The total cost to play our Top 100 Golf Courses serves as a reminder of how fortunate Australian golfers are.

How much would you pay to play all of Australia’s Top 100 Golf Courses? Think about your answer for a moment before reading on. You’re talking about not just the country’s premier golf courses but several of the world’s best. Renowned tournament venues, heralded beacons of great course architecture, names and places known across the golf world. OK, we’ve stalled long enough – if you guessed between $18,000 and $19,000, you’d be spot on.

We searched, phoned and e-mailed every one of the courses on Australian Golf Digest’s biennial ranking (2024-2025 list) for their current green fee, and the 97 we sourced (more on the missing trio later) totalled $18,359, for an average of $189 per course, or $10.50 per hole.

The value proposition behind that aggregate – not to mention the presence of at least some level of non-member access for almost every course in our Top 100 – fortifies the notion that Australia might just be the luckiest golf nation in the world. Our temperate climate coupled with the calibre of our 100 best layouts makes for an envious combination even before you factor in the collective price tag.

Breaking down the numbers further, it will cost you $358 on average (or $3,583 in total) to play each of the top 10 courses. The top 25? That’ll be $339 on average ($8,142 in total), while the top 50 pushes those numbers to $265 and $12,742, respectively. We’ll save you the search, too, as the cheapest among the Top 100 is $50, while the most expensive costs $600.

HOW WE DID IT
Our research to compile this list was carried out in much the same fashion as any golfer would go about finding out green fees: we searched online, we made phone calls, we enquired. Most clubs were happy to share their rates when asked, however some were not – and for varying reasons. Most of the reluctant clubs remained coy either because access for non-member play is only via member accompaniment, while some said their green fees change or are based on each individual application to play (in those instances we asked for their most common rate).

Other clubs said visitor access isn’t something they readily promote, which is understandable for private and semi-private clubs. So we acknowledge here that hurdles to play do exist. While a Melbourne Sandbelt club, for instance, might offer a rate for an interstate golfer, that’s of little help to someone who lives 10 kilometres away. Golfers will invariably need to travel out of their home state to receive greens fees in line with many listed here.

Another observation: it’s astonishing how many golf clubs either don’t reveal their green fees on their websites, or hide the information online, making it difficult to find. Several fully public courses on this list do not even indicate the cost to play anywhere on their website.

Meanwhile, even though it’s common practice to offer different green fees for different days of the week or seasonal rates, we wanted a solitary sum to sit alongside each of the 100 courses. So what you’ll see here is either the prevailing rate for courses where the day of the week determines the charge, or the rate for September wherever seasonal fees apply. We favoured interstate green fees over those charged to international golfers and ignored twilight rates, while any discounts for being invited by or playing alongside a member were also disregarded (unless access specifically requires member accompaniment). In the same vein, some resort-course green fees become reduced via stay-and-play packages, but for the purpose of this list those have been disregarded.

Three courses aren’t listed with a green fee. Ranked highest is the ultra-private Cathedral course in rural Victoria. There is no such thing as interstate green fees or group rates there, as all play is for members and their guests, with no standard or average guest rate to work from. You might argue that’s the case at some other private clubs, yet in general interstate visitor rates are available – by going through the right channels – at even the most prestigious clubs. Additionally, Sanctuary Cove in Queensland asked not to have green fees publicised, despite guests staying at the adjoining resort having access to both its courses.

Which means, in some shape or another, you can theoretically play 99 of our Top 100 Courses. You’ll just need $19,000, plenty of time and a reliable mode of transport, plus you may have to move states mid-trip to change your residence. However, as an exercise, it remains entirely possible.