What is the best public access golf course in Australia?

Cape Wickham is #1 among public-access courses on The Golf List, and #3 overall. Golf Australia's own Top 100 Public Access list places it 1.

What counts as a public access course?

A course where a visitor can book a tee time without being a member, typically five and a half days a week. We use courses on Golf Australia's Top 100 Public Access list (2025 edition) to decide.

How is the public ranking calculated?

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

Why isn't a famous course here?

Courses that are not on Golf Australia's public-access list are left out, which usually means visitor access is limited or members-only. Check with the club before planning a round.

Public access ranking

Best public access golf courses in Australia

Every course on Golf Australia's Top 100 Public Access list, 100 in all: the 50 that the overall lists also rank are ordered by The Golf List, and the rest follow in Golf Australia's order.

50 public access golf courses ranked
Public	Course	Overall	GA Public Access 2025GA Pub ’25	GA Public Access 2023GA Pub ’23	State
1	1Cape Wickham	3	1	1	TAS
2	2Barnbougle Dunes	4	2	2	TAS
3	3Barnbougle Lost Farm	6	3	3	TAS
4	4St Andrews Beach	16	4	4	VIC
5	5Ocean Dunes	18	5	5	TAS
6	6The Dunes	28	7	7	VIC
7	7Lonsdale Links	T29	8	8	VIC
8	813th Beach (Beach)	T31	6	6	VIC
9	9Joondalup (Quarry/Dune)	37	11	11	WA
10	10Port Fairy	T38	9	9	VIC
11	11Brookwater	41	10	10	QLD
12	12Hamilton Island	44	13	13	QLD
13	13Moonah Links (Legends)	47	14	14	VIC
14	14Portsea	48	12	12	VIC
15	15The Cut	50	19	19	WA
16	16Bougle Run	56	18	18	TAS
17	17Links Hope Island	57	20	20	QLD
18	18St Michaels	60	17	17	NSW
T19	T19Curlewis	T61	21	21	VIC
T19	T19The Vintage	T61	29	30	NSW
21	21Moonah Links (Open)	63	16	16	VIC
22	22Sandringham Golf Links	64	28	29	VIC
23	23Rosebud (North)	65	27	27	VIC
24	24Kalgoorlie	66	24	24	WA
25	2513th Beach (Creek)	67	23	23	VIC
26	26Meadow Springs	68	22	22	WA
27	27Pacific Dunes	75	40	40	NSW
28	28Links Lady Bay	76	31	31	SA
29	29Sanctuary Lakes	T77	25	25	VIC
30	30The Glades	79	26	26	QLD
31	31Mount Compass	80	38	38	SA
T32	T32Tasmania	T81	41	41	TAS
T32	T32Lakelands	T81	35	35	QLD
34	34RACV Cape Schanck	85	44	44	VIC
35	35Narooma	86	15	15	NSW
36	36Cypress Lakes	87	64	64	NSW
37	37Palmer Coolum	T88	89	89	QLD
38	38Black Bull	92	52	52	VIC
39	39Maroochy River	93	42	42	QLD
40	40Stonecutters Ridge	94	32	32	NSW
41	41Joondalup (Quarry/Lake)	T96	33	33	WA
42	42Pacific Harbour	98	34	34	QLD
T43	T43The Federal	T101	43	43	ACT
T43	T43Warrnambool	T101	36	36	VIC
45	45Sun City	103	37	37	WA
46	46Mollymook (Hilltop)	104	69	69	NSW
47	47Murray Downs	105	39	39	NSW
48	48Belmont	109	45	45	NSW
49	49Mornington	111	47	47	VIC
50	50Noosa Springs	112	58	58	QLD

Public is the Golf List rank among public-access courses; Overall is the rank among every course. The last columns are Golf Australia's own public-access positions. A dash means the course is not on that edition. How the public ranking works.

50 more public courses, in Golf Australia's order

These public-access courses are ranked by fewer than two of the overall lists, or by none, so they have no Golf List position. Golf Australia's own order is the only ranking that places them.

Public access courses without a Golf List position
GA Pub ’25	Course	Place	GA Pub ’23	Move
30	30Long Reef	Collaroy, New South Wales	28	↓2
46	46Yarrawonga Mulwala (Murray)	Mulwala, New South Wales	46	—
48	48Albany	Albany, Western Australia	49	↑1
49	49Twin Waters	Twin Waters, Queensland	50	↑1
50	50Eynesbury	Eynesbury, Victoria	51	↑1
51	51Eastlake	Daceyville, New South Wales	48	↓3
53	53RACV Royal Pines (Green/Gold)	Ashmore, Queensland	53	—
54	54The Coast	Little Bay, New South Wales	54	—
55	55Joondalup (Dune/Lake)	Connolly, Western Australia	55	—
56	56Rosebud (South)	Rosebud, Victoria	56	—
57	57Flinders	Flinders, Victoria	57	—
59	59Palm Meadows	Carrara, Queensland	59	—
60	60Leongatha	Leongatha South, Victoria	60	—
61	61Kooindah Waters	Wyong, New South Wales	62	↑1
62	62Coolangatta Tweed Heads (River)	Tweed Heads South, New South Wales	61	↓1
63	63Portarlington	Portarlington, Victoria	63	—
65	65Ballarat	Ballarat, Victoria	65	—
66	66Yarrawonga Mulwala (Lake)	Mulwala, New South Wales	66	—
67	67Coolangatta Tweed Heads (West)	Tweed Heads South, New South Wales	67	—
68	68Rich River (East)	Moama, New South Wales	68	—
70	70Sandhurst (Champions)	Sandhurst, Victoria	72	↑2
71	71Murwillumbah	Murwillumbah, New South Wales	70	↓1
72	72Mona Vale	Mona Vale, New South Wales	71	↓1
73	73Bribie Island	Woorim, Queensland	73	—
74	74Growling Frog	Yan Yean, Victoria	75	↑1
75	75Horsham	Horsham, Victoria	74	↓1
76	76Secret Harbour	Secret Harbour, Western Australia	76	—
77	77Forster Tuncurry (Tuncurry)	Tuncurry, New South Wales	77	—
78	78Ocean Shores	Ocean Shores, New South Wales	78	—
79	79Nudgee	Nudgee, Queensland	79	—
80	80Byron Bay	Byron Bay, New South Wales	80	—
81	81Ulverstone	West Ulverstone, Tasmania	81	—
82	82Sandhurst (North)	Sandhurst, Victoria	82	—
83	83Tura Beach	Tura Beach, New South Wales	83	—
84	84Shelly Beach	Shelly Beach, New South Wales	84	—
85	85Coffs Harbour (Lakes)	Coffs Harbour, New South Wales	85	—
86	86Palmer Sea Reef	Port Douglas, Queensland	86	—
87	87Alice Springs	Alice Springs, NT	87	—
88	88Lakes Entrance	Lakes Entrance, Victoria	88	—
90	90Cobram-Barooga (Old)	Barooga, New South Wales	90	—
91	91Horizons	Salamander Bay, New South Wales	92	↑1
92	92Catalina Club	Batemans Bay, New South Wales	91	↓1
93	93Brighton Lakes	Moorebank, New South Wales	93	—
94	94Teven Valley	Teven, New South Wales	94	—
95	95Blackwood	Cherry Gardens, South Australia	95	—
96	96Pambula Merimbula (Red/Yellow)	Pambula, New South Wales	96	—
97	97Yarra Bend	Melbourne, Victoria	–	New
98	98Toowoomba	Middle Ridge, Queensland	99	↑1
99	99Bunbury	Bunbury, Western Australia	98	↓1
100	100Duntryleague	Orange, New South Wales	100	—

Frequently asked questions

What is the best public access golf course in Australia?: Cape Wickham is #1 among public-access courses on The Golf List, and #3 overall. Golf Australia's own Top 100 Public Access list places it 1.
What counts as a public access course?: A course where a visitor can book a tee time without being a member, typically five and a half days a week. We use courses on Golf Australia's Top 100 Public Access list (2025 edition) to decide.
How is the public ranking calculated?: It is The Golf List consensus, the mean position across five overall lists, restricted to public-access courses and renumbered from 1. Golf Australia's own public-access positions are shown beside it so you can compare the two orders.
Why isn't a famous course here?: Courses that are not on Golf Australia's public-access list are left out, which usually means visitor access is limited or members-only. Check with the club before planning a round.