Ringwood Golf

Ringwood Golf is one of two public courses owned and operated by Maroondah City Council in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, the other being Dorset Golf a few minutes away.

It is municipal golf of the sort that made Melbourne a golfing city: a course anyone can book, on council land, with a shop on site and a club attached for those who want competition. The Sandbelt gets the attention and the visitors; courses like this one get the beginners, the juniors and the twilight nine after work, and they are the reason the city has as many golfers as it does.

What it asks of you

Eighteen holes across undulating suburban ground with mature trees, which makes it more interesting to walk than most flat public layouts and harder work in the second half than the first.

The fairways are wide and the bunkering is used sparingly, which is the right decision for a course whose main job is to be playable by everybody. There are enough good holes to hold a competent player’s attention and not enough trouble to ruin a beginner’s afternoon.

It is not a championship test and does not present itself as one. What it is, by common consent, is one of the better-kept public courses in Melbourne.

What players say about it

This is a public course with a large review record. The notes below summarise recurring themes across specialist golf sites, traveller review pages and player discussion threads. They are other people’s opinions, not ours: we have not played the course. We report what comes back repeatedly rather than isolated remarks, and we do not name or quote individual reviewers.

What comes up in its favour

• Conditioning is the strongest theme. Reviewers describe the fairways as lush and the greens as smooth, and note that the standard holds up through the wet Melbourne winter.
• Value is consistently praised, and the council leisure membership that bundles two courses with pools and gyms comes up as remarkable value for regular players.
• The layout is judged fun and fair, suitable for a beginner and still interesting for a regular.
• The pro shop, the café and the staff are all well reviewed, which is not universal at council courses.

What comes up against

• Unrepaired pitch marks on the greens are a recurring complaint, which is the usual cost of open public access.
• Busy weekends produce slow rounds, and reviewers say so plainly.
• The undulating back half is a real walk for anyone not expecting it.
• It will not hold the attention of a low handicapper looking for a test.

Getting there and when to go

Ringwood is around thirty minutes east of central Melbourne, with Ringwood station on the Lilydale and Belgrave lines nearby and the Eastern Freeway a few minutes away.

The course plays all year, and its reputation for staying playable through the wet months is part of why locals use it. Spring and autumn are the best of it. Booking goes through Maroondah Leisure, and weekday mornings are the way to avoid the slow rounds.

Green fees

Rates and tee times are handled by the council leisure service at public levels, with membership options that cover both council courses. See the course’s own site.

How this page was made

The factual frame comes from public sources: OpenStreetMap for the location, the council’s own published information for the course and its operation, and that site for access and booking. The opinion section summarises public reviews and player discussions read in September 2026; we report recurring themes rather than individual voices, and we do not reproduce or attribute quotes.

We have not played this course, and nothing here is a substitute for that. The council has not paid for this page, has not seen it before publication and has no say in what it says. If you know the course and something here is wrong or out of date, write to us and we will correct it.