Royal Fremantle is one of the few golf clubs that still occupies its original site. The course can be tamed on a still day, but when the prevailing sea breeze, colloquially called the "Fremantle Doctor" arrives, after midday, only the best swings survive.
Royal Fremantle at 6168m is not long by modern standards. Plans are in place to lengthen some tees as part of regular course maintenance and development plans but this will be done only in keeping with the original intentions which were to provide a course for all players and to encourage participation in the sport. Royal Fremantle is not solely about providing a championship venue for professional tournament play to be utilized once a year. The course is well maintained with clearly defined Kikuyu fairways that are amongst the best all year round in the country, tidy tee boxes and Bent grass greens that are deceptively quick. However, when a shot goes astray the penalty is fair and there is always a chance to manufacture a shot from under the trees to get the ball back into play.
That said, the Course Record of 64 was set this year (2009) by our own Paul Fenton during this years Club Championship qualifying round. Ric Kulacz, a notable West Australian amateur player also had a 64 in 2006 but the course has been lengthened and greens changed since then, it is testament that the course is no push over. The previous record of 66 had stood for over 25 years. In 2001 the WA Amateur Open was held at the club and only the rising star and Australian Amateur Runner-Up, Michael Sim, was able to record more than one sub-par round over four days of tournament play.
Since then the game has changed dramatically and the leading Amateur in the 2006 WA Amateur Open held at the Club was 21 under the card!
Royal Fremantle has also been shown to be able to develop players the equal of anywhere with Australian Amateur and Open Champion, Craig Parry, two-times winner on the USPGA Tour, multiple Australasian Tour Winner, and Presidents Cup Representative, Greg Chalmers and Champion Amateur golfers Dennis Bell and Glenn and Peter Carbon amongst those who have graduated through the Club's junior programs.
