Australia Golf Course Renovations to Watch in 2026
Australian golf is in the middle of a remarkable building boom. A landmark city rebuild has just been completed in Sydney, a Sandbelt classic returns from a full redesign, and a brand new coastal course has opened the door to a fresh golf trip near Hobart. Here is what is changing and why it matters for your trip.
The headline: Royal Sydney reborn by Gil Hanse
The biggest project of the cycle is in Sydney. The Royal Sydney Golf Club handed its Championship Course to the American architect Gil Hanse for a complete rebuild that began in late 2023 and was finished in March 2025, with the latest green, bunker and irrigation construction underneath a substantially reimagined layout. As part of the work the club reshaped its landscape too, reporting a net increase of more than 1,500 trees and the planting of hundreds of thousands of native species to rebuild the understory.
This matters for the visiting golfer because Hanse is the most sought after architect in the game, the man behind Olympic and major championship venues, and Royal Sydney is now one of the freshest expressions of his work anywhere. A round at a famous Australian club has always been a bucket list outing; with the course newly rebuilt and maturing through 2026, it moves up the priority list for anyone routing a trip through the harbour city.
The Sandbelt keeps reinventing itself
Melbourne's famous Sandbelt, the densest cluster of great courses in the country, is in its own renovation era. The headline closure has been Huntingdale, long the home of the Australian Masters, which has been through a ground up redesign. The reworked course is set to welcome members back from December 2025, with international visitor bookings opening from March 2026, so for the first time in a couple of seasons it returns to the list of Sandbelt courses a travelling golfer can plan around.
The quieter work is just as telling. Metropolitan has carried out careful alterations to greens and bunkers, with significant changes on the back nine, while Commonwealth's well received Tom Doak and Brian Slawnik restoration helped lift it up the national rankings. None of this is cosmetic. The Sandbelt clubs are protecting and sharpening what makes them special, the firm turf, the bold bunkering and the green complexes, which means the courses are presenting better than ever for the golfer who comes a long way to play them.
A new course worth crossing the country for
The most exciting new addition is not a renovation at all but a brand new course. 7 Mile Beach, on the coastal dunes about five kilometres from Hobart airport in Tasmania, opened its South Course for public play in December 2025, having run limited preview play through 2025. It is the work of CDP Golf, the partnership of Mike Clayton, Mike DeVries and Frank Pont, on genuine links sand, and it gives Tasmania a third great golf destination to sit alongside Barnbougle and the Cape Wickham country.
That changes the shape of a Tasmanian trip. Where a golf tour of the island used to point north to Barnbougle, there is now a serious reason to build time around Hobart in the south, with the convenience of a course minutes from the airport. For anyone planning an Australian golf odyssey in 2026, 7 Mile Beach is the most compelling new name on the map.
What it means for your trip
The practical takeaways for a 2026 Australian golf trip are clear. In Sydney, the rebuilt Royal Sydney is the new centrepiece for a harbour city itinerary, ideally paired with the resort style links of The Lakes nearby. In Melbourne, Huntingdale rejoins a Sandbelt rotation that already includes the immaculate Kingston Heath, and the wider Sandbelt is in superb condition after a run of restorations. And in Tasmania, the opening of 7 Mile Beach turns a single destination into a two ended island tour.
The one piece of advice that always applies to renovation news is to confirm before you commit. Reopening dates can slip, visitor access windows vary, and a course in its first season after major work can play differently from its settled form. Build the trip around the projects that are open and bedded in, and treat the freshest reopenings as a bonus to confirm at booking.
Our take
Australia has quietly become one of the most rewarding golf destinations in the world, and this wave of work is the reason it keeps climbing. The combination of a Gil Hanse rebuild in Sydney, a restoration era across the Melbourne Sandbelt and a major new links in Tasmania means the standard of golf a visitor can play is higher than at any point in memory. Our advice is to lean into it. Anchor a trip on the courses that are open and mature, keep an eye on Huntingdale's return, and give Tasmania the extra days it now deserves.
Plan your Australian golf trip
From the rebuilt Royal Sydney to the Melbourne Sandbelt and the new links of Tasmania, tell us roughly when and who is travelling and one concierge builds and costs the trip, with no obligation.
Questions
Which architect rebuilt Royal Sydney's Championship Course?
The American architect Gil Hanse rebuilt the Royal Sydney Golf Club Championship Course, with work running from late 2023 to completion in March 2025, including new green, bunker and irrigation construction and an extensive landscape replanting.
When does the redesigned Huntingdale reopen?
The redesigned Huntingdale is set to welcome members back from December 2025, with international visitor bookings opening from March 2026. Reopening dates can change, so confirm current visitor access directly before booking.
What is the new course near Hobart?
7 Mile Beach, designed by CDP Golf, opened its South Course for public play in December 2025 on coastal dunes about five kilometres from Hobart airport in Tasmania, adding a major new links to the island's golf.
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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Renovation and opening details verified June 2026 from club, architect and golf media sources; projects and dates change, so always confirm directly. Last reviewed June 2026.