August 4th, 2026
By Australian Golf Digest
South Australia’s golf heritage centres on Adelaide’s own sandbelt, home to some of the country’s most decorated championship layouts. Here’s the definitive ranking of South Australia’s top 10 golf courses, according to Australian Golf Digest’s Top 100 Courses panel.
1 Royal Adelaide Golf Club — No.10 overall
Location: Tapleys Hill Road, Seaton, Adelaide
The grand dame of South Australian golf, renowned for its Character. Dr Alister MacKenzie’s design work remains one of the finest in the country, having hosted multiple Australian Opens, with panellists describing it as a club you could play solely for the rest of your life.
2 Kooyonga Golf Club — No.21 overall
Location: May Terrace, Lockleys, Adelaide
Renowned for its Conditioning, Kooyonga sparkled as host of this year’s Women’s Australian Open and is set to welcome LIV Golf Adelaide next year. It ranks eighth nationally for Conditioning.
3 Glenelg Golf Club — No.29 overall
Location: Novar Gardens, Adelaide
Achieving its highest ranking yet on the back of a redesign under Neil Crafter, Ryan Van Der Veen and Bob Tuohy. Renowned for its Shot Options, the reopened layout drew nearly 20 panellist visits during the summer alone.
4 Grange Golf Club (West) — No.49 overall
Location: White Sands Drive, Grange, Adelaide
Authoring a ninth consecutive placing in the 40s, the West course is renowned for its Conditioning. Its overall scores continue to be buoyed by excellence in the potent Shot Options, Challenge and Conditioning combination.
5 Grange Golf Club (East) — No.58 overall
Location: White Sands Drive, Grange, Adelaide
The East course doesn’t live in the shadow of its sister layout, renowned for its Conditioning and polling favourably across all seven judging criteria.
6 Links Lady Bay — No.69 overall
Location: Normanville, Fleurieu Peninsula
A windswept course overlooking South Australia’s Gulf St Vincent, renowned for its Shot Options. Its future could brighten further once the new course on nearby Kangaroo Island opens.
7 Mount Compass Golf Course — No.79 overall
Location: Mount Compass, Fleurieu Peninsula
One of the ranking’s most dependable courses, renowned for its Distinctiveness. Once known as Fleurieu, Mount Compass boasts a spread of only 0.31 points across all seven judging criteria, making it popular through whichever lens it’s viewed.
Want to see how the rest of the country stacks up? Check out the full Top 100 Courses ranking here.