward the MacKenzie 1926 wide-mouthed style. Greens were resurfaced with the Champion Bermuda strain to handle the Sydney summer heat. The cumulative effect was a course that plays as a Nicklaus skeleton with MacKenzie’s bunker DNA.
Adam Scott has been an Australian Golf Club affiliate since 2005 and hosts the Australian Open at the club in most years it cycles back to Sydney. Rory McIlroy won the 2014 Australian Open at The Australian with a final-round 66, the only edition of the Australian Open he has played to date. Jordan Spieth won the 2014 Australian Open in 2014 alongside McIlroy’s runner-up finish (the official record shows Spieth -13, McIlroy -10).
The finishing par-4 17th — 444 metres uphill, dogleg left over a creek to a Phillips-rebuilt green with a severe back-to-front tilt — is the consensus signature hole and the toughest finishing par-4 on the Australian Open rota.
The Australian is a private member club with approximately 1,200 members. A waiting list operates for full membership. Visitor green-fee access is available to overseas guests through Visit-NSW reciprocal arrangements with International R&A clubs.