Canonical: https://peninsulainsider.com.au/explore/the-national-golf-club/ Publisher: Peninsula Insider Published: unknown Modified: unknown Format: public main text, generated from the canonical page; imagery and interactive controls omitted. Dates and caveats below retain their page meaning; this format is not a new fact check. [Golf Course]() [Cape Schanck]() 4.5 h # The National Golf Club - Photo · Gary Lisbon, courtesy of Visit Victoria - Photo · Gary Lisbon, courtesy of Visit Victoria - Photo · Gary Lisbon, courtesy of Visit Victoria - Photo · Gary Lisbon, courtesy of Visit Victoria - Photo · Gary Lisbon, courtesy of Visit Victoria - Photo · Gary Lisbon, courtesy of Visit Victoria - Photo · Gary Lisbon, courtesy of Visit Victoria - Photo · Gary Lisbon, courtesy of Visit Victoria - Photo · Gary Lisbon, courtesy of Visit Victoria 1 of 9 1 / 9 A golfer chips toward the green at The National Golf Club as a partner watches, with a large bunker and the sea beyond The National Golf Club, Cape Schanck, Mornington Peninsula. Photo · Gary Lisbon, courtesy of Visit Victoria The National is the Peninsula's most ambitious golf property - four championship courses across two sites. Three sit on one sweeping Cape Schanck plateau: the Old (Robert Trent Jones Jr), the Moonah (Peter Thomson), and the Gunnamatta (Greg Norman). The fourth, the Long Island course, sits 50 minutes north at Frankston. Together they form arguably the strongest four-course private golf address in Australia. The caveat is access. The National is a private members' club. Non-member play is possible through reciprocal rights, corporate days, and occasional open days - but it is not a walk-up booking in the way St Andrews Beach or Moonah Links are. For Peninsula Insider readers, that changes the editorial framing. The National matters as context - Peninsula golf would be less serious without it - but it is not the course to build a visitor's weekend around unless you have a member connection. If you do have access, the Moonah is the most architecturally interesting, the Old is the grandest, and the Gunnamatta is the wildest. The views across the Southern Ocean from the clifftop holes are the best on any Australian course. The clubhouse is strong. The conditioning is meticulous. Everything you would expect from one of the country's top private clubs is delivered. Photo · Gary Lisbon, courtesy of Visit Victoria At a glance **Place** [Cape Schanck]() **Type** Golf Course **Timing** 4.5 h **Best in** Autumn · Spring **Access** Foresters Rd, Cape Schanck VIC 3939 **Website** [www.nationalgolf.com.au/]() [Open place hub]() Pair it with a booking ## Where to eat, drink, or stay nearby The best explore pages should lead somewhere next. [See Cape Schanck →]() Restaurant [Cape Schanck]() ### [Barragunda Dining]() 165 Boneo Rd, Cape Schanck VIC 3939 Chef Simone Watts's farm dining room on a 1000-acre regenerative estate at Cape Schanck, one of the Peninsula's most compelling new voices. anniversary long lunch [Read notes]() [Book]() Suite [Cape Schanck]() ### [The Cape Retreat]() 41 Trent Jones Drive, Cape Schanck VIC 3939 Twelve guest suites and shared living spaces at a Cape Schanck retreat with Bass Strait and nearby golf-course outlooks. view wellness [Read notes]() [View stay]() Spa [Cape Schanck]() ### [One Spa at RACV Cape Schanck Resort]() Trent Jones Dr, Cape Schanck VIC 3939 The Peninsula's best resort-style day spa, proper scale, serious treatment menu, and a cliff-edge location that nobody else on the Peninsula can match. wellness slow [Read notes]() [View stay]() Keep going ## More ways to use this side of the Peninsula [Explore more →]() [Attraction]() [Shoreham]() ### [Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens]() Ashcombe Maze holds Australia's oldest symmetrical hedge maze, a circular rose garden, a lavender labyrinth, and a small café that sells lavender everything, ice cream, scones, shortbread, tisane, from a room that smells exactly like the fields outside. The gardens are at their peak in spring when the lavender is up, but the maze works in any season and the café is reason enough in autumn. The place is deliberately low-tempo. You walk the maze, you sit in the lavender, you drink tea, and you leave feeling like you have stumbled into a slightly older, gentler version of the Peninsula. It is a good rainy-afternoon reset and an even better spring morning plan. Pair it with Flinders Sourdough on the way through or Flinders General Store afterwards. Bring the kids. Bring older visitors. Do not try to be cynical about it, the charm wins. [Open the guide →]() [Beach]() [Cape Schanck]() 2 h · Moderate ### [Bushrangers Bay]() Bushrangers Bay is an ocean beach reached through coastal heathland from the eastern carpark at Cape Schanck Lighthouse. Parks Victoria describes this route as a 5.4-kilometre return walk taking about two hours, before extra time for stops. The sandy, narrow, unsealed paths include steep stairs. The dramatic rock formations and Southern Ocean views are the reason to come. This is an unpatrolled beach with unpredictable rips, strong currents, rocky reefs and large waves; Parks Victoria does not recommend swimming, and emergency access is limited. Stay on established paths and keep out of signed Hooded Plover habitat. Bring water and check Parks Victoria's current conditions and fire advice before setting out. Dogs are not permitted; assistance dogs are subject to Parks Victoria's entry requirements. [Open the guide →]() [Walk]() [Cape Schanck]() 2 h · Moderate ### [Bushrangers Bay Walk]() From the eastern carpark at Cape Schanck Lighthouse, this walk leads through coastal scrub to Bushrangers Bay. Parks Victoria describes a 5.4 km return trip taking about two hours. Allow more time for stops and the return climb: the sandy, narrow, unsealed path includes steep stairs. Dogs are not permitted; check Parks Victoria entry requirements for assistance dogs. Swimming is not recommended. The beach is unpatrolled, with strong currents, rips, rocky reefs and large waves, and emergency access is limited. Check Parks Victoria changed conditions and current fire advice before setting out. Stay on the track, follow signs protecting nesting shorebirds, and allow enough daylight for the return. [Open the guide →]() Further reading ## Journal pieces that deepen this stop [Journal →]() Trail Guide 6 min ### [Cape Schanck - The Complete Guide]() 22 April 2026 The 1859 limestone lighthouse, the boardwalk to Pulpit Rock and Pebble Beach, and the 5.4km return walk to Bushrangers Bay. Cape Schanck lighthouse grounds are free from 6am - lighthouse tours are ticketed. Here is everything. Investigation 7 min ### [St Andrews Beach Golf Course - The World-Ranked Course Anyone Can Book]() 14 April 2026 If you want one golf story that explains the Peninsula properly, start here. Tom Doak architecture, genuine global ranking, and public-access bookings that turn prestige into a real weekend. ## The Insider Note The Peninsula worth knowing. An occasional email. What's on, where we'd go and what's worth knowing next. Independent editorial. Sent when there is something worth knowing. Unsubscribe any time [Privacy]()