Golf Australia

AUSTRALIA’S LOST COURSES

SYDNEY, NSW

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The Dan Soutar-designed Mosman GC, on Sydney Harbour.

Carnoustie born and bred, Dan Soutar, sailed into Sydney in late 1902 on the promise of work as a cabinet maker in a department store. He would, however, end up becoming one of Australian golf’s most important figures through the first three decades of the 20th century.

He was a fine player, winning the Australian Open, Amateur and multiple PGA championsh­ips, after turning profession­al in 1905. He was also instrument­al in the formation of the PGA of Australia. As a club profession­al at Sydney’s Manly Golf Club he taught the likes of future champions Jim Ferrier and Ossie Pickworth.

But it was his work as a course architect, especially during the 1920s, that led to much acclaim. His most celebrated work was at Melbourne’s Kingston Heath, which he laid out before Alister MacKenzie provided the bunkering plan. In Sydney, he created the original layouts for Concord, Pymble and Elanora as well as several nine-hole layouts, which have long since departed the golfing landscape. Mosman Golf Club is one such course. Little is known about the Mosman layout, which occupied a spectacula­r stretch of land on Middle Head, affording players panoramic harbour views. There is little doubt with its pedigree as a Soutar design combined with its location, today it would be considered among the finest nine-hole courses in the country.

Sadly though, the course only survived for 16 years after opening for play in April 1924. Having acquired a lease on the land from the Department of Defence for 21 years, the club built the layout in less than 12 months at a cost of 2,000 pounds.

Soutar, writing in Sydney’s The Sun newspaper during constructi­on, said: “The course, although on the short side, is most picturesqu­ely situated on the military reserve at Middle Head, and will provide a fine test for the game. Nine sporting holes have been laid out, two of them being in the vicinity of 500 yards in length, thereby giving he long hitters an opportunit­y to open their shoulders, while short holes will compare for ‘sportiness’ with anything around Sydney.

“From many of the tees and greens some of the finest views of Sydney Harbour are to be obtained.”

On July 4, 1940, with the escalation of Australia’s involvemen­t in World War II, the Department of Defence gave the club four days’ notice to vacate the property as they looked to expand the military presence on Middle Head with a Navy depot and training facilities.

Today, Middle Head is primarily a national park with some playing fields, military fortificat­ions and buildings. And buried beneath the thick bushland that abounds is Soutar’s nine-hole gem.

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