Australia’s Top 100 Golf Courses 2024/25

A snapshot of how this ranking differs from the ones before it

Three phenomenal numbers highlight how our 2024 ranking of Australia’s Top 100 Courses has evolved – even from the most recent list two years ago. Most significant was the volume of courses polled. Our much larger national panel of 277 avid golfers voted on 809 different courses – that’s more than half the 1,603 courses in Australia – and lodged 7,026 total evaluations. Last time, those numbers were: 140 panellists, 321 courses and 2,952 scores.

The data went far deeper this time. While the judging panel almost doubled in size, they collectively worked far harder, as the number of courses visited and scores lodged far exceeded mere doubling. Three panellists ‘raised the bat’ and visited more than 100 courses, while special mention must go the way of Cam Hart, who saw 164 different courses in the two-year ranking cycle.

For their time, input and dedication, we thank our national panel [see page 82]. They visit and score courses out of 10 based on seven criteria:

Shot Options: How well does the course present a variety of options involving risks and rewards and require a wide range of shots? (Shot Options counts twice in our formula, because a survey of panellists 30 years ago felt it was by far the most important aspect of a course design and should be double-weighted.)

Challenge: How challenging, while still being fair, is the course for a typical scratch golfer playing from the tees designated as back tees for everyday play (not from seldom-used championship tees)?

Layout Variety: How varied is the physical layout of the course in terms of differing lengths (long, medium and short par 3s, 4s and 5s), configurations (straight holes, doglegs left and right), hazard/‘penalty area’ placements, green shapes and green contours?

Distinctiveness: How individual is each hole when compared to all others on this course? Additionally, how fun and enjoyable for all levels of golfers would this course be to play on a regular basis?

Character: How well does the course design exude ingenuity and uniqueness and possess profound characteristics that you would consider outstanding for its era?

Aesthetics: How well do the scenic values of the course (including landscaping, vegetation, water features and backdrops) add to the pleasure of a round?

Conditioning: How firm, fast and rolling were the fairways? How firm yet receptive were the greens? How true were the rolls of putts?

To arrive at a course’s final score, we total its averages in the seven categories, doubling Shot Options (from 10 to 20) to create a score out of 80.

Cameron Hart, Stuart Cooper, Tony Ellis, Steve Keipert, Wayne James, Colin Bloomfield, Craig Seckold, Ross Hildebrand, Rob Henschke, Tyson Flynn, Ian Greenwood, Jonathan Roennfeldt, John Renshaw, John Fox, Jamie Woodhill, Robert Mead, Ru Macdonald, Tony Moore, Andrew Lamble, James Gribble, Chris Francis, Tom Catoggio, Nick Birbas, Fletcher Ivey, Luke Gallant, Levi Cameron, Geoff Steer, Steve Bray, Joseph Kahn, Drew Hallam, Ben Tullipan, David Chantrell, Rod Holmes, Chris Peckett, Jason Paterson, Damian Grace, Tristan Heath, Steve Thomas, Dean Jennings, Scott Newman, Trent Pilgrim, Adam Wallace, Greg White, Joseph Crabtree, Luke Clark, Craig Gallie, Jacqui Morgan, Nick White, Andrew Coghlan, Wayne Moriarty, Grant Naylor, Peter Sherry, David Bishop, Paul Burgin, Mark Panopoulos, Glen Barker, Simon Appleby, Loren Justins, Rahim Lalani, Wesley Milsom, Scott Muller, Chris Perry, Raphael Jose, Paul Bittar, Gary Shaw, Nick Shute, Damien Tarbox, Rod McLeod, John Zelenjak, Mandy Lee, Daniel Adams, William Park, Graeme Elgie, Ben Bell, Michael Chapman, Michael Caridi, Shane Hooton, Tom Pearce, Roger Prentice, Mark Henricks, Zoee Dolling, Paul Smerdon, Richard Crago, Tony Bradley, Chris Dugan, Robert Shakeshaft, Patrick Davoren, Adam Brennan, Gerard Wild, Stewart Woodhill, Peter Ellison, Marcus Lancaster, Andrew Whitaker, Grant Gerber, Chris Ninopoulos, Matt Davies, Dale Walton, Shane McPhee, Ben Martin, Lachlan Miller, Kevin Pallier, Jason Van Vliet, Paul Watts, James Prineas, Scott Campbell, James Howes, Ben Martin-Henry, Chris Moyle, Tim Browne, Glenn Domigan, Peter Phillips, Trevor Roberts, Frank Gurren, Scott Hannah, Susan Brooker, David Bailey, Luke Collins, Simon Ovenden, David Cuda, Edward Dowling, Richard Maxwell, Rey Saballa, Jeynelle Wilcox, Robert Law, Raj Narayan, Josiah Trinder, Simon Anderson, Luke Bolden, Greg Fraser, Tony Hicks, Karen Van Vliet, Anthony Hackland, Jeremy Peck, Chris Ryan, Rod Doak, Jason Gullaci, George Kidman, Margaret Potter, David Raymond, Matthew Toomey, Callum Tranter, Jonathan Buck, Chris Hurt, Scott Ridout, Jacob Slimmon, Ian Markus, Mark Taylor, Enzo Cavallo, Matthew Green, Andrew Morris, Nathan Cassilles, Ben Flavel, Sam Fung, Haydn Fyffe, Michael Hauser, Leigh Martin, Mitch Morgan, Phillip Hurley, Karl Kirsten, Nick Welsh, Nigel Hutton, Paul McLean, Ken Phillips, Selwyn Berg, Brad Pole, Ken Russell, Steven Slappendel, Chris Thomas, Scott Ware, Cherrie Genat, Mitchell Thorne, Brendan Meagher, Troy Scott, Scott Dial, Glenn Hildebrand, Matt Lister, John Martin, Warren Rankine, Brent Williams, Craig Millen, John Anderson, Adam Scott, Jason Hill, Brad Pullin, Steve Shaw, Gary Warren, Tony Webeck, Michael Ayton, Shane Corben, Geoff Sheaffe, Andrew Dalgairns, Stephen Worner, Harry Hawkins, Elliot Oxley, Robert Radley, Rohan Adams, Ben McIlwain, Nick Tuddenham, Lee Cameron, Aaron Gent, Ben Caruso, Ali Terai, Shannon Moore, Paul Bucan, Steve Smith, Graeme Morrissey, Flinn Shiel, Les Coles, Charlie Vincent, Nic Rees, Ian Curley, Jason Gluch, Wayne Carlson, Justin Pate, Evan Wilkinson, Matt Sullivan, Sue Sheaffe, Peter Farlie, Holly Ibbotson, Matthew MacMahon, Tom Pennington, Rohan Stewart, Ian Barr, Dan Cook, Bree Arthur, Dane McKay, Lester Peterson, James Ward, Jessica Eden, Tom Huf, Rohan Clarke, Craig Meagher, Dene Heath, Daniel Lewis, Brian Man, Andrew Hinchliffe, Nick Stewart, James Teh, Alex McCormack, Doug Hannaford, Adam Ringrose, David Pratt, Anthony Bull, Phil Heads, Tony Meyer, Leigh Jerram, Ben Williams, Hamish Buckingham, Jayden Lawson, Richard Norgard, Will Stubbs, Nick Wall, Storm McGrath, Steven Hall, Brendan Woods, Todd Greenberg, Brendon Williams, Michael Routledge, Ross Horsley, Andre Rizk, Gary Lisbon, Alyssa Starc, Fiza Errington, Michael Burke, Paddy Holland, Ben Hall, James Ponder, Andrew Priory, Chris Pezzimenti, Peter Sliwinski, Nathan Chapman, Peter Warren, Ben Emerson, Graeme Mathers, James Lawton and Shannon Hourigan.

The spate of course redesign work going on across Australia meant six courses were intentionally left off this ranking as they remain mid-construction. While Commonwealth’s Tom Doak-led redesign saw it re-open for play in mid-March, it missed the entire judging period and so the club opted to sit out and await its return in 2026. In a similar boat this time are Huntingdale, Royal Sydney, Mount Lawley, The National’s Long Island course and Links Kennedy Bay, where the upgrades have now impacted two ranking periods.

Three more courses won’t be seen here. For a second consecutive ranking, not enough of our judging panel saw the Packer family’s outstanding Ellerston course in the Hunter Valley, while as has been the case throughout its existence, the exclusive Capital course in Melbourne continues to disallow panellist access. Meanwhile, the clean-up operation after extensive flooding goes on at the Bungool course at Riverside Oaks, keeping it from opening all 18 holes. Nine courses sitting on the sidelines is an indication of the current era of redesign work over new builds in Australian golf-course architecture.

Time-related circumstances surround Brisbane’s Indooroopilly courses and Pymble in Sydney. While much of the new work at Indooroopilly is complete, either not enough of our panel saw the Ross Perrett/Karrie Webb re-do for it to be considered, or there was too short a window of time for an accurate evaluation. It was similar for Pymble, which also narrowly missed returning to the Top 100 due to the short timeframe once James Wilcher’s redesign work was completed late last year. Having fallen just shy of this ranking, we expect both courses to make an impact next time.

• One area where our ranking seeks to remain fluid is amid the rise of short courses. While the 14-hole Bougle Run is eligible for our list (as are nine-hole layouts), we have omitted The Furrows – the new short course at Kingston Heath – and its ilk. A distinction needs to be made between what are regular-length holes on courses with fewer than 18 of them, and courses with shorter-than-regular-length holes. We see Bougle Run as an example of the former and The Furrows as the latter. Striking a driver and other long clubs is an essential part of the game, and while short courses are a welcome addition to golf, they can’t be viewed in the same light as full-length layouts. In time, Australian Golf Digest expects to compile a separate ranking of short courses.

In 2020, not a single new course entered our ranking as only revamped or returning courses broke onto the list. Things were not so scarce this time with a collection of either newcomers or major refurbishments pushing their way in. We’re expecting the momentum to continue when the 2024 ranking is published as several world-class layouts are set to join the fray.

Chief among them is Seven Mile Beach, the exciting project on amazing waterside land east of Hobart [pictured]. The Mike Clayton/Mike DeVries design is set to open in late 2023 and is a chance to be an inclusion next time if enough panel members see it before the judging period ends.

“It’s sand dunes on the ocean, so it doesn’t get much better than that,” DeVries said in late March as shaping continued. “I’d place this right up there with any site [I’ve worked on]. It’s just spectacular – and these sites are rare.”

The nearby Arm End project, on a stunning peninsula south of Hobart, is aiming to open in late 2024 so is likely to debut here in the 2026 ranking. In South Australia, the exciting The Cliffs Kangaroo Island is on the cusp of construction work beginning and, as with the Tasmanian newcomers, could feature either next time or in 2026, depending on how things play out.

Add to those the renovated courses likely to return and some short courses where work is already underway, and the complexion of the next list may change considerably once again.

Slow play is never encouraged in golf, yet in one area of the game it’s almost expected. Few new courses open according to the schedule laid out prior to construction, as evidenced by the courses we flagged in this space two years ago. The potential newcomers for 2024 we pointed to then are the same courses we forecast again when it comes to looking ahead to the 2026 list, simply because good things take time.

Most buzz centres on 7 Mile Beach [below], the highly anticipated project beside the water in Hobart. The shaping work for the Mike Clayton/Mike DeVries design is complete as the grow-in phase continues ahead of some likely preview play next spring before a summer opening. If that timeline holds, the course will debut in our 2026 ranking.

The nearby Arm End course has a less-clear construction roadmap yet may find itself in the same position, although 2028 looks more likely for its Top 100 debut. In South Australia, the stunning The Cliffs Kangaroo Island is working towards a completion date of late next year, which will make it a close call for the Darius Oliver design to be included within our next ranking cycle. It would appear a certainty for the 2028 list, though.