Royal Melbourne's west course tops the bunch of Australian golf courses in Golf Digest's biennial list of the world's greatest courses, but the new Cape Wickham links is the shock performer.
Cape Wickham, one of two great new courses on King Island in Bass Strait, is ranked No. 24 in its first appearance on the list.
There are nine Australian courses in the top 100 ranked by arguably the most prestigious of the world's golf magazines.
Royal Melbourne's west course jumped three places to No. 6, while the east course also is in the top 100. Another sandbelt classic, Kingston Heath, also bobs up in the top 20 but surprisingly, Metropolitan is overlooked, as is Victoria.
Royal County Down in Northern Ireland is the new No. 1, taking over the top spot from Pine Valley in New Jersey.
THE TOP 10
1. Royal County Down (Northern Ireland)
2 Augusta National (USA)
3 Pine Valley (USA)
4 Cypress Point (USA)
5 Royal Dornoch (Scotland)
6 Royal Melbourne west (Australia)
7 Shinnecock (USA)
8 St Andrews Old Course (Scotland)
9 Muirfield (Scotland)
10 Merion (USA)
OTHER AUSTRALIAN LISTINGS
18 Kingston Heath
24 Cape Wickham
29 Ellerston
30 New South Wales
33 Barnbougle Dunes
40 Lost Farm
55 Royal Melbourne east
87 The National (Old)
FULL LISTING AT
http://www.golfdigest.com/story/worlds-100-greatest-golf-courses-2016-ranking