There are more than 1,800 golf courses in Australia and New Zealand, but only a small percentage have the ingredients – the setting, history, dramatic holes, the tournament dramas – that combine to take your breath away during a round.
MILLBROOK RESORT
Arrowtown, South Island, NZ
The stunning landscape seen by millions of people in the film trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, forms the backdrop to Millbrook Resort, which is now a 36-hole complex.
The home of the NZ Open is wonderfully manicured with superb bentgrass greens. The tees are also bentgrass and along with the greens they present a colourful contrast to the varying shades of fescue grasses on the fairways and in the rough.
Adding to the colour spectrum is the wide variety of alpine trees – Sycamore, Oak, Sugar Maple, Elm, Ash, Douglas Fir and Flowing Cherry burst into vivid shades of red, orange and purple across the landscape in autumn.
NAROOMA GC
Narooma, NSW
Narooma is one of the most visually striking golf courses in Australia combining magnificent ocean views with dramatically undulating holes weaving through dense tall timber country.
The 141-metre par-3 3rd defies you to take on an ocean water carry. The tee shot here is fraught with danger as your ball must be played over a chasm with waves crashing onto rocks below. A sea cave carved out of the cliff beneath the green makes this hole one you will never forget.
Narooma could easily leave you wanting more based on the views alone, but once you have played it you’ll want to go again.
NEWCASTLE GC
Stockton, NSW
Carved from rugged bushland and dense Ti-tree, the fairways of Newcastle bend, twist, roll and sidestep their way over often dramatic sandy terrain that was barely disturbed by the designers nearly 90 years ago.
The routing traverses the contours of the landscape beautifully and, as a result, presents some blind tee shots and a wide variety of awkward lies for approaches into greens.
The 7th, at 143 metres, is a classic short par-3 you won’t forget. There is no room for error from the tee as your shot must be struck through a chute of tall Eucalypts and all care must be taken to avoid a pod of bunkers short of the green.
NEW SOUTH WALES GC
La Perouse, NSW
Built by nature and originally enhanced by the creative minds of local designer Eric Apperly and the legendary Dr Alister MacKenzie, New South Wales has few rivals worldwide for presenting such an array of fascinating and spectacularly natural seaside holes.
There are plenty of highlights during a round but first-timers, while being impressed by the opening quartet of holes, will be awestruck by the layout’s dynamic duo – the 468-metre par-5 5th and the 177-metre par-3 6th holes.
OCEAN DUNES
King Island, Tasmania
Ocean Dunes’ seaside holes are not only visually spectacular but are designed to give you plenty of options depending on the conditions of the day.
The opening quartet sets the bar pretty high from the outset, while the 10th and 11th holes are unforgettable gems. Graeme Grant’s design doesn’t back off when the layout moves inland across and through the massive dunes.
The design aside, the presentation of Ocean Dunes’ playing surfaces are first class.
PARAPARAUMU BEACH GC
Paraparaumu, North Island, NZ
Fans of traditional links courses simply love Paraparaumu Beach, which covers rugged, windswept dunesland and has changed very little in nearly 80 years.
Acclaimed American course designer Tom Doak, long before he returned to New Zealand to create Cape Kidnappers, listed Paraparaumu (pronounced Para-param) in his top-14 links courses in the world, alongside the likes of the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland, Northern Ireland’s Royal County Down and Ireland’s famous Ballybunion.
The late Peter Thomson was just as smitten with the Kiwi links.
“I loved it instantly. We had nothing like it in Australia, which must have struck Alex Russell, who did the layout. Course designing approaches an art form, especially done in a perfect modelling medium like volcanic sand. Russell must have been ecstatic.”
PENINSULA KINGSWOOD CGC – North & South Courses
Frankston, Victoria
The major renovations by OCCM (Ogilvy, Clayton, Cocking & Mead) here have been nothing short of outstanding.
As a result, one of the best parcels of golfing terrain on the Melbourne Sandbelt is now home to a 36-hole complex of indisputable world-class quality.
The North Course (pictured inset) features exceptional green complexes, and stunning bunkering that are complimented by pure playing surfaces.
Its South Course (main photo) neighbour, which was rebuilt on a slightly bigger scale, with broader fairways, greater elevation changes as well as bigger hazards and greens.
The sheer grandeur of the golf at Peninsula will enthral you from the 1st tee to last.
PORT FAIRY LINKS
Port Fairy, Victoria
Port Fairy’s “wow” starts before you even stand on the 1st tee. It begins when you hand over just $49 to play 18 holes.
When you walk off the 18th green you realise you’ve just played one of the best value-for-money rounds in Australia. Even world-renowned course designer Tom Doak was impressed.
“I can’t think of a better golf course for $49 in this day and age,” he said after his visit.
There are plenty of highlights, but the stretch of seaside holes from the 12th to the dogleg par-4 16th are worth double the green fee alone.
QUEENSTOWN GC
Queenstown, South Island, NZ
The Queenstown layout occupies a stunning piece of golfing land on the Kelvin Peninsula, offering 360-degree views across Lake Wakatipu to Frankton, Queenstown and the Remarkables.
This is one of New Zealand’s most scenic courses and, as such, the quality of the golf is arguably underrated.
One highlight is the challenging 362-metre par-4 5th, which is flanked by Lake Wakatipu to the left as the fairway follows the shoreline as it climbs uphill to the two-tiered green. The aggressive player can hit their drive over the edge of the lake, on the line of a protruding boulder, to significantly shorten the hole but it is a high-risk, but exhilarating, play.
ROYAL MELBOURNE GC – West Course
Black Rock, Victoria
We could fill dozens of pages of this magazine heaping praise on Dr Alister MacKenzie’s world famous design. We could, but we won’t.
All you need to know is this course sets the benchmark by which all other Australian courses are measured. It has been the No.1 layout in this country for as long as ranking lists have existed simply because it has more world class holes than any other course in the country.
Every great player in the game for the past 60 years – from Jack Nicklaus and Peter Thomson, to Greg Norman and Tiger Woods – has walked its hallowed fairways and been moved to praise the genius of the design and the high standard of its playing surfaces.
ROYAL MELBOURNE GC – East Course
Black Rock, Victoria
Royal Melbourne’s East Course might just be the most underrated layout in the nation.
The East doesn’t have the beautiful rolling terrain that is a highlight of the neighbouring West course but does boast the visual pleasure of Alex Russell’s fine design. The routing and use of the land is first class and stamps this as Russell’s finest work.
The seven East layout holes contained within Royal Melbourne’s main property are the highlights of the round, with Russell’s creative touches here producing some world class holes.
ROYAL ADELAIDE GC
Seaton, Adelaide
In the ‘City of Churches’, Royal Adelaide is the golfing equivalent of the Vatican – it is the city’s most famous golfing attraction and every visiting golfer should make the pilgrimage to the Dr Alister MacKenzie-designed layout.
Royal Adelaide was already in the ground when the Good Doctor visited in 1926. It’s rise to world class status began with his visit and continues today thanks to recent design tweaks overseen by Tom Doak.
Many elements of MacKenzie’s design have been untouched, including one of the best short par-4s in the country – the 260-metre 3rd hole with its “leg of mutton” shaped green protected by a grassy knoll.
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