Australian Golf Digest rank Australia’s top 100 golf courses – state by state rankings

Australia’s top-100 golf courses for 2020 have been revealed in the latest issue of Australian Golf Digest and they’ve broken them down state by state.

Media release via Australian Golf Digest
Images Courtesy:
Gary Lisbon Golf Photography

The industry-standard biennial rankings of Australia’s golf courses have just been released and, as always, provide plenty to talk about.

Royal Melbourne West continues to rule the roost (just), but three Tasmanian courses loom large in the Top 10, the Packer family’s private masterpiece Ellerston remains among the elite (despite a slight slip), while Clive’s Palmer Resort Coolum has recovered from its dinosaur dramas to return to the fold.


Images Courtesy: Gary Lisbon Golf Photography

Australian Golf Digest March 2020 issue.

Published every two years by AUSTRALIAN GOLF DIGEST, the AGD Top 100 List also comes at an important time for the industry.

“On the one hand we’ve had the world watching the top-level excitement of the President’s Cup at Royal Melbourne,” notes Australian Golf Digest Top 100 editor Steve Keipert.

“And yet not a single new golf course has opened in Australia in the past two years, since our previous rankings. Although, that’s not to say there isn’t plenty of activity going on, with various upgrades and redesigns happening on courses across Australia.

“Certainly, though, to make the Top 100 you are a seriously good golf course, and there is an enormous amount of work that goes into reaching those standards – so all those on the list should be very proud of their achievements. We have expanded our judging panel in a big way this time, and it has yielded some interesting results throughout the rankings.”

THE AGD TOP 100 – AT A GLANCE
Royal Melbourne’s esteemed West course has taken top spot. It is the 16th out of 17 times (with the ratings having been conducted across the past 34 years). But the competition is close and Cape Wickham on Tasmania’s Kings Island continues its ascent, to now displace Kingston Heath at number two.


Images Courtesy: Gary Lisbon Golf Photography

In the 17 editions of the Top 100 rankings (first published in 1986) only 22 courses have appeared on every list. Overall, 221 courses have, at one time or another, made the cut.
Mount Compass Golf Course in South Australia was the biggest improver, leaping 23 places to 73rd. Conversely, Twin Creeks in western Sydney dropped 18 places to 93rd – although seven courses fell out of the Top 100 altogether.

The ranking period saw the sad closure of Paradise Palms near Cairns (which had never missed a spot on the rankings during its existence), as well as the demise of Brisbane’s North Lakes.

During the past two years not a single new golf course debuted in Australia, but plenty of work has been underway on existing layouts. Significant ‘upgraded’ returns include Concord in New South Wales at 46 and Peninsula Kingswood in Victoria at 6. The famed Royal Sydney course slips to 48 on these rankings, but major renovations are about to begin.

STATE BY STATE – LEADING COURSES

Victoria
1 Royal Melbourne West (1st overall)
2 Kingston Heath (3rd overall)
3 Peninsula Kingswood North (6th overall)
4 Royal Melbourne East (8th overall)
5 Victoria (9th overall)

New South Wales
1 New South Wales (5th overall)
2 Ellerston (10th overall)
3 The Lakes (19th overall)
4 The Australian (21st overall)
5 Newcastle (28th overall)

Queensland
1 Brookwater (29th overall)
2 Hamilton Island (33rd overall)
3 Royal Queensland (35th overall)
4 The Grand (39th overall)
5 Sanctuary Cove Pines (44th overall)

Western Australia
1 Lake Karrinyup (15th overall)
2 Joondalup Quarry/Dune (18th overall)
3 The Cut (36th overall)
4 Links Kennedy Bay (38th overall)
5 The Western Australian (56th overall)

South Australia
1 Royal Adelaide (11th overall)
2 Kooyonga (22nd overall)
3 Glenelg (37th overall)
4 Grange West (43rd overall)
5 Grange East (53rd overall)

Tasmania
1 Cape Wickham (2nd overall)
2 Barnbougle Dunes (4th overall)
3 Barnbougle Lost Farm (7th overall)
4 Ocean Dunes (13th overall)

ACT
1 Royal Canberra Westbourne (25th overall)
2 Federal (80th overall)

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