Tasmania is bereft of teams in national sporting competitions but the island state is the nation's new capital of top-shelf golf courses.
Four young courses, buffeted by Bass Strait winds, have helped the Apple Island dislodge Victoria as the leading state in the Australian Golf Digest course rankings.
King Island duo Cape Wickham and Ocean Dunes and north-east neighbours Barnbougle Dunes and Lost Farm sit inside the top 10 of the biennial rankings released on Thursday.
The Graeme Grant-designed Ocean Dunes was only completed 18 months ago while the other three didn't exist in 2005.
It comes a month after the international Golf Digest listed the older trio among the world's best 26 layouts.
New criteria for the Australian rankings coincided with two Victorian courses - Victoria Golf Club and National Old - slipping out of the top 10.
But Royal Melbourne West was again No.1, ahead of Kingston Heath.
"Generally speaking, courses in amazing settings received a small boost, while those layouts wedged within claustrophobic residential estates suffered," rankings editor Steve Keipert said.
"Some critics might ask, 'Are the surroundings of a course an essential element of a course's architectural merit' but there's little question scenic values add to golfers' enjoyment of a round."
Queensland was the only state not represented in the top-20, with Brookwater and Hamilton Island the best for the sunshine state.
The Clive Palmer-owned Palmer Resort Coolum has dropped out of the top 100, a decade after it was consistently inside the top 40.
AUSTRALIAN GOLF DIGEST'S TOP 10 COURSES
1. Royal Melbourne West (Vic)
2. Kingston Heath (Vic)
3. Cape Wickham (Tas)
4. Barnbougle Dunes (Tas)
5. New South Wales GC (NSW)
6. Barnbougle Lost Farm (Tas)
7. Ellerston (NSW)
8. Royal Melbourne East (Vic)
9. Royal Adelaide (SA)
10. Ocean Dunes (Tas)
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