The National, Moonah Course

The verdict

The Moonah is the muscular, modern heart of The National Golf Club, the largest members club in Australia and one of the great golf estates of the Mornington Peninsula. Greg Norman, working with his longtime design partner Bob Harrison, routed it across a heaving stretch of Cape Schanck dune land and opened it late in 2000 alongside its sibling, the Ocean Course. Firm, sandy and exposed to the wind off Bass Strait, it is big course golf in the truest sense, a par 72 of about 6,576 yards that asks for length, nerve and a good imagination around the greens.

What sets it apart is the land. The fairways spill and tumble through native moonah trees and shaggy dune grasses, the bunkering is bold and rugged, and the greens sit cleverly in the folds of the hills. It is a tougher, more demanding test than many of the Peninsula's gentler layouts, and it rewards the player who can flight the ball and control the run. Access is for members and their guests, with limited visitor windows, so a round here needs planning, but for a strong golfer it is one of the standout modern rounds on a Melbourne and Peninsula trip.

The holes worth the trip

The Moonah plays bigger than its yardage suggests, because the wind off the strait and the heaving ground rarely give you a flat lie or a still day. Norman and Harrison set the fairways wide enough to swing freely, then defended the greens with deep, sandy bunkering and false fronts that punish the loose approach. The opening stretch eases you in across the high dunes before the course bares its teeth.

The par 3s are a highlight, played across and along the dune ridges to greens that fall away on every side, demanding a committed, well flighted iron. The longer par 4s into the prevailing breeze are the sternest examination, where two well struck shots are needed just to find the surface, while the reachable par 5s tempt the bold with eagle chances guarded by trouble.

Through the closing holes the land rises and falls toward the clubhouse on the ridge, the moonah trees framing the line and the greens asking for precise pace. The Moonah rewards the player who plots a route, controls trajectory and trusts the ground game, and it gives back some of the most exhilarating modern dunes golf in the country.

Where to stay nearby

Most golfers exploring the Mornington Peninsula base themselves around Rye, Sorrento or Flinders, the seaside villages strung along the southern coast within easy reach of Cape Schanck and the cluster of great courses at the tip. It is wine country as well as golf country, so a Peninsula stay pairs the rounds with cellar doors, fresh seafood and the hot springs, ideal for a mixed group or a couples trip built around the golf.

For a pure golf week, many visitors combine a Peninsula base with a few nights in Melbourne to add the Sandbelt classics, an hour or so to the north. The Moonah sits naturally on an itinerary with the Old and Ocean courses at The National, the neighbouring St Andrews Beach and the links at Cape Wickham further afield.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near Cape Schanck and the Mornington Peninsula.