GOLF released its latest ranking of the Top 100 Courses in the World (2025-26), and while Pine Valley again took the top spot, there were three newcomers and two returnees to the ranking. Here, we’ll introduce you to them.
Golf is fickle, subject to fluctuations. Golf course rankings can be volatile, too. Cape Wickham, which opened in 2015, debuted at No. 72 on the World Top 100 and rose as high as 60 two years later, only to fall off the list in 2023–24. Critics of the course pointed to problems with the site itself, on King Island between Tasmania and mainland Australia, where breezes often swell into four-club gusts. Wind is integral to the game, naysayers said. But conditions this blustery? That, in their view, pushed past character and into chaos.
This year, though, Cape Wickham has blown back onto the roster, buoyed by ballots from raters who felt that any extreme huffing and puffing was more than offset by the layout’s strengths. Start with the setting, which feels like golf at the edge of the map, the routing opening on seaside bluffs and affording views of the Bass Strait throughout. Throw in a collection of coast-hugging par 3s and a closing cape hole that invites derring do, and Cape Wickham delivered with a rare blend of strategy and beauty.
It was also crafted for its surrounds. In a nod to the elements, the fairways are generous and the greens open-fronted, built to welcome low-flighted approaches. When the votes were tallied, Cape Wickham landed right on the number, returning to the ranking on the winds of change.