The Grange Golf Club

Paired Wine:

The Grange Golf Club is one of Australia’s premier sporting venues. It has two internationally-rated 18-hole championship golf courses, both ranked in the top 50 golf courses in Australia.

The Club has hosted a number of major tournaments including the West Lakes Classic won by Greg Norman and Wayne Grady, the prestigious World Amateur Teams Championships in 2008 comprising the Eisenhower Trophy for Men and the Espirito Santo Trophy for Ladies, the Australian Amateur Championships, Australian Junior Amateur Championships and most recently, the 2016 ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open, and will again host this international event in 2019.

The West Course was redesigned and reconstructed by Michael Clayton Golf Design with the redevelopment completed in 2007.  The East Course has recently been reconstructed by Greg Norman Golf Course Design. The project was completed in 2012 and has produced a championship layout that will challenge and reward players of all skills. The new East course is receiving glowing reports from both members and visitors and is set to be recognised as one of Australia’s leading golf courses.

In addition to the redesigned golf courses, The Grange has a multi-award winning function centre offering flexible function rooms that can cater for any occasion. A private balcony overlooks the spectacular views of the golf course.  The Grange has also recently become the first private members golf club in Australia to add a five-star Gymnasium to its facilities.

East Course

The Greg Norman designed East Course is a strategic design. It’s routed over land that occupies slightly flatter ground on the front 9, transitioning into some of the best golfing land on the property on the back 9. It plays through corridors of remnant native vegetation featuring over 100 native plant species including Collitris pines, golden wattles, boobialla and hop bush – one of only a handful of locations in the Adelaide region where remnants of pre-European settlement vegetation can be found.

Many tee shots ask players to make a decision on the line they wish to take, as challenging bunkers and native areas off the tee will offer the premium line into greens that are set seamlessly into surrounding undulations and highlighted by a swales ready to challenge anything but the most accurate approach shots played to the correct portion of the greens.

Greens complexes include classic design elements such as ‘biarritz’ and ‘redan’ greens and large false fronts that heavily protect front pins. A highlight of the course is the short 15th, a gem of a Par 3 with an ‘hour glass’ shaped green that fits perfectly into its natural surroundings and provides challenging shots for even the most skilled short iron players. The 14th green with its prominent spine and ‘punch bowl’ feature sets apart the right pin from all others.

West Course

The Ogilvy Clayton designed West Course is laid out upon what is excellent golfing country, with a routing that has that intangible ‘feel’ of a wonderful place to play golf punctuated by wide corridors perfectly suited for strategic golf holes. This feel is further highlighted by the quality of the vegetation throughout the course, with Collitris and Monterey Pines and expansive native grass areas adding to the feel of the roughs and expansive sandy wastes.

The West Course has an interesting set of green complexes that encourage players to not only be more accurate with their irons, but pick the best half of the fairway to approach from, which is a vital part of any great golf course. The bunkering is not only organised to simply catch poor shots but also the slightly misplayed good shot. The undulation of the surrounding ground present many interesting and stimulating options with the short shots around the greens.