courses-travel
Australia's Most Scenic Golf Courses
From the coastal links of Tasmania and King Island to the famous Melbourne Sandbelt, here are Australia's most scenic golf courses and how to remember playing them.
Australia punches well above its weight in world golf, and a big part of the reason is the scenery. This is a country where a round can mean firm coastal links on the edge of the Bass Strait, clifftop holes above the wild Southern Ocean, or the crafted, sandy perfection of the Melbourne Sandbelt. Few golfing nations offer such variety of landscape in a single trip.
This guide gathers Australia's most scenic golf courses, why each one is special and what makes it worth the journey. As a business with deep Australian roots, we have a soft spot for showing off these courses, so consider this a love letter as much as a list. If you are planning a wider golfing adventure, it pairs nicely with our guides to the most beautiful golf courses in the world and the ultimate bucket list golf courses.
Australia's most scenic golf courses, ranked
Scenery is subjective, and Australians will happily argue the order all night. The courses below span rugged coastal links, ocean cliffs and the inland artistry of the Sandbelt, so pick the landscape that speaks to you and build a trip around it.
Australia's most scenic golf courses
Cape Wickham Links (King Island, Tasmania)
Perched on the northern tip of King Island, Cape Wickham is about as dramatic as coastal golf gets. Holes run right along the shoreline, waves crash below the tees and the closing hole plays down towards a curving beach. It is remote and weather-beaten in the best possible way, and it has rocketed up the world rankings since it opened.
- Spectacular ocean-edge holes
- A true bucket-list setting
- Remote island access
- Exposed to strong winds
Barnbougle Dunes (Bridport, Tasmania)
On the north-east coast of Tasmania, Barnbougle Dunes brought genuine, world-class links golf to Australia. Rumpled fairways tumble through towering natural dunes beside the Bass Strait, and the firm, fast turf plays like the great links of the old world. Its neighbour, Lost Farm, makes it a two-course pilgrimage.
- World-class links land
- Two great courses side by side
- A long drive or flight from major cities
- Coastal weather
New South Wales Golf Club (La Perouse, Sydney)
Sitting on a headland at La Perouse overlooking Botany Bay, this Alister MacKenzie routing is one of the most beautiful city-edge courses anywhere. Holes climb over rocky outcrops and open onto sweeping ocean views, with the water in play both visually and literally.
- Stunning Botany Bay outlook
- Classic MacKenzie design
- Wind off the ocean
- Limited visitor access
Royal Melbourne, West Course (Melbourne Sandbelt)
Consistently ranked as Australia's finest course, the West at Royal Melbourne is the jewel of the Melbourne Sandbelt. The Alister MacKenzie design is famed for bold, sculpted bunkering, firm running fairways and greens that reward clever angles. It is less rugged coastline than crafted, sandy artistry, and it is glorious.
- Australia's top-ranked course
- Iconic sandbelt bunkering
- Members' club with limited access
- A test for higher handicaps
Kingston Heath (Melbourne Sandbelt)
Royal Melbourne's great Sandbelt neighbour, Kingston Heath is a masterclass in bunkering and strategy packed onto a relatively compact site. Many consider its collection of holes and its short game challenges the finest on the Sandbelt, framed by native heath and tea-tree.
- Sublime bunkering and strategy
- Immaculate sandbelt turf
- Private members' club
- Small margins for error
The National Golf Club (Cape Schanck, Mornington Peninsula)
On the Mornington Peninsula south of Melbourne, The National spreads several courses across dramatic clifftop and dunes land above Bass Strait. The elevated holes deliver huge ocean panoramas, and the mix of layouts makes it a destination in its own right.
- Sweeping clifftop ocean views
- Multiple courses in one visit
- Blustery clifftop conditions
- Access is member-focused
Ocean Dunes (King Island, Tasmania)
King Island's second great links, Ocean Dunes shares the same wild coastline as Cape Wickham and delivers its own set of jaw-dropping holes, including tee shots played across rocky inlets to fairways beside the sea. Pairing the two makes King Island one of the world's most scenic golf escapes.
- Dramatic sea-carry holes
- Completes a King Island trip
- Small, remote island
- Weather-dependent flights
Bonville Golf Resort (Coffs Harbour, New South Wales)
A complete change of scenery, Bonville is a lush, subtropical parkland course carved through rainforest and towering flooded gum trees on the New South Wales north coast. Manicured fairways, ferns and the occasional curious wallaby make it one of the prettiest inland rounds in the country.
- Beautiful rainforest setting
- Resort golf you can actually book
- Tight, tree-lined fairways
- Humid in summer
From the wave-battered links of King Island to the sculpted sands of Melbourne, Australia offers more variety of scenery than almost anywhere a golfer can tee it up.
How to plan an Australian golf trip
Australia is vast, so it pays to plan around a region rather than trying to see everything at once. Three clusters make natural itineraries. Tasmania and King Island are the links pilgrimage, best combined into one Bass Strait adventure. Melbourne is the Sandbelt trip, where a handful of the country's greatest courses sit within a short drive of one another. And the Mornington Peninsula, a short hop from Melbourne, adds clifftop ocean golf to the mix.
Timing matters. The Australian golf season runs opposite to the northern hemisphere, so the prime months are the local spring and autumn, roughly September to November and March to May, when the weather is kind and the coastal courses are at their firmest and best. Coastal links play very differently in a strong sea breeze, so pack layers and a windproof no matter the forecast.
A note on access: several of the very best courses, including the Sandbelt clubs, are private members' clubs, so plan ahead and look into visitor arrangements or reciprocal options well before you travel. The coastal resort courses in Tasmania and on King Island are generally more straightforward to book, which is part of what makes them such rewarding trips.
Distances are the other thing to respect. The gap between a Sydney headland course, the Melbourne Sandbelt and the Tasmanian links is measured in flights, not drives, so most golfers pick one region per trip and do it justice rather than sprinting between all three. If you have the time for two, the classic pairing is the Sandbelt for its crafted, strategic golf and Tasmania or King Island for raw coastal drama, which together showcase just how much range Australian golf has to offer.
Keep the memory of your Australian round
A round at Cape Wickham or across the Sandbelt is the kind of golf you replay in your head for years. Rather than let it fade, plenty of golfers turn a special Australian round into a framed piece of course art for the study, the office or the pool room. It is a daily reminder of the day, the trip and the people you shared it with.
You can design your own course art of the exact course or hole that meant the most, whether that is a clifftop par three above Bass Strait or the closing hole where the round came good. Prefer to see how the classics look first? Browse existing course-art landing pages for inspiration before you personalise your own.
Australia's scenic golf courses: common questions
What is the most scenic golf course in Australia?
It is hotly debated, but Cape Wickham on King Island is a frequent answer thanks to its clifftop, ocean-edge holes. Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania and New South Wales Golf Club in Sydney are also perennial favourites, while the Melbourne Sandbelt offers a different, crafted kind of beauty. The best answer is really the one that suits the golf you love.
When is the best time to play golf in Australia?
The Australian season runs opposite to the northern hemisphere, so the prime windows are local spring and autumn, roughly September to November and March to May. These months bring pleasant temperatures and firm coastal turf. Coastal courses can be windy year-round, so pack layers whenever you go.
Can visitors play the Melbourne Sandbelt courses?
Several of the greatest Sandbelt courses, including Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath, are private members' clubs, so access takes planning. Look into visitor days, reciprocal arrangements through your home club, or organised golf tours well before you travel. Resort courses in Tasmania and on King Island are generally easier to book directly.
Do I have to have played a course to get a print of it?
No. Many golfers frame a course they have played as a keepsake, while others frame a dream Australian course as motivation or as a gift. You can design art of any course or hole that means something to you.
Frame your Australian round
From the links of King Island to the Melbourne Sandbelt, turn a course you have played or dream of into a personalised print made to hang. Design yours in minutes.
Create your course art