Australia’s Top 100 Courses 2011

‘The Golf Course Guide’ was the first to use this term to encompass both public courses and those private clubs that provide access to green fee players. They were also the first Australian publication to adopt a numerical and statistical ranking process, and to make this process transparent to readers.

The Guide remains the only publication (as far as we are aware) that provides rankings under discreet criteria (40% Design; 40% Conditions and 20% Aesthetics) and they will not match the preferences of every golfer.

However, by presentation of essentially three lists, it attempts to list those courses that they will find most pleasing – whether their preferences are for design strategy, immaculate playing surfaces, or simply beautiful surroundings.

The 2011 lists and rankings of Australia’s Top 100 public access courses is ready and waiting.

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AUSTRALIA’S BEST PUBLIC ACCESS COURSES 2011

The Golf Course Guide is proud to present our annual assessment of Australia’s Best Public Access Courses in the most informative format we can devise – separate lists showing how our judges ranked the candidates in each of three key criteria: Design, Conditions and Aesthetics.

In Part Two (coming soon) of our annual rankings we assess the facilities at 50 of our finest Stay and Play destinations, and this year, for the first time, we also provide this information broken down into the components ranked by our panel: Accommodation, Dining and Other.

Our aim, as always, is to promote and direct golf tourism within Australia by providing our readers with all the information they require to select for themselves the style of course, the price range and the creature comforts that they require…and to save readers money on both green fees and accommodation costs throughout.

Part One: Top 100 Public Access Courses (Overall)

2011 RANK*	COURSE	2010 RANK
1	BARNBOUGLE DUNES	1
2	MOONAH LINKS – LEGENDS	2
3	THE DUNES	5
4	JOONDALUP – QUARRY/DUNES	3
5	KENNEDY BAY	4
6	MAGENTA SHORES	6
7	MOONAH LINKS – OPEN	7
8	BARWON HEADS	8
9	THIRTEENTH BEACH - BEACH	9
10	ST ANDREWS BEACH	nr
11	PACIFIC HARBOUR	10
12	PORTSEA	12
13	THE CUT	11
14	HAMILTON ISLAND	nr
15	BROOKWATER	14
16	BONVILLE	13
17	HOPE ISLAND	15
18	COOLUM	19
19	CLUB PELICAN	18
20	HERITAGE - ST JOHNS	23
21	GLADES	17
22	CAPRICORN – CHAMPIONSHIP	16
23	LAKELANDS	20
24	VINES – LAKES	21
25	VINTAGE	22
26	PACIFIC DUNES	31
27	SANCTUARY COVE – PINES	30
28	PORT FAIRY	26
29	THIRTEENTH BEACH - CREEK	24
30	HORSHAM	32
31	EYNESBURY	27
32	MEADOW SPRINGS	25
33	SORRENTO	36
34	CAPE SCHANCK	34
35	ST MICHAEL’S	28
36	LAGUNA - TURTLE POINT	37
37	PARADISE PALMS	35
38	ROBINA WOODS	33
39	RANFURLIE	29
40	MURRAY DOWNS	39
41	ALICE SPRINGS	46
42	HERITAGE - HENLEY	48
43	NOOSA SPRINGS	40
44	TWIN WATERS	41
45	ROYAL HOBART	45
46	LINKS LADY BAY	38
47	BONNIE DOON	47
48	LONG REEF	43
49	NAROOMA	49
50	CRANBOURNE	50

Next 50 alphabetic

Top 100	ALBANY	Top 100
Top 100	ARALUEN	Top 100
Top 100	BELMONT	Top 100
Top 100	BRIBIE ISLAND	Top 100
Top 100	CAMDEN LAKESIDE	Top 100
Top 100	CAPRICORN – RESORT	Top 100
Top 100	COBRAM BAROOGA – OLD	Top 100
Top 100	COLONIAL	Top 100
Top 100	COOLANGATTA – RIVER	Top 100
Top 100	COROWA	Top 100
Top 100	CRESWICK FOREST	nr
Top 100	CYPRESS LAKES	Top 100
Top 100	EAGLE RIDGE	Top 100
Top 100	FEDERAL	Top 100
Top 100	FLINDERS	Top 100
Top 100	FORSTER-TUNCURRY – TUNCURRY	Top 100
Top 100	GAINSBOROUGH GREENS	Top 100
Top 100	GOLD CREEK	Top 100
Top 100	GROWLING FROG	Top 100
Top 100	HORIZONS	Top 100
Top 100	INDOOROOPILLY – EAST	Top 100
Top 100	KEPERRA	Top 100
Top 100	KINGSTON LINKS	Top 100
Top 100	KOOINDAH WATERS	44
Top 100	LAKES ENTRANCE	Top 100
Top 100	MOLLYMOOK – HILLTOP	Top 100
Top 100	MT BROUGHTON	Top 100
Top 100	NORTH LAKES	Top 100
Top 100	OCEAN SHORES	Top 100
Top 100	PALM MEADOWS	Top 100
Top 100	ROSEBUD – NORTH	Top 100
Top 100	ROSEBUD – SOUTH	Top 100
Top 100	ROYAL PINES – GREEN/GOLD	Top 100
Top 100	SANDS TORQUAY	42
Top 100	SEATEMPLE	Top 100
Top 100	SECRET HARBOUR	Top 100
Top 100	SHEPPARTON	Top 100
Top 100	TALLWOODS	Top 100
Top 100	TASMANIA	Top 100
Top 100	THE COAST	Top 100
Top 100	TOCUMWAL – CAPTAINS	Top 100
Top 100	TOCUMWAL – PRESIDENTS	Top 100
Top 100	TUGGERAH LAKES	Top 100
Top 100	TURA BEACH	Top 100
Top 100	VINES – ELLENBROOK	Top 100
Top 100	WARRNAMBOOL	nr
Top 100	WATERFORD VALLEY	Top 100
Top 100	YARRAWONGA – MURRAY	Top 100
Top 100	YERING MEADOWS	Top 100
Top 100	YOWANI	Top 100

Welcome newcomers to our list this year are the re-opened St Andrews Beach on Melbourne’s MorningtonPeninsula and the Hamilton Island Golf Club on Dent Island.Little changed in our course rankings for 2011. Few courses underwent major design surgery, climatic conditions generally eased slightly and many courses completed work to ensure ongoing water availability making for an overall improvement in course conditioning.

St Andrews Beach (10) is simply a wonderful tour through the towering sand dunes of the Peninsula’s famed Cups region designed by internationally renowned Tom Doak, and exemplifies the architect’s minimalist approach with virtually no earth moved during construction. The course was ranked at No. 3 in our Design table, and is destined to move further up the overall rankings list as the new owners restore the playing surfaces to their former glory.

Thomson Perrett’s Hamilton Island golf course (14) boasts wonderful ocean views from almost every one of its elevated tees and when more of our judges have had the opportunity to visit the course it may well challenge for top honours in our Aesthetics table where it debuts this year at No. 3. The design is somewhat compromised by severe fairway slopes combined with blind tee shots that make play difficult, especially with the wind, and lost balls common. Conditioning is set to improve as the new course settles in.

Firmly entrenched at No. 1 again this year is Doak’s second Australian commission – Barnbougle Dunes on Tasmania’s northern coastline. This world class links layout just gets better and better with the maturing pure fescue playing surfaces for tees, fairways and greens now ranked No. 4 for Conditions by our panel, who generally accept that the greens cannot be ultra fast given the brutal winds that typically confront the player in this genuine links setting. The fairways are appropriately wide to account for the wind factor, and with multiple tee options the course truly provides something for players of every ability – the most important factor in assessing a Public Access Design.

Ross Perrett’s Legends Course at Moonah Links retains 2^nd place overall, ranking No. 2 for conditions (just behind its Leviathan neighbour the Open Course) and No. 4 for design – again so ranked because it can provide an enjoyable challenge for all rather than a brutal and often penal test such as that imposed by its neighbour which was constructed to host the Australian Open and be a fitting challenge for elite golfers.

Perennial favourite, Tony Cashmore’s The Dunes also on the Mornington Peninsula moved up two places to No. 3 this year, with just a marginal improvement in Conditions, demonstrating once again just how close is the scoring of our top courses. The Dunes set the benchmark for upscale daily fee (public access) courses when it was constructed 16 years ago, and at the same time marked the re-emergence of links like golf in Australia. As many other high quality coastal layouts followed, our list is now dominated by this style, with only Joondalup (4) amongst the top ten not set in seaside sand dunes.

Kennedy Bay (5), another stunning links on the coast south of Perth dropped just one spot, despite our panel this year demoting its design rank from 3 to 6 and its conditions from 5 to 7, again just demonstrating that the scoring is so close that these moves are not significant. No golfing visit to WA is complete without a game at Kennedy Bay plus another at Joondalup which also moved down one place this year with slightly poorer placings for design and quite a drop down the aesthetics list – perhaps the most subjective of our lists as beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder.

Ranfurlie at No. 39 will be considered harshly dealt with by lovers of Mike Clayton’s work, but our group of judges could rate the design no higher than No. 23 and were not overly impressed by Conditions nor Aesthetics.

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Part One: Top 50 Public Access Courses (Design)

2011 DESRANK*	COURSE	2010 DESRANK*
1	BARNBOUGLE DUNES	1
2	THE DUNES	2
3	ST ANDREWS BEACH	nr
4	MOONAH LINKS – LEGENDS	6
5	THIRTEENTH BEACH - BEACH	5
6	KENNEDY BAY	3
7	JOONDALUP – QUARRY/DUNES	4
8	MAGENTA SHORES	7
9	PORTSEA	8
10	BARWON HEADS	11
11	PACIFIC HARBOUR	12
12	THE CUT	9
13	CLUB PELICAN	17
14	HOPE ISLAND	14
15	GLADES	16
16	BROOKWATER	13
17	MOONAH LINKS – OPEN	18
18	HERITAGE - ST JOHNS	19
19	CAPRICORN – CHAMPIONSHIP	15
20	LAGUNA - TURTLE POINT	10
21	VINES – LAKES	20
22	COOLUM	24
23	RANFURLIE	Top 50
24	PACIFIC DUNES	Top 50
25	EYNESBURY	22

Next 25 alphabetic

Top 50	BONVILLE	21
Top 50	CAPE SCHANCK	Top 50
Top 50	HAMILTON ISLAND	nr
Top 50	HERITAGE - HENLEY	Top 50
Top 50	HORIZONS	Top 50
Top 50	HORSHAM	Top 50
Top 50	LAKELANDS	Top 50
Top 50	LINKS LADY BAY	Top 50
Top 50	MEADOW SPRINGS	Top 50
Top 50	MURRAY DOWNS	Top 50
Top 50	OCEAN SHORES	Top 50
Top 50	PARADISE PALMS	Top 50
Top 50	PORT FAIRY	Top 50
Top 50	ROBINA WOODS	Top 50
Top 50	ROYAL HOBART	Top 50
Top 50	SANCTUARY COVE – PINES	25
Top 50	SECRET HARBOUR	Top 50
Top 50	SORRENTO	Top 50
Top 50	ST MICHAEL’S	Top 50
Top 50	TASMANIA	Top 50
Top 50	THIRTEENTH BEACH - CREEK	Top 50
Top 50	TWIN WATERS	Top 50
Top 50	VINTAGE	Top 50
Top 50	WATERFORD VALLEY	Top 50
Top 50	YERING MEADOWS	23

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Part One: Top 50 Public Access Courses (Condition)

 

2011 COND RANK*	COURSE	2010 COND RANK
1	MOONAH LINKS – OPEN	1
2	MOONAH LINKS – LEGENDS	2
3	JOONDALUP – QUARRY/DUNES	3
4	BARNBOUGLE DUNES	6
5	LAKELANDS	4
6	THE DUNES	7
7	KENNEDY BAY	5
8	HOPE ISLAND	13
9	PACIFIC HARBOUR	8
10	BARWON HEADS	9
11	MAGENTA SHORES	12
12	BROOKWATER	21
13	THIRTEENTH BEACH - BEACH	10
14	THE CUT	11
15	COOLUM	15
16	HAMILTON ISLAND	nr
17	PORTSEA	16
18	GLADES	14
19	ST ANDREWS BEACH	nr
20	HERITAGE - ST JOHNS	24
21	CLUB PELICAN	18
22	VINTAGE	19
23	BONVILLE	17
24	VINES – LAKES	22
25	SANCTUARY COVE – PINES	Top 50

Next 25 alphabetic

Top 50	ALICE SPRINGS	nr
Top 50	BONNIE DOON	25
Top 50	CAPE SCHANCK	Top 50
Top 50	CAPRICORN – CHAMPIONSHIP	Top 50
Top 50	CRANBOURNE	nr
Top 50	EAGLE RIDGE	Top 50
Top 50	EYNESBURY	Top 50
Top 50	HORSHAM	Top 50
Top 50	MEADOW SPRINGS	23
Top 50	MURRAY DOWNS	Top 50
Top 50	NOOSA SPRINGS	Top 50
Top 50	PACIFIC DUNES	Top 50
Top 50	PALM MEADOWS	nr
Top 50	PARADISE PALMS	Top 50
Top 50	PORT FAIRY	Top 50
Top 50	RANFURLIE	Top 50
Top 50	ROBINA WOODS	Top 50
Top 50	ROYAL PINES – GREEN/GOLD	Top 50
Top 50	SANDS TORQUAY	Top 50
Top 50	SORRENTO	Top 50
Top 50	ST MICHAEL’S	Top 50
Top 50	THIRTEENTH BEACH - CREEK	20
Top 50	TWIN WATERS	Top 50
Top 50	WATERFORD VALLEY	Top 50
Top 50	YARRAWONGA – MURRAY	nr

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Part One: Top 25 Public Access Courses (Aesthetics)

2011 AES RANK	COURSE	2010 AES RANK
1	BARNBOUGLE DUNES	1
2	BONVILLE	2
3	HAMILTON ISLAND	nr
4	THE DUNES	4
5	KENNEDY BAY	3
6	BARWON HEADS	6
7	ST ANDREWS BEACH	nr
8	MOONAH LINKS – LEGENDS	9
9	MAGENTA SHORES	7
10	PORTSEA	13
11	JOONDALUP – QUARRY/DUNES	5
12	PACIFIC HARBOUR	11
13	MOONAH LINKS – OPEN	12
14	CAPRICORN – CHAMPIONSHIP	14
15	LAGUNA - TURTLE POINT	10
16	THE CUT	8
17	NAROOMA	17
18	COOLUM	18
19	THIRTEENTH BEACH - BEACH	16
20	PORT FAIRY	19
21	ALICE SPRINGS	15
22	BROOKWATER	20
23	CAPE SCHANCK	21
24	HERITAGE - ST JOHNS	nr
25	HOPE ISLAND	23

If you’d like to have your say about any of our lists go to www.ausgolf.com.au/course-rankingsWe recognise the subjective nature of our rankings, and suggest their use as a guide only.

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WHAT ARE PUBLIC ACCESS COURSES?

To be considered for this list courses must be available for play by public, green fee paying golfers for most of the year. Courses available only to members, interstate or overseas visitors, or holders of official handicaps are excluded. The list includes:

Public Courses –the best courses are mostly privately owned these days, although a few are council owned. These courses have no members and are available to anyone who pays a green fee and conforms to a few simple requirements such as dress codes and owning or hiring a set of clubs.

Resort Courses – privately owned, with additional facilities on site such as accommodation. Such additional facilities are NOT considered in ranking the courses, but are ranked separately in our tables to enable readers to select just what they require for their stay.

Private Courses – most golf courses throughout Australia are private clubs. An annual fee, and often a joining fee, is required, and members then do not usually pay green fees. Most clubs have tee times when the public may pay green fees and play the course, sometimes including club competition times. Such courses are considered “public access” in this Guide if they permit green fee players several days per week. Some private courses are only accessible to the public whilst they stay in on site accommodation.These courses are included in the list.

Other clubs are more exclusive, requiring guests to be introduced by a member, or permitting unaccompanied non-members access only if they are club members visiting from interstate or overseas.These courses are excluded from this list. However, since some of our readers qualify to play, we have printed the course rankings from Australian Golf Digest (Mar 2010) as a guide. These rankings are based on slightly different criteria from those outlined below, principally with a lower weighting on conditioning, so they are not strictly comparable.

 

HOW THE LISTS WERE COMPILED?

The Golf Course Guide has published a list of Australia’s best Public Access Courses every year since 2001. Our list differs from those found in other publications in some important aspects. Clearly, we are focused only on those courses that encourage green fee players (see details under “what are public access courses”). Our judges have a range of ages and golfing abilities and are instructed to reward course designs that cater for golfers of every level. We are extremely proud of the methodology that we have developed over many years. We strive for transparency, with clear criteria, and we offer separate lists based on course design, conditions and aesthetics to enable readers to select courses that will most readily appeal to their own preferences.

Panellists were asked to score only courses they had played. Colleagues who play certain courses frequently were consulted to more accurately assess year round conditions. The judging period is from August 2009 to July 2010 in order to print the Guide and have it on sale well before Christmas. This unfortunately penalizes courses that have made improvements too late to be judged. All scores were standardised to compensate for any particular harshness or leniency, and spurious high or low results were rejected.

 

Course Design (40% weighting): How each hole presents an enjoyable, even thrilling challenge to golfers of all abilities from scratch markers to high handicappers and shorter hitters. The variety of different holes that make up the course, and the variety of shots that they require to test every facet of your game. The strategic design of each hole – where hazards come into play, reward for risk takers plus the existence of a safer/easier option, maybe with an additional stroke, for those who choose not to take the risk.

Courses with two separate 18s considered as two courses; where 27 holes available, the “best” 18 selected.

 

Course Conditions (40% weighting): Year round playing conditions (from best to worst season) and course maintenance of greens (greatest weighting), fairways, tees, rough and hazards.

 

Course Aesthetics (20% weighting): The obvious beauty of the setting and also that very subjective quality of ambience and tranquillity that allows the golfer to lose himself in his environment. For some golfers, the thrill of playing golf in a stunning (eg coastal clifftop) environment can far outweigh lacklustre design strategy, and even mediocre fairway conditions. For these players, our allocation of only 20% weighting will seem inadequate, and they should seek out courses from our Best Aesthetics list, rather than the overall rankings.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RANKINGS?

Selwyn Berg is the Managing Editor of ausgolf and the Editor and Publisher of The Golf Course Guide. Handicap of 11 at Commonwealth.

He is a member at Bonnie Doon, playing off a handicap of 8.

Graeme Bond is Sports presenter on 3AW Fairfax Radio network where he has covered all the major Australian golf events for the past 14 years

A member at the National and Settlers Run, he plays off a handicap of 12.

Steve Keipert is the Editor of Australian Golf Digest, a role that takes him to golf courses acrossAustralia. His handicap is 9 at Ashlar Golf Club, Sydney.

Garry Kennedy is Editor and Publisher of Hacker Golf Quarterly and General Manager of The Golf Course Guide. His current handicap is 14 at Heidelberg.

Jonathan McCleery is a golf author and investor who plays off 7 at Riversdale where he is presently Captain.

Peter Nolan is a keen golfer who plays off 7 at Rosanna.

Kevin Pallier has played golf extensively throughout Australia and the British Isles. He is a panellist for a number of golfing publications including Australian Golf Digest and Golf World (UK). He is a member at Wollongong Golf Club, NSW with a handicap of 11

David Worley is a member at Commonwealth, Sorrento and Moonah Links who plays off 11. He has recently written a comprehensive book on British Links.

This year a few of our regular panel are absent due to travel or other commitments or had seen too few courses through the judging period. We have used some past Design and Aesthetics scores where no changes have been made on course provided by George Begg, Rohan Clarke, Brendan James and Leon Wiegard.

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