This month saw the release of the 2024 Top 100 list from Australian Golf Digest. What must be said, it is probably the most controversial, or thought provoking in some time. Only once before in the magazines 37 year history of conducting the rankings, has a course deposed Royal Melbourne G.C. West from its number one spot. That was in 2010 by Kingston Heath. Until now.
Cape Wickham, since its opening, has remained entrenched in Golf Digest’s top three spots. So it was only a matter of time, before it became number one in my opinion. Does that mean it will remain there, probably not. But I would not criticise the fact, it has reached the pinnacle of the list. Last year, playing with some of the Golf Digest panel, they were all extremely impressed with its design, location and conditioning (although the later has deteriorated on a couple of holes since). I don’t want to make this all about Cape Wickham though, as it deserves its own post in general, which will follow soon.
The 17th hole at Cape Wickham
So what are some of the other observations from this years top 100 list?
Within the top 10, other than a new number one, all courses remained with little change. The next ten also didn’t see much movement, with the exception of two NSW courses moving in and out of the top twenty. The Australian moved in, whilst The Lakes moved out.
There is a lot of renovation being carried out, particularly at some of the highly ranking courses. This saw Royal Sydney, Commonwealth, Huntingdale, The National Long Island, Links Kennedy Bay and Mount Lawley all being omitted.
Nine courses managed to improve more than ten places, mainly due to recent renovations or improved conditioning:
- St Michaels G.C (+14)
- Cottesloe G.C. (+15)
- Rosebudd C.C. (+17)
- Meadow Springs (+14)
- Killara G.C. (+10)
- Sanctuary Lakes (+14)
- Palmer Coolum (+16)
- Mollymook G.C. (Hilltop) (+10)
- The Heritage (St John) (+12)
Entering or rejoining the Top 100 are:
- Club Pelican – back after course alterations due to selling land
- The Heritage (Henley) – back after receiving some long overdue attention
- Twin Waters
- RACV Royal Pines
- Royal Fremantle G.C.
- Forster Tuncurry (Tuncurry)
- Murray Downs
- Albany
- Noosa Springs
The bottom fifty are generally more volatile, although Brookwater did manage to drop seven spots to 41. With some rejoining the list, there are those that didn’t find the marks to remain, including :
- Cranbourne – Not sure why this is the case. The course will be closing at some stage after Huntingdale renovations are complete, but it still remains open and worthy of a spot
- RACV Healesville – Another big surprise omission
- Royal Hobart G.C.
- Kew G.C.
All of these are subjective and it is always interesting to compare with Golf Australia Magazine’s Top 100 list, particularly in the top fifty. This obviously leads to some interesting debates. For a good listen try Australian Golf Passport podcast, where Steve Keipert was interviewed by two Golf Australia Magazine panelists.
For the next ranking period, those having undergone renovation are expected to return. At the lower end, Indooroopilly which recently underwent a renovation by Karrie Webb and Ross Perrett, along with Pymble, will have bedded in and may re-emerge. But maybe two new course could debut. Seven Mile Beach is expected to open at the end of 2024 is being highly anticipated globally. Whilst another Tasmanian course, Arm End and South Australia’s The Cliffs Kangaroo Island, may be completed during the ranking period.
To read the results in full, don’t hesitate to buy this months Australian Golf Digest magazine, either online or at your local newsagency.
The future looks bright for Australian golf, as well as for course architecture buffs. Looking forward to see what eventuates in another two years.
