Fairways to the Future: Civiltest & Royal Sydney’s Championship Golf Course Redesign
Royal Sydney Golf Club is undergoing a stunning transformation. It will update its century-old Championship Golf Course with a fresh, innovative design, which will be completed by early 2025. Acclaimed architect Gil Hanse has reimagined the 18-hole course to reflect its original coastal heathland charm and incorporate more native landscaping. Civiltest is also at the heart of this exciting renovation.
Why the Change?
Unfortunately, due to a lack of design vision, dense tree congestion has restricted sunlight and airflow over the past 100 years, inhibiting undergrowth and wildlife habitats. The course also faced issues with biodiversity, failing drainage and irrigation systems, poor sand quality, and safety concerns. These problems resulted in grass diseases and significant tree losses, with over 300 trees lost in the past five years alone. So, it was time to give the course a little love.
The Civiltest Touch
Civiltest Sports Lab has been instrumental in analysing materials for the construction of perfect golf greens. Darren Ashdown, Sports Field Laboratory Manager at Civiltest, said, “Through extensive collaboration with John Neylan (Senior agronomist at Sporteng) and Adam Marchant (Course Superintendent at Royal Sydney G.C), our team in the sports lab helped ensure the use of a bunker sand that’s perfect for golfing enthusiasts.”
Testing included the greens, sand and the drainage aggregate as these three components work together to ensure bunkers and greens perform exactly how Civiltest intended them to.
More Than Just Greens and Bunkers
What’s impressive about the revamp is that it isn’t just about golf; it’s a green revolution. The course will boast 2187 new trees and 500,000 native plants, transforming it into a haven for local wildlife—and one of the most important sanctuaries in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs.
Fourteen hectares will be converted into heathland, creating a rich, biodiverse landscape low on maintenance but high on beauty.
As the Royal Sydney Golf Club gets ready to reveal its revamped Championship Course, the work of Civiltest and its partners highlights a perfect balance of tradition and innovation. With a dedicated team of 50-60 professionals, including earthworks contractors, RSGC staff, architects, specialist golf course shapers and irrigation experts, this multimillion-dollar project is set to be a game-changer.