One hundred courses worth crossing oceans for, ranked. Our composite of the major panels and our own play, with verdicts on the top tier and a clear route to getting on each one.
Photograph: Old Course, St Andrews · Richard Grobben via Google
A world top 100 is an argument, not a fact, so we set out our reasoning. This is a composite. We weigh the long running panels at GOLF Magazine and Golf Digest, which between them have ranked Pine Valley, Cypress Point, Augusta National and the Old Course at the summit for decades, against our own rounds and the trips we build for travelers. Where the panels split, as they do over Royal County Down and the Old Course, our tie breaker is the one that matters to a visiting golfer: which is the more thrilling day, and can you actually get on.
We reward architecture that has stood the test of a century, greens that ask better questions than the tee shot, and settings that lift a round into a memory. We give credit for playability from the member tees, not only from the championship markers, and we mark down courses that punish the average traveler for nothing. Editorial verdicts here are ours. Every fact about each course, its country, its architect, its tournament history, is verified. Rankings move, so treat this as a living list we revisit.
The most demanding and most admired course on earth, and the one most panels still call number one. George Crump's masterpiece in the Jersey pine barrens asks for a precise carry on almost every shot, with sandy waste swallowing anything loose. It is intensely private, so getting on means knowing a member, but it sets the standard the rest of this list is measured against.
Alister MacKenzie's Monterey Peninsula gem runs through forest, dune and cliff, and the run from the 15th to the 17th, three holes along and over the Pacific, is the most beautiful stretch in golf. Shorter than the modern monsters and all the better for it. Even more private than Pine Valley, which is the only thing keeping it from the top spot for most travelers.
Home of the Masters and the most televised set of greens on the planet. The back nine, Amen Corner through the roaring par 5s, is the most dramatic finish in the professional game. Conditioning is a religion here. Access is famously closed, but to understand modern golf you have to understand Augusta, and it earns its place on architecture alone.
The home of golf and, crucially for this list, the greatest course you can actually play. Six centuries of golf, the Swilcan Bridge, the Road Hole and shared double greens you have to see to believe. Enter the daily ballot or book well ahead and you get the round of a lifetime. Our top course for the traveling golfer, full stop.
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Golf Digest has named it the best course in the world for several rankings running, and standing on the ninth tee beneath the Mountains of Mourne you understand why. Bearded bunkers, blind drives and gorse that turns the dunes gold in spring. It is hard, it is glorious, and unlike the courses above it you can get on with planning.
A windswept, links-like layout on Long Island and a regular United States Open host. Flynn's routing uses every contour of the land, the greens are firm and angled, and the wind off Peconic Bay turns a benign card into a brute. One of the purest examples of strategic American golf, and a course the professionals fear.
The best public course in the United States and the one bucket list round most American golfers will actually book. The cliffside stretch from the 4th to the 10th, with the tiny 7th hanging over the Pacific, is worth the considerable green fee on its own. Stay at the lodge, play it at dawn, and forgive the price.
The fairest of the Open links and many a tour player's favorite, laid out in two concentric loops so the wind never beats you the same way twice. Home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and a course that rewards honest, strategic golf. Visitor tee times are limited and prized, so plan early.
Read the full profileThe rest of the hundred, in broad order. Every one is a genuine world top 100 course; the exact placing within this tier is a finer argument than the names themselves, so read it as a single great band rather than a strict ladder.
| # | Course | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Lahinch (Old) | Ireland |
| 32 | Royal Lytham & St Annes | England |
| 33 | Pacific Dunes, Bandon | United States |
| 34 | Royal Aberdeen (Balgownie) | Scotland |
| 35 | Chicago Golf Club | United States |
| 36 | Garden City Golf Club | United States |
| 37 | Prairie Dunes | United States |
| 38 | Riviera Country Club | United States |
| 39 | Royal Troon (Old) | Scotland |
| 40 | Oakland Hills (South) | United States |
| 41 | Hirono | Japan |
| 42 | Kingsbarns | Scotland |
| 43 | Cape Kidnappers | New Zealand |
| 44 | Barnbougle Dunes | Australia |
| 45 | Tara Iti | New Zealand |
| 46 | Royal Adelaide | Australia |
| 47 | North Berwick (West) | Scotland |
| 48 | Sunningdale (Old) | England |
| 49 | Whistling Straits (Straits) | United States |
| 50 | Bethpage (Black) | United States |
| 51 | The Olympic Club (Lake) | United States |
| 52 | Kiawah Island (Ocean) | United States |
| 53 | Casa de Campo (Teeth of the Dog) | Dominican Republic |
| 54 | Real Club Valderrama | Spain |
| 55 | Morfontaine | France |
| 56 | Les Bordes (Old) | France |
| 57 | Durban Country Club | South Africa |
| 58 | Leopard Creek | South Africa |
| 59 | New South Wales | Australia |
| 60 | Ellerston | Australia |
| 61 | Cabot Cliffs | Canada |
| 62 | Cape Breton Highlands Links | Canada |
| 63 | St George's Golf & Country Club | Canada |
| 64 | Diamante (Dunes) | Mexico |
| 65 | Yas Links | United Arab Emirates |
| 66 | Emirates Golf Club (Majlis) | United Arab Emirates |
| 67 | Sebonack | United States |
| 68 | Maidstone | United States |
| 69 | Camargo Club | United States |
| 70 | San Francisco Golf Club | United States |
| 71 | Royal Liverpool (Hoylake) | England |
| 72 | Ganton | England |
| 73 | Swinley Forest | England |
| 74 | Walton Heath (Old) | England |
| 75 | County Sligo (Rosses Point) | Ireland |
| 76 | The European Club | Ireland |
| 77 | Royal Porthcawl | Wales |
| 78 | Old Macdonald, Bandon | United States |
| 79 | Streamsong (Red) | United States |
| 80 | Streamsong (Blue) | United States |
| 81 | Spyglass Hill | United States |
| 82 | Harbour Town Golf Links | United States |
| 83 | Quail Hollow Club | United States |
| 84 | TPC Sawgrass (Stadium) | United States |
| 85 | Medinah (No. 3) | United States |
| 86 | Hamilton Golf & Country Club | Canada |
| 87 | Naruo | Japan |
| 88 | Kawana (Fuji) | Japan |
| 89 | Tokyo Golf Club | Japan |
| 90 | Royal Calcutta | India |
| 91 | Gary Player Country Club | South Africa |
| 92 | Fancourt (The Links) | South Africa |
| 93 | Metropolitan | Australia |
| 94 | Paraparaumu Beach | New Zealand |
| 95 | Cabot Links | Canada |
| 96 | Mammoth Dunes, Sand Valley | United States |
| 97 | Pasatiempo | United States |
| 98 | Bandon Trails | United States |
| 99 | Sheep Ranch, Bandon | United States |
| 100 | Carne, Belmullet | Ireland |
A living ranking. Course names, countries and architects are verified; positions reflect our composite editorial view and are revisited as courses open, restore and host.
Half the fun of a ranking is plotting the trips. The Scottish entries cluster into a single buddies week around Fife, East Lothian and Ayrshire. The Irish links string together north to south from Portrush to Ballybunion. The American greats split into a Monterey pairing of Pebble Beach and Cypress, a Bandon Dunes pilgrimage, and the private east coast clubs you reach through a member. Tell us which names on this list you most want on your card and we will tell you which are realistic, and build the rest around them.
Shortlist the courses you want to play from this list. One concierge costs the whole trip to the head, sorts the ballots and tee times, and replies within one working day. No obligation.
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