The Royal Sydney Golf Club

Two men from radio station 2UW stand on a fairway at Rose Bay holding a walkie-talkie. Live outside-broadcast coverage of sport was new, the equipment made it visibly so, and the photograph catches the moment following a golf tournament stopped being something you had to be there for.

The club around them was founded in 1893, took its Royal prefix from Queen Victoria in 1897, and moved to this sandy ground above the harbour in 1903. The coastal wind and the links-style layout have been testing Australian Open fields ever since — the Open has been played here fifteen times between 1906 and 2016.

Look for the clubhouse during a championship in 1946, golfers comparing scorecards, play watched from the edge of a fairway. These are club photographs in the best sense, more interested in the people standing about than in the golf — which is what makes them worth hanging.

7 works
Two golfers comparing scorecards, Royal Sydney Golf Club — photograph, from Royal Sydney Golf Club, circa 1938
photograph·1938·Rose Bay

Two golfers comparing scorecards, Royal Sydney Golf Club

Golf, Royal Sydney ClubSam Hood
Two golfers at the Royal Sydney Golf Club, 1938 — photograph, from Royal Sydney Golf Club, circa 1938
photograph·1938·Rose Bay

Two golfers at the Royal Sydney Golf Club, 1938

Golf, Royal Sydney ClubSam Hood
Group portrait at Royal Sydney Golf Club, 1946 — photograph, from Royal Sydney Golf Club, circa 1946
photograph·1946·Rose Bay

Group portrait at Royal Sydney Golf Club, 1946

Golf championship, Royal SydneySam Hood
Royal Sydney Golf Club clubhouse during the 1946 championship — photograph, from Royal Sydney Golf Club, circa 1946
photograph·1946·Rose Bay

Royal Sydney Golf Club clubhouse during the 1946 championship

Golf championship, Royal SydneySam Hood
Golfers comparing scorecards, Royal Sydney Golf Club — photograph, from Royal Sydney Golf Club, circa 1938
photograph·1938·Rose Bay

Golfers comparing scorecards, Royal Sydney Golf Club

Golf, Royal Sydney ClubSam Hood
Royal Sydney Golf Club clubhouse during a golf championship, 1946 — photograph, from Royal Sydney Golf Club, circa 1946
photograph·1946·Rose Bay

Royal Sydney Golf Club clubhouse during a golf championship, 1946

Golf championship, Royal SydneySam Hood
2UW radio men with a walkie-talkie at Royal Sydney Golf Club — photograph, from Royal Sydney Golf Club, circa 1946
photograph·1946·Rose Bay

2UW radio men with a walkie-talkie at Royal Sydney Golf Club

Golf, Royal SydneySam Hood