What is the best golf course in Australia that is public?

Cape Wickham is #1 here, and #3 overall on The Golf List.

What counts as public?

Courses we have classified as public. Anyone can book, any day, with no membership. See the access scale for how every tier is defined.

How is this ranking calculated?

It is The Golf List consensus, the mean position across five overall lists, restricted to these courses and renumbered from 1. Golf Australia's own public-access positions are shown beside it so the two orders can be compared.

Why isn't a famous course here?

Courses classified private or semi-private are left out, because a visitor cannot count on a game. 6 of the top 10 are in that group. Courses with no classification yet are left out too.

Public courses

Best public golf courses in Australia

No membership, no introduction, no member's guest: anyone can book, any day. This covers the premium privately run courses, resort courses that sell public tee times, and council courses, ranked by The Golf List.

34 golf courses public, ranked
Public	Course	Overall	Access	GA Pub ’25	GA Pub ’23	State
1	1Cape Wickham	3	Public	1	1	TAS
2	2Barnbougle Dunes	4	Public	2	2	TAS
3	3Barnbougle Lost Farm	6	Public	3	3	TAS
4	4Seven Mile Beach	10	Public	–	–	TAS
5	5St Andrews Beach	16	Public	4	4	VIC
6	6Ocean Dunes	18	Public	5	5	TAS
7	7The Dunes	28	Public	7	7	VIC
8	8Lonsdale Links	T29	Public	8	8	VIC
9	913th Beach (Beach)	T31	Public	6	6	VIC
10	10Joondalup (Quarry/Dune)	37	Public	11	11	WA
11	11Links Kennedy Bay	T38	Public	–	–	WA
12	12Hamilton Island	44	Public	13	13	QLD
13	13Moonah Links (Legends)	47	Public	14	14	VIC
14	14The Cut	50	Public	19	19	WA
15	15Bougle Run	56	Public	18	18	TAS
16	16Links Hope Island	57	Public	20	20	QLD
17	17RACV Healesville	59	Public	–	–	VIC
18	18The Vintage	T61	Public	29	30	NSW
19	19Moonah Links (Open)	63	Public	16	16	VIC
20	20Sandringham Golf Links	64	Public	28	29	VIC
21	21Rosebud (North)	65	Public	27	27	VIC
22	2213th Beach (Creek)	67	Public	23	23	VIC
23	23Pelican Waters	74	Public	–	–	QLD
24	24Pacific Dunes	75	Public	40	40	NSW
25	25Sanctuary Lakes	T77	Public	25	25	VIC
26	26Sanctuary Cove (Palms)	83	Public	–	–	QLD
27	27RACV Cape Schanck	85	Public	44	44	VIC
28	28Cypress Lakes	87	Public	64	64	NSW
29	29Palmer Coolum	T88	Public	89	89	QLD
30	30Settlers Run	91	Public	–	–	VIC
31	31Stonecutters Ridge	94	Public	32	32	NSW
32	32Joondalup (Quarry/Lake)	T96	Public	33	33	WA
33	33Pacific Harbour	98	Public	34	34	QLD
34	34Noosa Springs	112	Public	58	58	QLD

Public is the Golf List rank among these courses; Overall is the rank among every course. On wide screens the last columns are Golf Australia's own public-access positions. How the access ranking works.

24 more, with no Golf List position

These courses are ranked by fewer than two of the overall lists, or by none. Those on Golf Australia's 2025 public-access list come first, in its order.

Courses public with no Golf List position
Course	Place	Access	GA Pub ’25	GA Pub ’23
Long Reef	Collaroy, NSW	Public	30	28
Albany	Albany, WA	Public	48	49
Twin Waters	Twin Waters, QLD	Public	49	50
RACV Royal Pines (Green/Gold)	Ashmore, QLD	Public	53	53
Joondalup (Dune/Lake)	Connolly, WA	Public	55	55
Rosebud (South)	Rosebud, VIC	Public	56	56
Kooindah Waters	Wyong, NSW	Public	61	62
Ballarat	Ballarat, VIC	Public	65	65
Murwillumbah	Murwillumbah, NSW	Public	71	70
Mona Vale	Mona Vale, NSW	Public	72	71
Horsham	Horsham, VIC	Public	75	74
Ulverstone	West Ulverstone, TAS	Public	81	81
Tura Beach	Tura Beach, NSW	Public	83	83
Shelly Beach	Shelly Beach, NSW	Public	84	84
Palmer Sea Reef	Port Douglas, QLD	Public	86	86
Alice Springs	Alice Springs, NT	Public	87	87
Horizons	Salamander Bay, NSW	Public	91	92
Yarra Bend	Melbourne, VIC	Public	97	–
Toowoomba	Middle Ridge, QLD	Public	98	99
Bunbury	Bunbury, WA	Public	99	98
Kooralbyn Valley	QLD	Public	–	–
Palmer Gold Coast	Robina, QLD	Public	–	97
Riverside Oaks (Bungool)	NSW	Public	–	–
Vines (Lakes)	WA	Public	–	–

Frequently asked questions

What is the best golf course in Australia that is public?: Cape Wickham is #1 here, and #3 overall on The Golf List.
What counts as public?: Courses we have classified as public. Anyone can book, any day, with no membership. See the access scale for how every tier is defined.
How is this ranking calculated?: It is The Golf List consensus, the mean position across five overall lists, restricted to these courses and renumbered from 1. Golf Australia's own public-access positions are shown beside it so the two orders can be compared.
Why isn't a famous course here?: Courses classified private or semi-private are left out, because a visitor cannot count on a game. 6 of the top 10 are in that group. Courses with no classification yet are left out too.