The awesomeness of Australia, with its sheer brawn and transcendent beauty, allows a traveler to visit some of the world’s great cosmopolitan cities, view the fledgling island wonders of Tasmania and sample some of the best golf found anywhere—the world renowned Sandbelt courses of Melbourne.

Where to start? Many flights from the United States go directly into Sydney or Melbourne, and either will work fine for an Aussie sojourn. Sydney is a great city in which to wake on that first long morning, where a traveler can recover from a long flight by getting the legs stretched and taking an invigorating dip into the ocean at Bondi Beach.

There is plenty to see and do across those first few days in Sydney (ocean, beach, city tour, Harbour Bridge, famous Sydney Opera House). Get the sticks unpacked, for there is some good golf in Sydney, as well. New South Wales Golf Club is just a short drive from downtown and boasts one of the most venerable layouts in the country.

The sweeping ocean views at New South Wales Golf Club (above) are so impactful and leave such an impression that they won’t soon fade. In fact, when Alister Mackenzie was designing the layout, he thought the brilliant scenic vistas rivaled any he had encountered anywhere, inclusive of a new course he was building in California named Cypress Point, which would open in 1928. A letter he penned in 1927 about NSW says as much. The par-3 sixth is played from a point of rocks at Cape Banks headland across the ocean. In a word, breathtaking.

Before heading to Melbourne, there is a relatively new and wholly worthwhile side excursion sure to reward any golfer’s time and effort: The short flight to Tasmania to visit three spectacular courses at Barnbougle. Barnbougle boasts Lost Farm (Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw), Dunes (Tom Doak, Michael Clayton) and a riveting 14-hole short course (Bougle Run) that Coore helped to create atop the high rugged dunes and fabulous landscape. The facility is a relative newbie, opening in 2004, and like Bandon Dunes in the U.S., it blossoms and gets better each year.

Coore went about finding holes for a short course hidden in the dramatic dunesy landscape he first walked while laying out the closing front-nine holes at Lost Farm. He worked without the harness of tradition; thus, two expansive stretches of land amidst the dozen par-3 holes were transformed into short par 4s. Coore’s mandate was out of some dream: Just find the most interesting holes. And he did. He found 14 of them.

Golfers can kick back in charming lodges that offer views out to the ocean and are encouraged to enjoy a fine meal while relaxing with their “favorite Tasmanian tipple.” Even the Tasmanian devil would find the surrounds to be docile and serene. The Tasmanian escape will only get better in 2025 with the highly anticipated opening of a new course at Seven Mile Beach.

Stephen Denton

There still is plenty to see and do before exiting the magical land of Oz. Another short detour worth a day or two is a quick jaunt to King Island to see and play Cape Wickham Links (above), with its famed 1861 lighthouse. Cape Wickham often is cited as the top golf experience on the entire trip Down Under.

From there, it’s on to Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria, which is a golfer’s haven. The city is great to explore via foot, and the storied courses of the Sandbelt abound not far away. They include two Mackenzie masterpieces at Royal Melbourne, home to three Presidents Cups. The West and the East courses are both in the top 20 of Golf Digest’s most recent ranking of the World’s 100 Greatest Courses.

Next door is Kingston Heath, part of a stout lineup that includes Victoria, Metropolitan, Peninsula Kingswood, and The National (Moonah and Gunnamatta). Pull on the walking socks, load up the push cart, crack a tall, cold one and enjoy the day, mate.

Great golf, great food, memorable sightseeing and world-class golf. It’s a trip for the ages, so make sure to give yourself plenty of time to soak it all in.

To explore a trip to Australia, visit Premier Golf here.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com