Flinders Golf Club is NOT the oldest golf club in Victoria, but it is the oldest golf club in Victoria remaining at its original site.
Set on a dramatic piece of Mornington Peninsula coastline where Western Port meets Bass Strait, Flinders is a quaint 18-hole course with some wonderful ocean views and has been there since the Club's inception in 1903.
Don't think for a second that Flinders is a brutal examination of one's golf game - it's a wonderful par-69 with plenty of short and medium length par-fours (and two par-fives) and it's a good choice for golfers without much experience playing 18-hole courses.
But there is one particular hole that will strike fear into golfers' hearts - the aptly named fourth hole, Coffin (see the photo at the top of the article which features the fourth green in the centre of the frame).
The hole is only 272 metres from the back tee and gets its name from the two deep coffin-like ravines - one midway along the hole which most seasoned golfers can drive over and the other right in front of the green.
The par-five fifth - Beach Hole - is another scenic hole and can be seen as the opening shot in the YouTube video below.
Flinders is situated next to an old Naval gunnery and a quick glance at the Club's history on Flinders' website tells the story of how dramatic the original course was with several holes playing very close to and across clifftops.
The clifftop holes were changed at the request of revered golf course architect Dr Alister MacKenzie who came to Flinders in 1926 during his famous visit to Victoria in which he designed the West Course at Royal Melbourne.
At the time of MacKenzie's visit, the area of the course which is today home to the Coffin hole had a par-3 and the Club eventually implemented the Scotsman's recommendation to turn it into a par-four.
