Located just a few kilometers from the Sydney CBD and close to the International Airport, Bonnie Doon Golf Club is one of Australia's most influential golf clubs. This private club began with an assembly of golfing devotees at the home of Dr. Charles Adam Patrick in 1897. Now, more than a century later, it is a club with a host of traditions, the third oldest in Sydney, and rare in that it has existed at three different sites.

Under its original name of Marrickville Golf Club, members played on a 12-hole course amid what were then the estates and grand homes that dotted the hills of Tempe. One of these was the notorious 'cliff hole', which required a lofted iron shot to carry up the rocky face of a 15-meter cliff.

The club moved to a new site at Arncliffe in 1907, also prompting a change in name. Bonnie Doon was the title of the grazing property the club purchased - land included in Captain James Cook's original charter of Botany Bay - and that was the name chosen by a majority of members.

Following World War II, expansion plans for the Mascot aerodrome included land occupied by 13 of Bonnie Doon's 18-holes. Members again picked up their clubs, this time moving to the present site at Pagewood. Taking over the much younger New Metropolitan Golf Club in 1947, Bonnie Doon's members now played on a pure links-style course of wide fairways and natural hazards, carved out of sandy heath and banksia scrub. In the years since the nature of the course has changed, the membership has expanded, and the facilities have been developed to bring the club up to Group One standard.

The current par 71 design at Bonnie Doon, created by Michael Cocking of the golf architecture firm Ogilvy, Clayton, Cocking, and Mead looks to mimic the work of nature, with a mixture of irregular undulations, wispy roughs, and rugged bunker lips that appear to have been formed from years of wind and rain. Along with the 5,909-metre long walk or cart layout, there is an abundance of undulating sandy ground along with some marvelous vegetation and both these aspects encourage the feeling of playing a very natural golf course.

For use by members and their guests the practice facilities at Bonnie Doon are some of the best in Sydney and include a full-length driving range and large short game facility with a 65-meter long green complex surrounded by five bunkers. The grand heritage-listed clubhouse offers members a Pro shop along with excellent bar and dining choices. The club is also able to host private and corporate events in its multiple function spaces.

Course Architect: Ogilvy, Clayton, Cocking, and Mead.