Pebble Beach Golf Links above Carmel Bay, the world's most famous golf resort

Flagship ranking · 10 resorts · updated 2026

The Best Golf Resorts in the World

Stay and play in its purest form: ten resorts where the golf, the lodging and the access all clear a very high bar. Ranked by our editors, from the cliffs of Pebble Beach to a Ryder Cup manor in Ireland.

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How we ranked them

A great golf resort is more than one great course. We weighed the quality and conditioning of the golf, the strength of the wider resort and its lodging, the ease of access for a visiting group, and the simple question of whether the place leaves a mark you carry home. These are stay and play destinations built to take a group for several nights, not single clubs you can only reach through a members' ballot.

Every fact here, from designers and host events to indicative green fees, was checked at the time of writing. Fees move with the season and the year, so treat the numbers as a guide and always confirm directly before booking. The verdicts are ours; where we quote a price we say which season and year it reflects. If your group wants any of these built into a costed itinerary, that is exactly what our concierge does.

The ranking

The 10 best golf resorts on earth

Pebble Beach Golf Links, clifftop fairway above Carmel Bay, California

No. 1

Monterey Peninsula, California, USA

Pebble Beach Resorts

The most famous stretch of public golf in America. Pebble Beach Golf Links runs along the cliffs of Carmel Bay and has hosted six US Opens, with a seventh on the way. Resort guests at The Lodge, The Inn at Spanish Bay or Casa Palmero earn priority tee times up to eighteen months ahead, and the round is a pilgrimage priced like one. The cliffside 7th, 8th and 18th are worth the airfare alone. Indicative green fee around 695 dollars for the 2026 season at the resort guest rate, with a two night minimum stay; always confirm directly before booking.

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Pacific Dunes at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, links fairway on the Oregon coast

No. 2

Bandon, Oregon, USA

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort

A links shrine on the wild Pacific coast and, for many, the best multi course resort on earth. Six walking only courses share the dunes: Bandon Dunes by David McLay Kidd in 1999, Pacific Dunes by Tom Doak in 2001, Bandon Trails by Coore and Crenshaw in 2005, Old Macdonald by Doak and Urbina in 2010, Sheep Ranch by Coore and Crenshaw in 2020, plus the par 3 Preserve. No carts, no houses, just gorse, fescue and the ocean. The purest buddies trip in golf; pack waterproofs and hire a caddie.

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Pinehurst No. 2 golf course, crowned green and sandy wiregrass, North Carolina

No. 3

Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA

Pinehurst Resort

The cradle of American golf and a permanent US Open anchor site. Donald Ross laid out No. 2 in 1907, and its crowned, run off greens hosted the 2024 US Open; nine more courses fan out from the historic village. It is a resort that rewards the short game and quietly humbles everyone else. Indicative single round on No. 2 around 470 dollars for the 2025 to 2026 season with a two night resort stay; always confirm directly before booking. Stay on property, play No. 4 and No. 10 too, and walk the village at dusk.

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Cabot Cliffs golf course, clifftop par 3 above the Gulf of St Lawrence, Nova Scotia

No. 4

Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada

Cabot Cape Breton

Canada's links wonder, strung along the Gulf of St Lawrence. Cabot Links by Canadian Rod Whitman and Cabot Cliffs by Coore and Crenshaw in 2015 deliver clifftop drama to rival anywhere in the game; the Cliffs run an unusual routing of six par 3s, six par 4s and six par 5s, and the par 3 16th over the ocean is the postcard shot of Canadian golf. Remote, walkable and unforgettable, with a town and a beach on the doorstep. Pair a few nights in Inverness with the long, scenic drive up Cape Breton.

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The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, seaside dunes hole on the South Carolina coast

No. 5

Kiawah Island, South Carolina, USA

Kiawah Island Golf Resort

The Ocean Course by Pete and Alice Dye is one of the great modern tests. It staged the 1991 War by the Shore Ryder Cup and the 2012 and 2021 PGA Championships, where it tipped out near 7,900 yards as one of the longest major venues in history. Ten holes hug the Atlantic and the wind decides your score; Alice Dye's call to raise the whole course gave it ocean views from every tee. Lowcountry luxury off the course, a brutal links examination on it. Bring more golf balls than you think you need.

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Streamsong Red golf course, big dune fairway on reclaimed sand in central Florida

No. 6

Bowling Green, Florida, USA

Streamsong Resort

Three modern masterpieces rise from reclaimed sand about fifty miles from Tampa: Red by Coore and Crenshaw, Blue by Tom Doak and Black by Hanse and Wagner, joined by the playful nineteen hole Chain from Coore and Crenshaw in 2023. This is big dune, firm and fast golf you simply do not expect in Florida, walkable with caddies and blissfully remote. A serious architecture pilgrimage with a fraction of the crowds you would find elsewhere in the state. Go for two nights, play all three, and let the design debate run over dinner.

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The golf course at Adare Manor, parkland along the River Maigue, County Limerick

No. 7

Adare, County Limerick, Ireland

Adare Manor

A five star manor estate whose Tom Fazio redesign, reopened in 2018, will host the 2027 Ryder Cup, the hundredth edition of the match and Ireland's first since the K Club in 2006. The parkland stretches more than 7,500 yards along the River Maigue, conditioned to championship standard with a SubAir system beneath every green and fewer bunkers than any other Fazio design. The whole resort is a study in Irish grandeur, from the gothic manor to the cuisine. Book well ahead of the Ryder Cup surge, and give yourself time to simply wander the grounds.

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Turnberry Ailsa course, lighthouse and coastline on the Ayrshire links, Scotland

No. 8

Ayrshire, Scotland

Trump Turnberry

The Ailsa, reworked by Mackenzie Ross in 1951, is championship links theatre wrapped around a lighthouse with Ailsa Craig offshore. The run from the 9th to the 11th, hard against the rocks, is among the most dramatic in Britain, and the links staged the 1977 Duel in the Sun between Watson and Nicklaus. A grand hotel sits on the hill above, and the Ayrshire coast puts Royal Troon and Prestwick within easy reach for a classic links week. Take a caddie, and play the famous par 3 9th twice if the starter lets you.

Read the Scotland guide →

The Links at Fancourt, St Andrews inspired links in George, South Africa

No. 9

George, Garden Route, South Africa

Fancourt

The Links by Gary Player is rated number one in South Africa and hosted the 2003 Presidents Cup, tied seventeen all and shared after Tiger Woods and Ernie Els halved three playoff holes in the gathering dark. Built on a former airfield in the Garden Route and inspired by St Andrews, it is a pure links experiment that came off beautifully, with access reserved largely for resort guests. Combine it with the Montagu and Outeniqua courses on site, then add a few days of safari for the trip of a lifetime.

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Finca Cortesin golf course, wide fairway and large green on the Costa del Sol, Spain

No. 10

Casares, Andalucia, Spain

Finca Cortesin

Cabell Robinson's modern, muscular layout opened in 2006 and has hosted the 2023 Solheim Cup along with the Andalucia Masters. Wide fairways and huge greens flatter the visitor, while length and clever bunkering keep the better player honest. The five star hotel, spa and beach club make it a destination in its own right, and it sits minutes from Valderrama and the other Sotogrande gems at the western end of the Costa del Sol. The best high end base on the coast for a group that wants golf and polish in equal measure.

Read the Costa del Sol guide →

Green fees are indicative, quoted for the season and year shown, and always to be confirmed directly with the resort before booking. Photographs via Google, contributed by David Meillier, Matthew Johnson, Brian Serwe, Peter Wortmann, Pieter M. Gabes and others.

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Browse all golf destinations, or build a trip around Costa del Sol golf holidays or Thailand golf holidays. For Europe's best, read the Costa del Sol guide and the Scotland links guide.

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