Cape Kidnappers golf course on the clifftops above Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

Best of · Southern Hemisphere

The Best Golf Courses in the Southern Hemisphere

When the north is frozen, the world's best golf is in its summer down south, from Tom Doak's links north of Auckland to the firm, fast Sandbelt of Melbourne. Here are the eight best across Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, ranked, with our verdicts and how to get on.

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8 coursesRanked

Doak to MacKenzieDesigners

AU, NZ, ZAThree nations

Nov to MarchBest season

How we chose

How we ranked the best southern hemisphere golf courses

The southern hemisphere holds some of the very greatest golf on earth, concentrated in three countries that play through the northern winter. We weigh the quality and pedigree of the design first, then the drama of the land and the conditioning, and finally how memorable the whole round is. The verdicts are ours, drawn from the recognized world and regional rankings and our own travels. Because several of the best are private, we have ranked on merit and flagged access plainly, so you know what it takes to get on each one.

The geography splits cleanly. Australia is the deepest, led by the Melbourne Sandbelt, where Alister MacKenzie left his mark on Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath, and by the wild Tasmanian and island links. New Zealand counters with a trio of modern masterpieces, Tom Doak's Tara Iti and Cape Kidnappers and the clifftop Kauri Cliffs. South Africa brings Gary Player's Leopard Creek beside the Kruger and the Fancourt Links. Strung together, with the seasons reversed, they make one of the great golf journeys in the world.

Reviewed June 2026 by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Designers, dates and rankings verified at publication. How we research and review.

The ranking

The eight best golf courses in the southern hemisphere

From Doak's untouchable Tara Iti and MacKenzie's Royal Melbourne to the public links of Tasmania and King Island and Gary Player's Leopard Creek, ranked with our verdicts and the access you need to know.

Tara Iti

New Zealand · Tom Doak, 2015 · private

The finest course in the southern hemisphere and a fixture in the world top ten, Tom Doak's 2015 masterpiece sits in restored duneland on the coast at Mangawhai, around ninety minutes north of Auckland. Wild, sandy and minimalist, it plays firm and fast over tumbling ground to greens of real imagination, the purest expression of the modern links revival. An exclusive private club with limited access, which is the only thing that keeps it off most golfers' card, but the single best round on this list.

Royal Melbourne (West)

Australia · Alister MacKenzie, 1931 · private

The crown jewel of the Melbourne Sandbelt and, for many judges, the greatest course in the world. Alister MacKenzie routed the West course in 1931 with Alex Russell, and its firm, fast fairways, bold contours and famously brilliant, deep bunkering are the template the whole region follows. Strategic, walkable and endlessly clever, it has hosted Presidents Cups and World Cups. Private and revered, played as a member's guest, the heart of any serious Australian golf trip.

Kingston Heath

Australia · Soutar and MacKenzie · private

The Sandbelt course that pushes Royal Melbourne closest, laid out by Dan Soutar in the 1920s with a celebrated set of bunkers shaped to a MacKenzie plan. Many good players prefer its tighter, more consistent run of holes and its outstanding par 3s on a smaller, flatter site. Immaculate turf, the best conditioning in Australia and a routing without a weak hole. Private and held in the highest regard, the connoisseur's Sandbelt pick alongside its famous neighbor.

Cape Kidnappers

New Zealand · Tom Doak, 2004 · resort

One of the most spectacular courses anywhere, Tom Doak's 2004 layout runs out along fingers of farmland clifftop high above Hawke's Bay, with several holes finishing on the very edge of a sheer drop to the Pacific. The golf is as good as the scenery, big, bold and strategic across dramatic ridges and valleys. As a lodge course it welcomes resort guests, making it far more accessible than Tara Iti and an essential stop on a North Island trip.

Barnbougle Dunes

Tasmania, Australia · Doak and Clayton, 2004 · public

The course that put Tasmania on the world map, a 2004 Tom Doak and Mike Clayton design set in towering dunes above Bass Strait near Bridport. Raw, windswept links golf of the highest order, it is a genuine public course, walkable and bookable, with its equally brilliant sibling Lost Farm next door. Remote but unforgettable, Barnbougle is proof that the best modern golf can be the most democratic, and the anchor of any Tasmanian golf pilgrimage.

New South Wales Golf Club

Australia · Alister MacKenzie, 1928 · private

MacKenzie's Sydney masterpiece, laid out in 1928 on a wild, rocky headland at La Perouse overlooking Botany Bay, where Captain Cook first landed. Exposed, dramatic and routed across cliffs and dunes, it offers some of the most thrilling coastal holes in Australia, including a par 3 played from a clifftop tee to a green on a rocky outcrop. Private and weather beaten, it is a stirring counterpoint to the inland Sandbelt and a must on a Sydney golf trip.

Cape Wickham Links

King Island, Australia · DeVries and Oliver, 2015 · public

The most remote great course in the country and one of the most scenic on earth, opened in 2015 to a Mike DeVries and Darius Oliver design on the wild northern tip of King Island in Bass Strait. Eight holes touch the ocean, the closing hole plays along a beach, and the wind is a constant playing partner. Reaching it takes a flight and some planning, but the public links that waits is jaw dropping golf and a true bucket list round.

Leopard Creek

South Africa · Gary Player, 1996 · private

South Africa's most celebrated course, a Gary Player design opened in 1996 on the boundary of the Kruger National Park, where the Crocodile River and its resident wildlife frame the golf. Lush, manicured and dramatic, it hosts the DP World Tour's Alfred Dunhill Championship and rewards a complete game. Private and tied to the exclusive lodge, it pairs world class golf with a safari setting found nowhere else, the standout of any South African golf and game trip.

Costs and access

Access, the seasons and planning the trip

Access is the defining challenge of a southern hemisphere golf trip. Many of the very best, Tara Iti, Royal Melbourne, Kingston Heath, New South Wales and Leopard Creek, are private and played as a member's guest or by prior arrangement, so the right introductions matter. Others are genuinely open: Cape Kidnappers welcomes lodge guests, and Barnbougle Dunes and Cape Wickham are public links you can simply book, weather and remoteness allowing. The reversed seasons are the great prize, with the southern summer from November to March delivering peak golf while the north is in winter.

Green fees vary widely by country and currency and move with season and the exchange rate, so we keep this guide qualitative rather than quoting a single figure. The resort and public courses publish their rates; the private clubs are guest access only. We can shape a trip across all three countries, secure the bookable rounds and pursue access to the private gems, and cost the whole thing to the head. Always confirm current fees and access directly before booking.

Compare live tee times at the public and resort courses through our partner: check tee time availability. Lodge and resort stays near the golf: find lodging near the courses.

Plan the trip

Plan a southern hemisphere golf trip

A trip down south can be a focused week on the Melbourne Sandbelt, a North Island loop taking in Cape Kidnappers and Kauri Cliffs, a Tasmanian links pilgrimage, or a grand tour across all three countries through their summer. Tell us your group, your dates and the courses on your wish list, and we will sequence the routing, secure the bookable rounds, pursue access to the private clubs and book the lodges around the golf.

We handle the long haul logistics so the organiser can play. Groups of any size, from a fourball to a full society outing.

Golf in Australia →Golf in New Zealand →Plan my trip →

Good to know

Best southern hemisphere golf courses: common questions

What is the best golf course in the southern hemisphere?

Tara Iti, a Tom Doak design from 2015 on the coast north of Auckland in New Zealand, is widely rated the finest course in the southern hemisphere and sits inside the world top ten. Its closest rival is Royal Melbourne's West course, the Alister MacKenzie masterpiece at the heart of Australia's Sandbelt, which many regard as the greatest of all. Both are private, so access is the harder part of playing them.

Which countries have the best golf in the southern hemisphere?

Australia, New Zealand and South Africa hold almost all of the southern hemisphere's world ranked courses, with Australia the deepest by far, led by the Melbourne Sandbelt and the Tasmanian links. New Zealand counters with Tara Iti, Cape Kidnappers and Kauri Cliffs, while South Africa's best are Leopard Creek and Fancourt Links. The three combine into one of the great golf tours on earth.

When is the best time to play golf in the southern hemisphere?

The seasons are reversed, so the southern summer, roughly November to March, is the prime window across Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, with long days and warm, settled weather. This makes the region the ideal escape for northern hemisphere golfers during their own winter. Shoulder months like October and April are also excellent and quieter.

Can you play the best southern hemisphere courses?

It is a mix. Several of the very best, including Tara Iti, Royal Melbourne, Kingston Heath, New South Wales and Leopard Creek, are private and played as a member's guest or by prior arrangement. Others welcome visitors, notably the resort course Cape Kidnappers and the public links at Barnbougle Dunes and Cape Wickham. A planned trip with the right introductions opens far more doors.