Part of the rising fascination with Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula can be attributed to the ambitious yet impressive overhaul of the course now known as Lonsdale Links. When the design firm of Ogilvy Cocking Mead (OCM) embarked on the redesign of the old Lonsdale Golf Club, they took a gamble that paid off. The course today represents a complete transformation from the previous incarnation. The prior version was a neat and tidy layout in a nice location but with few truly remarkable design features. In renovating the course, OCM decided to adapt some of the most revered architectural features from elsewhere in the world of golf and congregate them on the Bellarine. The result was like uncovering a buried treasure.

If you happen to be a scholar of golf-course architecture, many of the design traits scattered across the 18 holes will be familiar. When OCM began its redesign, they saw an opportunity to incorporate some of revered architect C.B. Macdonald’s ‘template’ designs into the new-look Lonsdale course. As such, there’s an homage to several holes and features from famous courses in the northern hemisphere. There’s a reverse version of the famous Redan hole at North Berwick in Scotland, a take on the Alps hole at the National Golf Links of America and the Road hole at St Andrews, plus Biarritz and Punchbowl greens. The short 12th hole features a broad green with a distinct ‘Thumbprint’ in the centre and a steep drop-off on each side.

Homage is a welcome trend in golf-course architecture. Template holes are not ‘plagiarism’, because you can never truly recreate the ground or conditions of the original. At Lonsdale, OCM took tried-and-tested design concepts and paid tribute to them, using their own interpretations.

The results are excellent. With different pin positions and a site peppered by varying winds, it’s a golf course that wears subtly different attire every day.   

Lonsdale Links

Ranking for 2024-2025: 36th
Prior rankings: 37th (2022). Also: 75th (1989), Seventh Ten (1986)
Where: Clubhouse Drive, Point Lonsdale VIC 3225
Phone: (03) 5258 1955
Web: lonsdalelinks.com.au