Melbourne hits hole-in-one with Presidents Cup

Melbourne hits hole-in-one with Presidents Cup

Tourism Victoria 18 June 2010

The world's best golfers will descend on Melbourne next year when the city hosts the Presidents Cup 2011 at the renowned Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

Running from November 14 to 20, the Presidents Cup 2011 will reunite golf legends Fred Couples and Greg Norman, who competed against each other at Royal Melbourne at the same tournament in 1998, and will again shine a light on Victoria's world-class golfing opportunities.

No other city on earth boasts as many Top 100 courses that visitors can play as Melbourne, and the city's famous "Sandbelt" offers the game's rarest topography - sandy parkland that consistently produces some of the world's finest golf terrain.

Royal Melbourne has two courses, both ranked in the Top 100, and the West course, designed by Alister MacKenzie, is regarded as the 7th best course in the world - a golf pilgrimage destination if ever there was one.

Royal Melbourne is the pinnacle of what is undoubtedly the world's best "golf neighbourhood", the so-called Sandbelt region south of the city that contains eight great courses laid out one after the other in close proximity. These include Kingston Heath (number 27 in the Top 100), Victoria, Metropolitan, Commonwealth, Huntingdale, Yarra Yarra and Peninsula.

Regional Victoria is also well endowed with golfing facilities, with the Yarra Valley, and Mornington and Bellarine peninsulas offering fantastic opportunities for a game, often with beautiful rural or seaside vistas.

The unique coastal links terrain and massive dunes of the Mornington Peninsula are a boon to golf architects and this fast-growing area now has more than 15 courses within 30 minutes of each other. These include the highly acclaimed Moonah Links, the National, the Dunes and Cape Schanck.

The Yarra Valley, just a 45 minute drive from Melbourne's city centre, boasts one of only two Jack Nicklaus designed courses in Australia, at the Heritage Country Club, and the Bellarine Peninsula, near the start of the Great Ocean Road, also has several excellent courses, including Barwon Heads, Thirteenth Beach and The Sands.

What sets Victoria apart from most other major golfing destinations is the accessibility and proximity of other world-class attractions that make for a well-rounded holiday. Melbourne is a cosmopolitan, multicultural city of four million people that has thousands of restaurants, a thriving arts and culture scene, a plethora of events and sporting activities and accommodation across all budgets.

The Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula also don't just offer golf - they are well-regarded wine regions with dozens of cellar doors open for tastings, gourmet produce cafes open for lunch and dinner and day spas available for some well-deserved post-game pampering.

While many of the world's most prestigious courses shut their doors to non-members, Melbourne's private clubs all welcome international golfers, with very few restrictions other than handicap or home club requirements. To make a visit even easier, local golf tour operators can provide access to these clubs as well as look after all accommodation and transfer details.

For more information on golf in Victoria see www.visitmelbourne.com/golf

For media enquiries contact Amy Skelding, Lucy Pennington, Debbie Hindle askelding@bgb.co.uk / lpennington@bgb.co.uk / dhindle@bgb.co.uk 0207 902 2990

Corporate website: www.tourismvictoria.com.au
Consumer website: www.visitmelbourne.com/uk

 

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