See which golf courses have been ranked best in country: Full one to 100 list

Australia’s top 100 golf courses list has landed, and caused a “jolt to the establishment” with an elite club bumped from best after decades — by a relative newcomer. See the rankings.

Melbourne’s historic Royal Melbourne West golf course has been bumped from it’s long-held premier position as the nation’s best, by a Tasmanian golf course less than 10-years-old.

In what has been branded a “shock” and “jolt to the establishment”, the recently released biannual Australian Golf Digest (AGD) Top 100 course rankings list has Cape Wickham on Tasmania’s King Island now sitting at No. 1 spot.

Royal Melbourne Gof Club made the news last year when the Herald Sun revealed its members were miffed by both former Premier Dan Andrews and popstar Harry Styles playing on their elite course.

Even cricket legends Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting have been previously — and somewhat famously — knocked back from playing on the revered course.

The AGD Top 100 list is a detailed analysis that measures the nation’s best courses against a key set of criteria, with the golfer’s bible saying the new rankings are the most detailed ever after doubling the judging panel and the number of courses reviewed.

The list has been published for 40 years and is the accepted industry standard.

A golfer tees off on the world-class Cape Wickham Golf Course in Tassie’s King Island. Picture: Tourism Tasmania

Cape Wickham is less than 10-years-old. Picture: Adam Gibson

“This result will shock plenty, but it should be understood that iconic Royal Melbourne (West) has not lost ground — it’s as good as ever — it’s just that it’s been outpointed on our measurement criteria by the stunning Cape Wickham,” AGD Top 100 editor Steve Keipert said.

“And it’s also worth noting that we rate Royal Melbourne on its two established layouts. East and West. The composite layout that most of us see for the big sporting events is a cherrypicked blend of both courses, and not a real day-to-day golf course. As a result, the composite version doesn’t get reviewed; otherwise it would likely be untouchable. So there’s a lot to consider.”

Harry Styles and friends playing golf at Royal Melbourne. Picture: Supplied

Royal Melbourne Golf Club East Course has also made the AGD Top 10. Picture: Visit Victoria

Kingston Heath Golf Club.

Royal Melbourne has topped the list all but two years — including in 2010, when Melbourne’s Kingston Heath took the prize.

But while Royal Melbourne may have been pipped for top spot, Victoria dominates the ranking’s top ten with Dan Andrews’s golf course of choice, Kingston Heath, Peninsula Kingswood (North), Royal Melbourne (East) and Victoria golf courses all named among the very best in the country.

Other Tasmanian courses to make the top ten are Barnbougle Dunes and Barnbougle Lost Farm.

“It should also be noted that some big hitters are missing from the list. They’re undergoing

renovations and will no doubt be threatening the leaderboard next time around. These

include Commonwealth, Huntingdale, Royal Sydney and Mount Lawley,” AGD notes.

Lower down the list are Portsea golf course — at 49 — where the former Premier was reportedly not wanted as a member. It was ranked significantly lower than the likes of Boonie Doon, at 39, 13th Beach at 33, Point Lonsdale’s Lonsdale Links at 36 and Barwon Heads at a very respectable 23.

Meanwhile, the luxe RACV Cape Schanck course only made 74 in the rankings and Warrnambool 93.

But the Victorian courses all did better than Queensland’s expensive Noosa, with the Noosa Springs course just scraping in at 100.