More Australians are playing golf today than at any other time in the game’s history in this country. The economic reality is, however, many of us now need to make our golfing dollar stretch a lot further than it did even five years ago.
PORT KEMBLA GC
Primbee, Wollongong
Green fees: $45 (weekdays); $50 (weekends).
Port Kembla is a lush, easy-walking layout with fairways lined by a combination of gums, melaleucas and low-lying trees, which makes the par-72 a real shot-making challenge.
The club engaged Australian golfing legend Craig Parry to create a masterplan a handful of years ago and his changes have helped make the layout fairer for golfers of all standards, without compromising the challenge of the course.
Parry’s redevelopment of par-3s – the 3rd, 8th and 15th – have seen bunkers removed to open lines of sight to each green.
WEMBLEY GOLF
Wembley Downs, Perth
Green fees: $43 (weekdays); $50 (weekends).
If this is not the busiest golf complex in Australia, it is on the podium.
Wembley not only boasts two 18-hole courses, but there is an 80-bay, two-tiered driving range, short game practice area and mini golf.
The Tuart, and the neighbouring Old Course, are laid out over 300 acres of undulating land and both layouts feature heavily tree-lined fairways, very good bentgrass greens and a minimal number of bunkers.
And you can find all this just 15 minutes’ drive from the Perth CBD.
ST LUCIA LINKS
St Lucia, Brisbane
Green fees: $41 (Mon-Thu); $50 (Fri-Sun).
St Lucia Golf Links is one of Brisbane’s oldest courses and will celebrate its centenary in 2026.
Originally designed by Dan Soutar (who a year earlier finished work on Melbourne’s world-famous Kingston Heath), St Lucia became a public council course in 1985 and has undergone a raft of changes in the past few decades. Some holes were shortened, several bunkers removed, and others reshaped, while several greens were modernised.
FOX HILLS GC
Prospect, Sydney
Green fees: $35 (weekdays); $50 (weekends).
Fox Hills is an easy-walking layout in the heart of Sydney’s western suburbs that offers challenges and fun for players of all standards.
Arguably the best hole here is rated the hardest on the course. The 362-metre par-4 4th calls for a long, straight drive to avoid a lake to the left and a creek on the right. The creek cuts across the front of the green and wraps around its left edge, while the approach must be precise to avoid tall trees either side of the ideal playing line.
CENTENARY PARK GC
Frankston North, Melbourne
Green fees: $32-$42 (weekdays); $43-$50 (weekends).
Located between the Melbourne Sandbelt and the famed Mornington Peninsula, Centenary Park is widely regarded as one of Melbourne’s best public courses.
Designed by PGA professional Bill Clifford, Centenary Park opened for play in 1974 after Frankston Council decided to move the course away from the centre of town.
Perhaps the most memorable feature of the layout is the green complexes. The bunker surrounds on most holes are simple, while the putting surfaces are challenging and fun.
MURRUMBIDGEE GC
Kambah, Canberra
Green fees: $25 (Mon); $40 (Tue-Fri); $50 (weekends).
Good golf in a great setting is always something you don’t mind paying top dollar for. But you don’t have to at Murrumbidgee, which is a testing course that also boasts picturesque views of the nearby Brindabella Range.
There is plenty to like about the layout, especially if you like to test your ball-striking skills. The finest example of this can be found on the 196-metre par-3 9th hole, which demands a long tee shot over the edge of a lake to a narrow green with two bunkers right and another to the left. It is a brave tee shot that goes at any flag in the right half of the green here.
Related Articles
Review: The Western Australian Golf Club
Course Review: Cape Kidnappers
