Blackheath Golf Course

Few golf clubs on earth can match the setting Blackheath occupies: perched on the ridge of the Blue Mountains, roughly 100 kilometres west of Sydney, the course sits at an elevation where the air is noticeably cooler, the light sharper, and the eucalyptus-scented atmosphere utterly unlike anything you'd find on the coast. The Blue Mountains themselves — a UNESCO World Heritage landscape of sandstone escarpments, deep gorges, and ancient bushland — form the dramatic backdrop, and on certain holes that wilderness presses right to the edge of play.

The club has a history stretching back to the late 19th century, making it one of the older country clubs in New South Wales, a reflection of the fact that Blackheath was a fashionable escape for Sydneysiders long before the motorway made the mountains accessible. The layout works with the undulating plateau terrain rather than against it, rewarding course management over raw power.

For visitors, this is mountain golf in the truest Australian sense — unhurried, scenically generous, and a genuine detour worth building a Blue Mountains trip around.