History

Founded in 1891 as the Melbourne Golf Club ('Royal' prefix given in 1895), the founding President was Sir James McBain and the founding Captain was John Munro Bruce (father of later Australian Prime Minister Viscount Stanley Melbourne Bruce).

The club had to give up its original site, much nearer the city centre, because of increasing urbanization. It planned a move to its present location in the mid-1920s. Royal Melbourne's two current courses are known as the 'West' and 'East' courses.^[2] The West course was designed under the strict standards of famous course architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie^[3]. He visited the eventual site, located on the renowned Melbourne Sandbelt, south of the city, in 1926. The actual building of the West course was overseen by the famed Australian golfer Alex Russell, as well as the head greenkeeper Mick Morcom; it was completed for play in 1931, and required much clearing of forested land. The East course was designed by Alex Russell, and was completed in 1932.^[4][5]

 Features

A combination of 18 holes from the East and West courses contained on the main property is known as the 'Composite' course. There have been 21 holes used in the history of the 'Composite' course, from 1959 to 2011, depending on the the event being held.

The East course is the lesser of the courses with fewer quality holes, but is enveloped by the Royal Melbourne aura. The West course has several world class holes but suffers from lack of length due it it being land locked by existing boundaries. During recent restoration of the West course (and East course Composite holes) in preparation for the 2011 Presidents Cup, fairway grasses were changed to restrict the progress of the golf ball, particularly given the lack of length of the par 5 holes.

 from wikipedia