89. PALMER COOLUM RESORT
Yaroomba, Queensland
A championship test offering fantastic views of Mt Coolum and a real challenge for golfers of all skill levels. Another gorgeous Robert Trent Jones Jnr design which offers a true feeling of tranquility. – Matt Green
www.palmercoolumresort.com.au
 
88. LAKES ENTRANCE GC
Lakes Entrance, Victoria
Lakes Entrance affords players all the sights, smells and sounds of true links golf. The club moved to this site in 1958. The land was a combination of swamp and undulating sand ridges, covered with coastal banksias, wattle and ti-tree – the perfect land for a natural links.
www.lakesentrancegolf.com
 
Alice Springs Golf Club. (PHOTO: Supplied)
 
87. ALICE SPRINGS GC
Alice Springs, Northern Territory
The well-maintained playing surfaces are various shades of green and wide of the fairways, the tinder-dry undergrowth is surrounded by the reds and yellows of rocky and sandy desert soils. The ochre glow of the MacDonnell Ranges, which forms a majestic backdrop to the course, is particularly impressive late in the day.
www.alicespringsgolfclub.com.au
 
86. PALMER GOLF SEA REEF
Port Douglas, Queensland
Covering 73 hectares of land once covered by sugar cane fields, just south of Port Douglas, Sea Reef has all the elements of a links course – large greens, pot bunkering, devilish mounding, humps and hollows. What sets this place apart is the rainforest which cuts through the middle of the property, not to mention the signs warning of estuarine crocodiles near several of the course’s water hazards!
www.palmergolf.com.au
 
Coffs Harbour Golf Club. (PHOTO: Brendan James)
 
85. COFFS HARBOUR GC (LAKES COURSE)
Coffs Harbour, New South Wales
Situated just outside Coffs, this 27-hole championship course is a dream to play on. The relaxed atmosphere adds to the enjoyment of the enticing, tree-lined fairways, which are wide and forgiving (just keep away from the water hazards). With the option to play three different courses, it’s no wonder the festival week is so successful. – Robert McLaughlin
www.coffsharbourgolfclub.com.au
 
84. SHELLY BEACH GC
Shelly Beach, New South Wales
Shelly Beach is set enviably along the beach and is a course you could never tire of playing. In a sensational location with a great clubhouse, it is a fun and interesting course. The main paddock has the best golf. The opening six holes are great, particularly 5 and 6 along the beach. Holes 9 and then 16-18 are also great holes. – Brendan Egan
 
The views of the beach from the course are breathtaking and are a constant distraction from the golf. The putting surfaces and fairways are almost always in great condition. – Jason Menzies
www.shellybeachgolfclub.com.au
 
83. TURA BEACH CC
Tura Beach, New South Wales
A challenging but fair layout offering an incredible variety of holes, which require you to play a host of shots with nearly every club in the bag, from a range of different lies. All this makes for interesting and fun golf, which is a tip of the hat back to the quality of Thomson and Wolveridge’s design skills.
www.turabeachcountryclub.au
 
82. SANDHURST CLUB (NORTH COURSE)
Sandhurst, Victoria
With five-time Open champion Peter Thomson having such strong ties and a love of golf in Scotland, it should not come as any surprise that a course bearing his name might, in some part, pay homage to the great links of the Home of Golf. The North Course does just that. It is a layout which closely follows Thomson’s philosophy of design, which comes from the traditional links-style courses of Scotland, where the belief is that golf is a game played mainly along the ground, not in the air.
www.sandhurst.com
 
81. ULVERSTONE GC
West Ulverstone, Tasmania
Designed by Al Howard, Ulverstone is a wonderfully undulating course which easily sits among Tasmania’s best and is perhaps the reason why it has hosted several state and national championships. While you might read about other courses having fairways which are “heavily tree-lined”, none come close to Ulverstone for shear majesty in the size and number of trees abounding the layout. This is hardly surprising, considering the par-72 is surrounded by thick Tasmanian forest.
 
80. BYRON BAY GC
Byron Bay, New South Wales
The club, which has been the long-time host of the Legends Tour Australian PGA Championship, has blossomed beautifully in the past decade. First established as part of a working bee back in 1957.
www.byronbaygolfclub.com.au