Top 10 Golf Courses in Australia
Australia has produced some of the finest golf courses in the world and some of the finest players to have played the game. Greg Norman, Peter Thomson, Adam Scott, and Jason Day all came from a country where golf is embedded in the sporting culture at every level — from the public sandbelt courses of Melbourne to the spectacular cliff-top layouts of Tasmania and King Island. The Melbourne Sandbelt in particular is acknowledged globally as one of the great concentrations of course design, with layouts from Alister MacKenzie, Hugh Alison, Mike Morcom, and later Tom Doak occupying a compact stretch of southern Victoria. To that core has been added a generation of coastal courses that rank among the most dramatic anywhere.
1. Royal Melbourne (West Course), Melbourne
Royal Melbourne's West Course is the finest course in the southern hemisphere and competes with the very best anywhere in the world. Designed by Alister MacKenzie with construction supervised by Alex Russell in 1931, the West Course occupies Sandbelt country south of the city — heathland-like terrain of sandy soil, native scrub, and the kind of natural contours that MacKenzie exploited throughout his career. The greens are fast, fiercely contoured, and heavily bunkered in the MacKenzie style, with every flag position demanding a specific approach trajectory. Royal Melbourne has hosted the Presidents Cup in 1998, 2011, and 2019. Access is by member invitation, though occasional visitor days are offered.
2. Kingston Heath Golf Club, Melbourne
Kingston Heath, a few miles from Royal Melbourne on the same Sandbelt, is designed by Dan Soutar with bunker revisions by MacKenzie in 1926. It is consistently ranked among the world's top fifteen courses and, alongside Royal Melbourne, anchors the argument for the Sandbelt as a destination for serious golf tourism. The bunkering is extraordinary — bold, irregularly shaped, placed at exact angles to demand precise lines from the tee — and the routing produces a variety of shot demands that keeps every club in the bag relevant. Private, with guest access possible through introduction.
3. New South Wales Golf Club, Sydney
The New South Wales Golf Club at La Perouse, southeast of Sydney near Botany Bay, was designed by Alister MacKenzie in 1928 on clifftop land overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the most visually dramatic courses in Australia, combining MacKenzie's strategic principles with an oceanside setting that produces constant wind and views that distract even experienced players. The par-three fifth hole, cantilevered over the cliff edge, is one of the most photographed in the country. The club is private.
4. Barnbougle Dunes, Tasmania
Barnbougle Dunes opened in 2004 on a former potato farm on the northern Tasmanian coast, designed by Tom Doak and Mike Clayton. The site — coastal duneland along Bass Strait — offered terrain that had no precedent in Australian golf, and the result is a course that many consider the best links in the southern hemisphere. The dunes are massive, the wind is relentless, and the routing finds its way through the terrain with the confidence of a course that has been there for a century. It is public, accessible by ferry from Melbourne, and operates a golf lodge for overnight visitors. Playing season is year-round, though winter brings cold winds from Antarctica.
5. Cape Wickham Links, King Island
Cape Wickham, opened in 2015 on King Island in Bass Strait, has been rated number one in Australia by multiple publications and sits in the top ten globally in many rankings. The site is extraordinary: raw, wind-battered coastline at the northern tip of King Island, with Cape Wickham lighthouse on the headland and views across Bass Strait in every direction. Designed by Doak and Duncan Crosbie, the course uses the clifftop and dune terrain to produce holes of genuine peril and drama. Access requires a flight to King Island, which makes it a deliberate pilgrimage rather than a convenient day trip — and all the more memorable for it.
6. Victoria Golf Club, Melbourne
Victoria Golf Club, designed by William Meader and later revised by MacKenzie, is another Sandbelt classic. The course occupies terrain with significant natural movement for the region, and the routing makes use of the slopes to create downhill and sidehill lies that complicate even well-struck shots. The green complexes are among the best on the Sandbelt, with subtle borrows and aggressive bunkering protecting every approach corridor. Private.
7. The National Golf Club (Moonah Course), Victoria
The National at Cape Schanck on the Mornington Peninsula was designed by Greg Norman with Bob Harrison and offers three courses on a dramatic coastal site. The Moonah course, which draws its name from the indigenous moonah trees that shape its corridors, is the standout layout — rugged, demanding, and consistent in its quality from first tee to eighteenth green. The National is a public resort and accessible to visiting golfers willing to pay premium rates commensurate with its reputation.
8. The Metropolitan Golf Club, Melbourne
Metropolitan sits between Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath on the Sandbelt and provides a third option for golfers whose guest access to the famous two is confirmed. The course, designed by Michael Scott and later revised, plays longer than most Sandbelt courses but retains the characteristic of the region: superb conditioning, subtle green slopes, and bunkering that demands respect. Private, with visitor play by member introduction.
9. Kauri Cliffs (listed under New Zealand, but for Australian comparison: Ellerston), New South Wales
Ellerston Golf Club in the Hunter Valley, designed by Greg Norman and Bob Harrison on the Ellerston station of the Packer family, is among the most exclusive golf properties in the world. The course is essentially private, accessible only to members and their guests, and has rarely appeared in public rankings because it is almost never seen by outside observers. Those who have played it consistently describe the mountain-valley setting and conditioning as exceptional.
10. Joondalup Resort (Dunes Course), Perth
West Australia's best resort course is Joondalup in Perth's northern suburbs, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and offering three nine-hole loops that combine into various eighteen-hole configurations. The Dunes routing is the most dramatic, using large sand dunes and native bush to create a course that punishes errant shots emphatically. Perth's climate — one of the sunniest of any capital city in the world — makes Joondalup playable essentially year-round, though summer temperatures in January and February can reach the high thirties.
Australia's golf season runs year-round in most regions, with the southern states offering the best conditions from October through April. Barnbougle and Cape Wickham are playable year-round but demand appropriate cold-weather gear in winter. Green fees at the private Sandbelt clubs require member connections; the public courses at Barnbougle, Cape Wickham, and resort courses such as The National are accessible with direct booking. Open the map to explore Australian courses and begin planning your itinerary.