The Best Golf Courses in Barbados
Barbados is the Caribbean's most refined golf island, where Tom Fazio's quarry holes at the Green Monkey, the ocean views of Royal Westmoreland and the clifftop drama of Apes Hill sit within a short drive of one another. Our ranked six, with the verdict on each, the designers and indicative 2026 green fees.
Photograph: Sandy Lane Country Club, Sandy Lane Country Club, via Google
How we chose
Barbados packs an unusual concentration of quality golf into a small island, almost all of it on or just inland from the platinum west coast around Holetown and St James. The golf here is resort and estate golf of the highest order, manicured, dramatic and built around luxury hotels and villas rather than ancient links land. We have weighed the quality and architecture of the course itself first, then its conditioning and pedigree, and finally how rewarding and accessible it is for the travelling golfer staying on the island.
The result is a top six that runs from the breathtaking and exclusive to the welcoming and historic. The Green Monkey and Royal Westmoreland set the standard for design and drama, Apes Hill brings a cooler, higher setting and a recent multi million dollar revival, and the Sandy Lane Country Club and the famous Old Nine round out a trip with golf you can actually book. A week here easily pairs three or four of these with the beaches, the rum and the restaurants that make Barbados the Caribbean's golf capital.
The ranking
The Green Monkey, Sandy Lane
Tom Fazio's spectacular course carved from a former coral stone quarry at the Sandy Lane resort, and one of the most exclusive rounds in the Caribbean. Sheer white cliff faces frame the fairways and greens, and the signature hole plays to a green guarded by a bunker sculpted into the shape of the green monkey the course is named for. Access is reserved for guests of Sandy Lane, which keeps it as rare as it is beautiful.
Indicative 2026 access for Sandy Lane guests · premium. Always confirm directly before booking.Royal Westmoreland
Robert Trent Jones Jr's championship course laid out across the hills above the west coast, with ocean views from almost every hole and a dramatic stretch through the walls of an old rock quarry on the fifth and sixth. Long the island's marquee estate course and a host of the Barbados Open, it offers undulating fairways, forced carries and the polish that the surrounding luxury villas demand. The most established quality round on the island for visitors.
Indicative 2026 green fee, peak season · estate and villa guests. Always confirm directly before booking.Apes Hill
Set a thousand feet above the coast on a former sugar plantation, with the Caribbean on one side and the Atlantic on the other, Apes Hill reopened in November 2022 after a thirty three million dollar redesign by the veteran architect Ron Kirby. The cooler hilltop air, generous modern shaping and a new island green nineteenth modelled on the seventeenth at Sawgrass make it the island's most ambitious course. A fresh, big scale alternative to the coastal estates.
Indicative 2026 green fee, peak season · resort. Always confirm directly before booking.Sandy Lane, Country Club Course
The Sandy Lane resort's flagship championship course and the one visitors are most likely to play, a Tom Fazio design that opened in 2001 with sweeping views down to the sea. Beautifully conditioned and generous off the tee, it hosted the World Golf Championships event in 2006 and remains one of the most polished resort courses in the region. Less exclusive than its quarry sibling but a superb round in its own right.
Indicative 2026 green fee, peak season · resort guests. Always confirm directly before booking.Sandy Lane, The Old Nine
The original Sandy Lane layout, first opened in 1961 and reduced to an intimate nine when Fazio built the two newer eighteens. Tree lined, tight and protected by small greens, it is a charming, walkable throwback and a relaxed option for an afternoon or a warm up round. A slice of west coast golf history with the comforts of the Sandy Lane estate around it.
Indicative 2026 green fee, peak season · resort. Always confirm directly before booking.Barbados Golf Club
The island's most accessible quality golf, a public course on the south coast redesigned by Ron Kirby and reopened in 2000, and a former host of the European Seniors Tour. Flatter and more forgiving than the west coast estates, it is well conditioned, genuinely open to visitors and easy to combine with the lively south coast hotels. The natural choice for golfers who want a fair test without estate prices or restrictions.
Indicative 2026 green fee, peak season · public access. Always confirm directly before booking.Designers, opening years and renovation history verified June 2026. Rankings reflect our editorial view. Course profiles are added across the site as the directory grows.
Where they sit on the map
Barbados makes for one of the easiest golf islands to navigate. Five of the six courses sit on or just above the platinum west coast in the parish of St James, within fifteen minutes of one another, so the Green Monkey, the two other Sandy Lane courses, Royal Westmoreland and Apes Hill can all be played from a single west coast base. Only the Barbados Golf Club lies apart, on the busier south coast near the airport and the Christ Church hotels. With the whole island barely twenty miles across, no course is more than an hour from any hotel, which makes a multi course week effortless.
Plan your Barbados golf trip
Tell us the courses you want and roughly when. One concierge costs the whole trip to the head and replies within one working day, with no obligation.
Barbados golf questions
What is the best golf course in Barbados?
The Green Monkey at Sandy Lane, Tom Fazio's course carved from a coral stone quarry, is the most spectacular and exclusive course on the island, though it is reserved for Sandy Lane guests. Royal Westmoreland, the Robert Trent Jones Jr championship course with ocean views from nearly every hole, is the leading course that visitors can more readily arrange to play.
Can anyone play golf in Barbados?
It depends on the course. The Barbados Golf Club on the south coast is a genuine public course open to all, and Apes Hill and the Sandy Lane Country Club course can be played by resort and visiting golfers. The Green Monkey is reserved for Sandy Lane guests and Royal Westmoreland prioritises estate and villa guests, so plan tee times in advance. We are a guide, not an operator, so always confirm access and fees directly before booking.
When is the best time to golf in Barbados?
The dry season from December to April brings the most reliable weather and is the peak golf season, with the highest green fees and the busiest tee sheets. The shoulder months around May and November still offer warm, largely dry conditions at lower rates. The island is a year round destination, though the late summer and autumn carry a higher chance of tropical showers.
Related
The Tee Sheet
Sandy Lane and Royal Westmoreland tee windows, the best of Caribbean golf and the winter sun dates worth moving on first. Every other week.