What is the best golf course in Australia that a visitor can play?

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

What counts as open to visitors?

Courses we have classified as members club or public. A members club takes visitor bookings online around member times; a public course takes anyone, any day. 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. Most of the Melbourne Sandbelt is in that group. Courses with no classification yet are left out too.

Open to visitors

Best golf courses in Australia you can actually play

Courses where you can book a round without knowing anyone: public courses, and members clubs that take visitor bookings online. Ranked by The Golf List. Private and semi-private clubs are left out, because a visitor cannot count on getting on.

59 golf courses open to visitors, ranked
Play	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	7Barwon Heads	26	Members	–	–	VIC
8	8The Dunes	28	Public	7	7	VIC
9	9Lonsdale Links	T29	Public	8	8	VIC
10	1013th Beach (Beach)	T31	Public	6	6	VIC
11	11Joondalup (Quarry/Dune)	37	Public	11	11	WA
T12	T12Port Fairy	T38	Members	9	9	VIC
T12	T12Links Kennedy Bay	T38	Public	–	–	WA
14	14Brookwater	41	Members	10	10	QLD
15	15Bonville	42	Members	–	–	NSW
16	16Hamilton Island	44	Public	13	13	QLD
17	17Moonah Links (Legends)	47	Public	14	14	VIC
18	18Portsea	48	Members	12	12	VIC
19	19The Cut	50	Public	19	19	WA
20	20Bougle Run	56	Public	18	18	TAS
21	21Links Hope Island	57	Public	20	20	QLD
22	22RACV Healesville	59	Public	–	–	VIC
23	23St Michaels	60	Members	17	17	NSW
T24	T24Curlewis	T61	Members	21	21	VIC
T24	T24The Vintage	T61	Public	29	30	NSW
26	26Moonah Links (Open)	63	Public	16	16	VIC
27	27Sandringham Golf Links	64	Public	28	29	VIC
28	28Rosebud (North)	65	Public	27	27	VIC
29	29Kalgoorlie	66	Members	24	24	WA
30	3013th Beach (Creek)	67	Public	23	23	VIC
31	31Meadow Springs	68	Members	22	22	WA
32	32Ranfurlie	72	Members	–	–	VIC
33	33Pelican Waters	74	Public	–	–	QLD
34	34Pacific Dunes	75	Public	40	40	NSW
35	35Links Lady Bay	76	Members	31	31	SA
36	36Sanctuary Lakes	T77	Public	25	25	VIC
37	37The Glades	79	Members	26	26	QLD
38	38Mount Compass	80	Members	38	38	SA
T39	T39Tasmania	T81	Members	41	41	TAS
T39	T39Lakelands	T81	Members	35	35	QLD
41	41Sanctuary Cove (Palms)	83	Public	–	–	QLD
42	42RACV Cape Schanck	85	Public	44	44	VIC
43	43Narooma	86	Members	15	15	NSW
44	44Cypress Lakes	87	Public	64	64	NSW
45	45Palmer Coolum	T88	Public	89	89	QLD
46	46Settlers Run	91	Public	–	–	VIC
47	47Black Bull	92	Members	52	52	VIC
48	48Maroochy River	93	Members	42	42	QLD
49	49Stonecutters Ridge	94	Public	32	32	NSW
50	50Joondalup (Quarry/Lake)	T96	Public	33	33	WA
51	51Pacific Harbour	98	Public	34	34	QLD
T52	T52The Federal	T101	Members	43	43	ACT
T52	T52Warrnambool	T101	Members	36	36	VIC
54	54Sun City	103	Members	37	37	WA
55	55Mollymook (Hilltop)	104	Members	69	69	NSW
56	56Murray Downs	105	Members	39	39	NSW
57	57Belmont	109	Members	45	45	NSW
58	58Mornington	111	Members	47	47	VIC
59	59Noosa Springs	112	Public	58	58	QLD

Play 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.

56 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 open to visitors with no Golf List position
Course	Place	Access	GA Pub ’25	GA Pub ’23
Long Reef	Collaroy, NSW	Public	30	28
Yarrawonga Mulwala (Murray)	Mulwala, NSW	Members	46	46
Albany	Albany, WA	Public	48	49
Twin Waters	Twin Waters, QLD	Public	49	50
Eynesbury	Eynesbury, VIC	Members	50	51
Eastlake	Daceyville, NSW	Members	51	48
RACV Royal Pines (Green/Gold)	Ashmore, QLD	Public	53	53
The Coast	Little Bay, NSW	Members	54	54
Joondalup (Dune/Lake)	Connolly, WA	Public	55	55
Rosebud (South)	Rosebud, VIC	Public	56	56
Flinders	Flinders, VIC	Members	57	57
Palm Meadows	Carrara, QLD	Members	59	59
Leongatha	Leongatha South, VIC	Members	60	60
Kooindah Waters	Wyong, NSW	Public	61	62
Coolangatta Tweed Heads (River)	Tweed Heads South, NSW	Members	62	61
Portarlington	Portarlington, VIC	Members	63	63
Ballarat	Ballarat, VIC	Public	65	65
Yarrawonga Mulwala (Lake)	Mulwala, NSW	Members	66	66
Coolangatta Tweed Heads (West)	Tweed Heads South, NSW	Members	67	67
Rich River (East)	Moama, NSW	Members	68	68
Sandhurst (Champions)	Sandhurst, VIC	Members	70	72
Murwillumbah	Murwillumbah, NSW	Public	71	70
Mona Vale	Mona Vale, NSW	Public	72	71
Bribie Island	Woorim, QLD	Members	73	73
Growling Frog	Yan Yean, VIC	Members	74	75
Horsham	Horsham, VIC	Public	75	74
Secret Harbour	Secret Harbour, WA	Members	76	76
Forster Tuncurry (Tuncurry)	Tuncurry, NSW	Members	77	77
Ocean Shores	Ocean Shores, NSW	Members	78	78
Nudgee	Nudgee, QLD	Members	79	79
Byron Bay	Byron Bay, NSW	Members	80	80
Ulverstone	West Ulverstone, TAS	Public	81	81
Sandhurst (North)	Sandhurst, VIC	Members	82	82
Tura Beach	Tura Beach, NSW	Public	83	83
Shelly Beach	Shelly Beach, NSW	Public	84	84
Coffs Harbour (Lakes)	Coffs Harbour, NSW	Members	85	85
Palmer Sea Reef	Port Douglas, QLD	Public	86	86
Alice Springs	Alice Springs, NT	Public	87	87
Lakes Entrance	Lakes Entrance, VIC	Members	88	88
Cobram-Barooga (Old)	Barooga, NSW	Members	90	90
Horizons	Salamander Bay, NSW	Public	91	92
Catalina Club	Batemans Bay, NSW	Members	92	91
Brighton Lakes	Moorebank, NSW	Members	93	93
Teven Valley	Teven, NSW	Members	94	94
Blackwood	Cherry Gardens, SA	Members	95	95
Pambula Merimbula (Red/Yellow)	Pambula, NSW	Members	96	96
Yarra Bend	Melbourne, VIC	Public	97	–
Toowoomba	Middle Ridge, QLD	Public	98	99
Bunbury	Bunbury, WA	Public	99	98
Duntryleague	Orange, NSW	Members	100	100
Capricorn	QLD	Members	–	–
Gold Creek	ACT	Members	–	–
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 a visitor can play?: Cape Wickham is #1 here, and #3 overall on The Golf List.
What counts as open to visitors?: Courses we have classified as members club or public. A members club takes visitor bookings online around member times; a public course takes anyone, any day. 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. Most of the Melbourne Sandbelt is in that group. Courses with no classification yet are left out too.