Ranked · 10 courses · updated 2026

The Best Golf Courses in England

England's golf splits between two great traditions: the heather and pine of the Surrey and Berkshire sandbelt, and the Open links of the coast. Here are the ten we rate most highly, ranked, with our verdict on each and how to play it.

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By the GolfForKings editorial desk · How we rank · Last reviewed June 2026

Photograph: Sunningdale Golf Club, Mark Glithero, via Google

How we chose them

England's best courses fall into two camps, and a complete top ten has to honour both. Inland, the Surrey and Berkshire heathland is one of the great gifts of golf architecture, a belt of sandy, free draining ground where Harry Colt, Willie Park Junior and Herbert Fowler laid out heather framed courses that play firm and fast all year. On the coast sit the Open links, the championship venues of the north west and Kent that have decided more than a century of major golf. We weighed design quality, conditioning, championship pedigree and the simple pleasure of the round, and we leaned toward courses a travelling golfer can realistically arrange to play.

Every fact here, from designers and founding years to host events, was checked at the time of writing. Where access is restricted, as it is at several of the great private members clubs, we say so. The verdicts are ours; the rankings reflect our editors' view rather than any single published list, and reasonable people will reorder the top five. If you want any of these built into a costed trip, that is exactly what our concierge does.

The ranking

Sunningdale, Old Course

Willie Park Junior, 1901 · Berkshire heathland

For many the finest inland course in England and the first truly great course of the Surrey and Berkshire sandbelt. Willie Park Junior's Old Course opened in 1901, a heather and pine masterpiece of perfect rhythm and gentle scale, later refined by Harry Colt, who also built the New alongside. There is not a weak hole on it, and the walk in past the famous oak to the clubhouse is one of golf's great finishes. A members club that takes a limited number of visitors on weekdays.

Plan a Surrey heathland trip

Royal St George's

Sandwich, Kent · Open venue · founded 1887

The only Open Championship venue in the south of England and one of the most natural, rumpled links in the game, all tumbling fairways, deep bunkers and huge dunes on the Kent coast at Sandwich. It has staged the Open many times, most recently in 2021, and its blind shots and wild ground reward nerve and imagination over raw length. A grand old club with a fearsome reputation, and a course that feels like it was discovered rather than designed. Visitors are welcome on set days by arrangement.

Plan a Kent links trip

Woodhall Spa, Hotchkin Course

Colonel Hotchkin remodel · Lincolnshire heathland

A heathland gem marooned in the Lincolnshire countryside and the home of England Golf, whose national headquarters sits on site. The Hotchkin, reworked by Colonel Stafford Hotchkin in the 1920s, is famous for the deepest, most penal bunkering in England, sandy chasms that swallow the wayward shot whole. Heather, silver birch and firm turf make it a pure, old fashioned examination, and its remoteness keeps it blissfully quiet. Public access through the resort makes it one of the most playable courses on this list.

Plan a Lincolnshire golf trip

Royal Birkdale

Hawtree and JH Taylor · Southport · Open venue

Widely rated the best of the Open links on the Lancashire coast, a fair, modern championship test laid out by the Hawtree family with JH Taylor among its great dunes. The flat bottomed fairways wind through towering sandhills, giving level lies in an honest examination that the best players consistently praise. It has crowned champions from Arnold Palmer to Jordan Spieth and remains a fixture of the Open rota. Among the more accessible of the royal links for a visiting golfer by prior arrangement.

Plan a Southport links trip

Wentworth, West Course

Harry Colt, 1926 · Ernie Els redesign 2017 · Surrey

The Burma Road, England's most televised inland course and the long time home of the BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour. Harry Colt's 1926 design was given a thorough modernisation by Ernie Els, completed in 2017, that toughened and lengthened it for the modern professional game. Tree lined, undulating and finishing with a reachable par 5, it is grand, exacting parkland golf in the Surrey stockbroker belt. A private club, though visitor and corporate golf can be arranged.

Plan a Surrey golf trip

Royal Liverpool, Hoylake

Founded 1869 · Harry Colt · Open venue · Par 72

One of the oldest links in England, founded in 1869 on the Wirral, with later work by Harry Colt shaping the modern championship layout that stretches past 7,300 yards. Hoylake's flat, exposed ground and out of bounds threats demand precise, controlled ball striking, and it has hosted the Open repeatedly, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy among its modern champions. A great club steeped in amateur and professional history, welcoming visitors on set days.

Plan a Hoylake links trip

Royal Lytham and St Annes

Lancashire · Open venue · Par 71

An unusual links set back from the sea behind the houses of St Annes, ringed by red brick and the railway and defended by some of the most numerous bunkers in championship golf, well over 200 of them. It opens with a par 3, a rarity among Open venues, and rewards thinking and accuracy over power. Bobby Jones, Seve Ballesteros and Ernie Els have all lifted the Claret Jug here. A characterful, history soaked club that takes visitors by arrangement.

Plan a Lancashire links trip

St George's Hill

Harry Colt, 1913 · Surrey heathland

Harry Colt's heathland tour de force in Weybridge, carved from steep, wooded sandhills and often called the most beautiful of the Surrey courses. Dramatic elevation changes, heather framed fairways and a routing that uses the rolling ground brilliantly make it a thrilling, hilly walk and a connoisseur's favourite. Built as one of the first golf and housing estates, it remains an exclusive private members club, with the original 18 joined by a further nine. Limited visitor access on weekdays.

Plan a Surrey heathland trip

Swinley Forest

Harry Colt, 1909 · Berkshire heathland

Harry Colt's self described favourite of his own designs, a short, pure and intimate heathland course hidden in the pines near Ascot. There are no great length and no weak holes, just a wonderful set of par 3s and a tranquil, exclusive atmosphere that makes it one of the most coveted invitations in English golf. A famously private club where play is largely by invitation through a member, which only adds to its mystique among those who chase the game's hidden gems.

Plan a Berkshire golf trip

Walton Heath, Old Course

Herbert Fowler, 1904 · Surrey

A windswept, heathery expanse on high ground in Surrey that plays more like a links than a typical inland course, laid out by Herbert Fowler in 1904. The Old Course has a long championship history, hosting the 1981 Ryder Cup and, more recently, the AIG Women's Open in 2023, and its firm turf and exposed lies make it a stern, breezy test. Two excellent courses, the Old and the New, and a welcoming attitude to visitors make it a fine addition to any Surrey golf trip.

Plan a Surrey golf trip

Designers, founding years and host events verified June 2026. Several of these are private members clubs with limited visitor access. Course profiles are added across the site as the directory grows. Always confirm visitor access and fees directly before booking. Check tee time availability.

Play the best of England

Tell us which of these are on your list, heathland, links or both, and roughly when. One concierge arranges the access, tee times and base and costs the trip to the head, with no obligation.

England golf questions

What is the best golf course in England?

Sunningdale's Old Course, Willie Park Junior's 1901 heathland masterpiece in Berkshire, is our pick for the best inland course, while Royal St George's at Sandwich is the finest of the English Open links. Reasonable people reorder the top five, but those two anchor any serious list.

Can you play the great English members clubs as a visitor?

Several, including Sunningdale, Wentworth, Royal St George's, Royal Birkdale and Walton Heath, take visitors on set weekdays by prior arrangement, usually with a handicap certificate. Others, such as Swinley Forest, are largely play by invitation. Woodhall Spa, run as a resort, is the most openly accessible. Always confirm access directly before booking.

Where is the best golf in England?

Two regions stand out: the Surrey and Berkshire heathland west of London, home to Sunningdale, Wentworth, St George's Hill, Swinley Forest and Walton Heath, and the Open links coasts of the north west and Kent. A classic English golf trip pairs a few heathland rounds with one or two great links.

When is the best time to play golf in England?

May to September offers the warmest, driest weather and the longest days, but the heathland courses drain so well that they play firm and fast for much of the year. Spring and early autumn give the best mix of conditioning, value and space on the tee sheet.

The Tee Sheet

Heathland and links openings, ranking shake ups and the booking windows that matter. Every other week.

Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Course designers, founding years and host events verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.