Best Golf Courses in Australia & Oceania
The world's great sand belt
Australia and New Zealand together constitute one of the world's great underrated golf destinations. Melbourne's Sandbelt — a ten-mile arc of sand-based heathland — is considered by many architects the finest concentration of courses anywhere on earth. New Zealand adds clifftop and coastal drama that rivals anything in the British Isles.
— Top 10 Rankings
Top 10 Best Golf Courses in Australia & Oceania
Updated
About Golf Courses in Australia & Oceania
The world's great sand belt. Australia's Melbourne Sandbelt is considered one of the finest concentrations of golf courses anywhere on earth. Add New Zealand's clifftop gems and the region punches well above its weight.
The Melbourne Sandbelt is the centrepiece of Australian golf and one of the sport's great pilgrimage destinations. Royal Melbourne, Kingston Heath, Victoria, and Commonwealth sit within twenty minutes of each other — all ranked among the world's top courses, all accessible to visiting golfers through introduction or published visitor policies. The courses were largely designed in the 1920s by Alister MacKenzie and others who recognised the perfect combination of sandy soil, native vegetation, and gentle undulation that produces ideal golf terrain. Beyond Melbourne, Australia offers an extraordinary breadth of golfing experience. Queensland's Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast host resort golf of a high standard. New South Wales has The Australian and Royal Sydney in its private club tradition, with newer coastal courses at Barnbougle and Cape Wickham in Tasmania now pulling international visitors specifically for the golf. New Zealand's Tara Iti and Cape Kidnappers have rapidly risen to global prominence — both are destination resort courses of the highest quality, though remote and expensive. Australia's climate is broadly favourable for golf year-round, though summer (December–February) brings extreme heat across much of the interior and north. Melbourne's best golf weather runs from September through May. New Zealand is temperate throughout the year; the North Island is warmer and drier, the South Island more variable. The Australasian golf calendar suits northern hemisphere visitors who want to extend their season into the local summer.
- Ranked courses
- 35
- Course styles
- links 12 · parkland 10 · coastal 9
- Access
- private 15 · resort 13 · public 6
- Opened
- 1908–2025
- Playable without membership
- 20 of 35
— By Country
Golf Courses in Australia & Oceania by Country
— Also in Australia & Oceania