Chisholm Park professional Andrew Whiley said it was the most extensive ranking of New Zealand courses undertaken, with 47 respondents including NZPGA professionals, tour professionals - including Sir Bob Charles - golf operators and one of New Zealand's leading golf course architects.
After last year's rankings, Whiley reviewed the methodology and took into consideration most rankers were from the North Island and had not played many South Island courses.
This year, the rankings were split between the islands and the average points each course received created the final rankings.
Jacks Point was named the best course in the South Island with average ranking points of 19.49, businessman Sir Michael Hill's course, The Hills, was ranked second (18.54) and Millbrook Golf Club, near Arrowtown, was ranked third (14.34).
Clearwater Golf Resort, in Christchurch, which earlier this year won the right to host the 2012 New Zealand Open, came in fourth spot, with 14.16 points.
Chisholm Park was ninth, Arrowtown, Queenstown and Wanaka golf courses were ranked 10th, 11th and 12th respectively, with Otago Golf Club coming in 13th.
When the Otago Daily Times delivered the news to Jack's Point resident professional Andrew Dorsey, he was thrill-ed with the result.
"It's great. It's definitely nice to hear."
The top three courses in the North Island were Kauri Cliffs (22.87), Wairakei (21.73) and Kinloch (21.26).
Each course received 25 points for being ranked first, 24 points for being ranked second and so on, down to one point for being ranked 25th.
Points were then divided by the number of people who had ranked the golf course - with a minimum of five per course, each one of which had to have either played or walked the courses they ranked.
No golf course was ranked by everyone, but Paraparaumu Beach topped the popularity stakes, appearing on 45 of the 47 lists.
Whiley said the golf courses with the "biggest budgets" produced the best results, with resort courses clearly topping the lists.
However, he intended to do a follow-up ranking featuring regional "club member" courses.
Plans were also under way to include country and nine-hole courses, with golfers from throughout New Zealand to be asked for feedback and assistance.
