Peninsula Kingswood is the first club of its kind in Australia. Created through the merger of two established clubs – Peninsula and Kingswood – each a century old, the new Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club is a super-club on par with the world’s best. In 2014, Peninsula Kingswood’s two courses – North and South – underwent an upgrade by Australian golf architecture firm Ogilvy Clayton Cocking Mead (OCCM), unlike any seen in Australia.
The aim, to realise the potential of the site by creating a true Sandbelt experience, both in design and conditioning. While the intention was never to create two distinctly different designs, the nature of the North Course suggested that the site would always feel a little different to the South. The North, playing over sandier and more undulating ground (with perhaps the best examples of heathland vegetation of any ground), was always intended to be a pure Sandbelt experience. Firm and fast, with tilted greens, expansive bunkers, wide fairways and roughs, the North course features that distinctive combination of sand, native grasses and heathland vegetation that the region is known for.
Since the original Peninsula facility was developed into a 36-hole facility in the late 1960s, the South course has always been regarded as the longer, more difficult test of golf. Built over flatter ground than the North, the new design truly captures its sandbelt origins. Bunkering and green design have been reworked, placing a premium on positioning from the tee. Perhaps the most unique characteristic of the new design has been opening up the original creek lines, forming a key part of the design on at least half a dozen holes.