Consensus ranking · refreshed 2 August 2026
Australia's Top 20 Golf Courses
Every published ranking of Australia's golf courses, in one place. We average 5 published lists into one table, so no single panel's taste decides the order.
- courses ranked
- 112 courses ranked
- lists combined
- 5 lists combined
- editions tracked
- 10 editions tracked
| Golf List | Course | Avg | Golf Digest 2026–27AGD ’26 | Golf Digest 2024–25AGD ’24 | Golf Australia 2026GA ’26 | Golf Australia 2024GA ’24 | Top100.com 2026T100 ’26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1Royal Melbourne (West) | 1.20 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2Kingston Heath | 2.40 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 3Cape Wickham | 2.60 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 4Barnbougle Dunes | 4.20 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | 5New South Wales | 6.20 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 5 |
| 6 | 6Barnbougle Lost Farm | 6.40 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| T7 | T7Peninsula Kingswood (North) | 7.80 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 11 |
| T7 | T7Royal Melbourne (East) | 7.80 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 9 |
| 9 | 9Victoria | 8.00 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| 10 | 10Seven Mile Beach | 10.00 | 11 | – | 9 | – | 10 |
| 11 | 11Royal Adelaide | 10.80 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 12 |
| 12 | 12The National (Moonah) | 12.80 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 15 |
| 13 | 13The National (Gunnamatta) | 13.20 | 16 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 14 |
| 14 | 14Metropolitan | 13.80 | 13 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 16 |
| 15 | 15Peninsula Kingswood (South) | 16.80 | 15 | 15 | 19 | 18 | 17 |
| 16 | 16St Andrews Beach | 17.00 | 27 | 25 | 14 | 13 | 6 |
| 17 | 17The Lakes | 18.80 | 23 | 22 | 16 | 15 | 18 |
| 18 | 18Ocean Dunes | 19.40 | 17 | 13 | 18 | 17 | 32 |
| 19 | 19Cathedral Lodge | 20.80 | 14 | 14 | 23 | 22 | 31 |
| 20 | 20Lake Karrinyup | 21.60 | 22 | 17 | 22 | 21 | 26 |
Golf List is the mean position across the lists, lowest first; “T” marks a tie. A dash means that list does not rank the course. How we rank.
Explore the data
Biggest movers
- Australian Golf Digest: The Heritage (St John) up 11
- Golf Australia: Cottesloe up 7
- Top100GolfCourses.com: RACV Healesville up 32
Where the lists disagree
- The Eastern (South) — 57 to 99
- Sandringham Golf Links — 43 to 82
- Hamilton Island — 30 to 62
- Tasmania — 68 to 100
Every source list
- Australian Golf Digest
- Golf Australia
- Top100GolfCourses.com
Best course in each state
Courses are ranked within their state, then shown with their position in Australia. See each state's top courses.
| State | Best course | In Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Victoria | Royal Melbourne (West) | #1 |
| Tasmania | Cape Wickham | #3 |
| New South Wales | New South Wales | #5 |
| South Australia | Royal Adelaide | #11 |
| Western Australia | Lake Karrinyup | #20 |
| Queensland | Royal Queensland | T29 |
| Australian Capital Territory | Royal Canberra (Westbourne) | #34 |
Best courses you can play
Many of Australia's best courses are private. These are the best you can book without knowing a member, ranked among themselves. See all 59 or how we rate access.
| Play | Course | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1Cape Wickham | 3 |
| 2 | 2Barnbougle Dunes | 4 |
| 3 | 3Barnbougle Lost Farm | 6 |
| 4 | 4Seven Mile Beach | 10 |
| 5 | 5St Andrews Beach | 16 |
Rankings by region and style
- Melbourne Sandbelt Golf Courses
- Best Links Courses in Victoria
- Best Links Courses in Australia
- Best Resort Golf Courses in Australia
- Best Golf Courses in Tasmania
- Best Golf Courses in Victoria
- Best Golf Courses in New South Wales
- Best Golf Courses in Queensland
- Best Golf Courses in Western Australia
- Best Golf Courses in South Australia
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best golf course in Australia?
- Royal Melbourne (West) is #1 on The Golf List, ranked first by 4 of the 5 lists we aggregate.
- How is The Golf List calculated?
- For each course we take its mean position across the lists that rank it, and sort lowest first. A course must appear on at least two lists to receive a position; courses on one list are shown separately.
- Which rankings does it combine?
- Golf Digest 2026–27, Golf Digest 2024–25, Golf Australia 2026, Golf Australia 2024, Top100.com 2026. Earlier editions are kept so each course shows its movement over time.
- How often is it updated?
- Whenever a source publishes a new edition. The data was last refreshed on 2 August 2026.