Gary Lisbon talks about his forthcoming book, which he says covers “one of the finest concentrations of golf courses anywhere in the world”
By Gary Lisbon |
The Melbourne Sandbelt has been part of my life for more than 25 years, and it still surprises me.
I have long wanted to show these courses the way the members understand them – not only through photographs, but through their own words and the history behind each club.
In late-August 2026, Great Golf on the Melbourne Sandbelt, will be published. It is a large-format book that brings together the eight clubs and ten courses of the Melbourne Sandbelt, the strip of sandy soil 35 minutes from the centre of the city that is home to one of the finest concentrations of golf courses anywhere in the world.
Across 112 pages and 220 images, the book covers The Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Kingston Heath Golf Club, The Victoria Golf Club, Metropolitan Golf Club, Yarra Yarra Golf Club, Commonwealth Golf Club, Huntingdale Golf Club and Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club. Rather than a conventional guide, it is a portrait of the region assembled by the people who know it best. In addition to my photography, there are member-written essays, clubhouse renderings detailed course maps by illustrator Daniel Hille, and a foreword by sandbelt local and US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy.
Metropolitan is one of eight Melbourne Sandbelt clubs that have a dedicated chapter (Image: Gary Lisbon)
Three years I published a book called Great Golf Courses of the World, which showcased great courses around the world (100 courses, 20 countries) and I was keen to do a second volume… and I am still working towards that. However, in April this year – yes only a few months ago – I was reflecting on all the great golf around the world and how I live in the middle of arguably one of the best golf regions on the planet.
I have played and photographed each of the Melbourne Sandbelt courses over the last 20 years and seen their evolution. What I had noticed was that, particularly over the last five to seven years, each of the eight sandbelt clubs have embarked on major work to enhance their courses and in many cases return them to the way the original architects envisaged them. I felt it was important to chronicle this through current photos and informative essays hence the reason for the book.
Almost every photo that is included in the new book has been taken within the last six months (Image: Gary Lisbon)
The basis of the book centres around the eight ‘official’ clubs in the Melbourne Sandbelt collective. So, the primary focus of the book is to showcase these clubs. I felt it was also important to have information on other courses in the Victorian landscape that should be visited if golfers have the time and entitled this section ‘Beyond the Eight’.
Another key part of the book is to honour the people who were instrumental in the formation and ongoing continuation of the courses. I entitled this section ‘Visionaries, Stewards & Custodians’ and it recognises the work of the original architects, the current consulting architects (or stewards) and finally the custodians, the superintendents without whom the courses would fall apart. A profile and photo of each, I felt, was a nice inclusion to honour their work. The book is intended to be a localised exposé of the Melbourne and Victorian golfing scene with the Melbourne Sandbelt being front and centre.
Lisbon’s book features 220 images across its 112 pages (Image: Gary Lisbon)
What is the one thing I want readers to take away from this book? How good the Melbourne Sandbelt is as a golfing region in world golf. The Melbourne Sandbelt, in my eyes, is the finest concentration of world class golf in a single region anywhere in the world.
I want readers to see that the region boasts a minimum of 10 courses with at least another 15 worthy additions within 90 minutes. It is, quite simply, world class and accessible golf on Melbourne’s doorstep.
The book closes with an ideal sandbelt composite course – 18 holes drawn from the very best the region has to offer. Readers are invited to build and share their own composite 18 at sandbeltcomposite.com, an online companion that lets golfers assemble a dream round from across courses of the Melbourne Sandbelt.
The chapter ‘Visionaries, Stewards & Custodians’ recognises the work of the original designers as well as the current consulting architects and superintendents (Image: Gary Lisbon)
Lisbon says the ‘Beyond the Eight’ chapter highlights golf courses “in the Victorian landscape that should be visited” (Image: Gary Lisbon)
I love this kind of stuff! Making up a fictitious course from different components. There are 180 holes of to choose from so I thought why not get people to choose their favourites – the simple caveat being that the hole number selected must play as that hole on the original course.
In constructing my ideal composite course, I wanted to ensure holes from each of the 10 courses were included and that no single course dominated. The former was easily achieved; however, I could be accused by some that Royal Melbourne got a greater share of holes than maybe it should (seven holes over East and West… and it could have been more). Whilst I did want a cross section of hole lengths and pars, I was not constrained by this. In fact, my ideal composite course had a par 69 and a length of under 6,000 metres.
To order Great Golf on the Melbourne Sandbelt, visit greatgolfbooks.com