KINGSTON HEATH has made it to No. 1 on the list of Australia’s Top 100 golf courses.

Judges said it beat second place getter, the New South Wales Golf Club at La Perouse, by the equivalent of “a six inch putt”.

Third in the 2010 list is the now deposed but long time No. 1 course Royal Melbourne.

The list is judged and published by Australian Golf Digest, who say the elevation of Kingston Heath to the number one spot is the first change at the top of the list since the magazine began publishing it in the 1980’s.

Such lists of course always come down to a matter of personal opinion and the criteria and structure of judging.

The magazine admits Royal Melbourne was always going to be in trouble – not just because of recent course conditioning issues – but by an internal decision to remove composite rankings, resulting in the East (Eigth) and West (Third) courses being judged separately.

The two top ranking courses were presented at their best last year, with Kingston Heath staging the 2009 Australian Masters and NSW the 2009 Australian Open.

Comments published elsewhere would suggest the staging of such tournaments might have a big bearing on the judging (or is it just the effort put into course preparation?)

“With Australian Golf Digest’s 2012 ranking due to be released in the wake of the 2011 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, it wouldn’t surprise to see the club make a swift return to the top spot,” an AGD representative wrote.

Australia’s Top 25 Golf Courses

(Australian Golf Digest 2010 List)

1 Kingston Heath (Victoria)
2 New South Wales (NSW)
3 Royal Melbourne (West) (Victoria)
4 Barnbougle Dunes (Tasmania)
5 Ellerston (NSW)
6 The National (Moonah) (Victoria)
7 Metropolitan (Victoria)
8 Royal Melbourne (East) (Victoria)
9 Royal Adelaide (South Australia)”
10 Victoria (Victoria)
11 The Australian (NSW)
12 Lake Karrinyup (Western Australia)
13 Moonah Links (Legends) (Victoria)
14 The Dunes (Victoria)
15 Royal Sydney (NSW)
16 The National (Oueensland)
17 The Lakes (NSW)
18 Newcastle (NSW)
19 Joondalup (Quarry/Dune) (Western Australia)
20 The Links Kennedy Bay (Western Australia)
21 Barwon Heads (Victoria)
22 Woodlands (Victoria)
23 Kooyonga (South Australia)
24 Commonwealth (Victoria)
25 Peninsula (North) (Victoria)

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