Melbourne Sandbelt

Location

The Melbourne Sandbelt is a rough triangle extending from Brighton south along the coast of Port Phillip Bay to Frankston and to the east as far as Heatherton, Clayton and Oakleigh.

Geology

Much of Melbourne’s eastern suburbs are covered by heavy clay subsoil. Around 20 million years ago, lower lying areas were flooded, which deposited sandstone material, now known as the Brighton Group. The Sandbelt suburbs are built on remnant sand dunes from this time. The sand can reach a depth of 80 metres in some places. Further east and north, the clay remains, and this region is sometimes referred to as the Clay Belt by contrast to the Sandbelt.

Sand mining

Sand mining has been conducted in the Sandbelt region since the 1880s. Several former sand mining sites have been used for landfill waste disposal once mining ceased.

Golf courses

Sandy soil is particularly suitable for golf courses. It is easy to place bunkers wherever a course designer chooses, without the need to carry in sand from another location, and it is easy to ensure appropriate drainage. A feature of several Melbourne Sandbelt courses is that bunkers are cut right on the edge of a green, which is not possible in other courses with different soil types.

There are several major championship courses in the Melbourne Sandbelt which are regularly listed among the world's best. Notable courses include Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Victoria Golf Club, Kingston Heath Golf Club, Huntingdale Golf Club, and Metropolitan Golf Club. For example, Royal Melbourne is in the top 10 on the Top 100 Golf Courses of the World web site, and Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath both feature in the Golf Digest top 20 courses in the world.

Major championship courses

Private courses

Public courses