The venerable Brisbane club received a complete makeover during the mid-‘noughties’ when the duplication of the city’s Gateway Bridge required the acquisition of a portion of Royal Queensland’s property. Mike Clayton re-routed the course and, in the process, re-examined every facet of the previous Carnegie Clark-designed layout. The upshot was one of the most dramatic facelifts in Australian golf.
On a flat, largely featureless site, Clayton gave the club’s membership a golf course they could enjoy in varying ways every day. The spacious fairways ask players to choose a side to approach from, fulfilling Clayton’s ethos that driving in golf should be more like tennis groundstrokes in that players need to challenge the sidelines rather than aim for the safety of the court’s centre. And the rippled greens in most instances demand play from a particular angle in order to feed the ball close. A switch of wind or pin position from day to day often asks a completely different question of the golfer on each hole. Today, Royal Queensland’s in-built changeability is its greatest strength.
THE DETAILS
Ranking in 2022: 29th
Prior rankings: 35th (2020), 33rd (2018), 24th (2016), 27th (2014), 29th (2012), 30th (2010), 57th (2008), 60th (2006), 50th (2004), 62nd (2002), 63rd (2000), 35th (1998), 35th (1996), 33rd (1994), 23rd (1991), 18th (1989), Second Ten (1986)
Where: Curtin Ave West, Eagle Farm QLD 4009
Phone: (07) 3633 6500
Web: rqgolf.com.au