GOLF released its latest ranking of the Top 100 Courses in the World (2023-24), and while Pine Valley again took the top spot, there were eight newcomers that found their way into the ranking. Here, we’ll introduce you to them.
Newcomer spotlight: Victoria / Rank: 96th
Location: Cheltenham, Australia
Play: Semi-Private
Architect: Alister Mackenzie, 1927; Ogilvy Clayton Cocking & Mead, 2019
Why it made our list, according to a rater:
It’s wonderful to see Victoria re-enter our Top 100 after a long absence. The work the club has carried out the last seven years has resulted in a marvelous experience for members and guests. Pristine putting surfaces, featuring a remarkably smooth and resilient strain of bentgrass, ensures that the course plays well throughout the year. Victoria is situated on the Melbourne Sandbelt, one of the best golf regions in the world, and comparisons to its neighbor, Royal Melbourne, are inevitable. Victoria lives up to the hype, with firm playing surfaces, and re-established sandy wastes and native vegetation that enhance the aesthetics while posing a challenge for shots that aren’t quite hit where they should be. — Gary Lisbon
You can view Victoria’s Top 100 Course page here.
More about Victoria
Around the globe, courses built before 1940 are undergoing thoughtful restorations,” panelist Pete Phipps writes, “and Victoria Golf Club is a sterling example, with Mike Clayton meticulously overseeing much of the work over a 20-year period. Today, Victoria enjoys the style of golf that Alister MacKenzie introduced to Australia during his legendary 1926 trip, which included his work across the road, at Royal Melbourne. The bunkers and waste areas reflect a Golden Age aesthetic — green undulations and surrounds are both fun and challenging, and the overall conditions are as firm and fast as any in the Sandbelt. Also, the club’s leadership and agronomy team deserve credit for fostering only indigenous vegetation on the property while removing all other forms that had crept in over the decades. The short par-4s at the 1st and 15th stand out even in a neighborhood full of such risk-reward holes. The club embodies the best attributes of Australian golf, and the short green-to-tee walks make it a walker’s paradise. Bunking in one of the rooms in the clubhouse completes the experience. — Ran Morrissett
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