The Links Kennedy Bay

Few courses in Australia announce themselves quite so dramatically. The Links Kennedy Bay occupies a stretch of coastline on the Rockingham shore, about 45 minutes south of Perth's CBD, where the Indian Ocean defines the entire western boundary of the property. The design channels the linksland tradition — firm, fast-running turf, prevailing winds off the water that can render any hole completely different from one round to the next, and a routing that asks golfers to work the ball rather than simply overpower the layout. It opened in the mid-2010s and quickly earned recognition as one of Western Australia's more serious new additions to the game.

The Rockingham and Port Kennedy area sits within the broader Peel coastal corridor, where limestone formations, coastal scrub, and wide open skies give the land a genuinely rugged character. That raw quality translates directly onto the course — this isn't manicured parkland golf, and it doesn't pretend to be.

Kennedy Bay suits golfers who want a genuine encounter with the elements. The sea breezes are reliable enough to treat as a fifth club in the bag, and the layout rewards creativity and course management over brute force.