There is no golf quite like golf on the edge of the sea, where the fairway runs out at a cliff and the next shot is played over the water. From the Pacific at Pebble Beach to the sheer drop at Cape Kidnappers and the headland at Old Head, here are the eight clifftop and ocean courses we rate most highly, ranked, with our verdict on each.
Photograph: Pebble Beach Golf Links, Local Guide Hanoi, Vietnam, via Google
This is a list about drama, the courses where the ocean is not a backdrop but a hazard, where holes are routed along clifftops and tee shots are aimed across inlets and bays. We weighted the quality of the golf as heavily as the setting, because a great view alone does not make a great course, and we leaned toward layouts where the sea is in play on a real run of holes rather than glimpsed once or twice. The result spans four continents and both hemispheres.
Every fact here, from designers and opening years to the height of the cliffs, was checked at the time of writing. The verdicts are ours, and the order reflects our editors' view rather than any single published list, so reasonable people will reorder the list below the top two. Several of these are bucket list rounds with limited tee times and high green fees, so plan well ahead. If you want one built into a costed trip, that is exactly what our concierge does.
The course every other ocean layout is measured against. Jack Neville and Douglas Grant routed Pebble Beach along the rocky Pacific shore of the Monterey Peninsula in 1919, and the run from the cliff edge par 3 seventh through the heroic par 5 eighteenth is the most famous stretch in golf. Host of multiple US Opens and open to the public for guests of the resort, it is expensive and oversubscribed, and worth every cent of the wait. Our number one.
Tom Doak's masterpiece on the cliffs of Hawke's Bay, a par 71 routed along narrow finger ridges that rise nearly five hundred feet above the South Pacific. Several holes run straight out toward the drop, and the sense of exposure is unlike anywhere else in golf. Set on a working sheep and cattle station and tied to the Rosewood lodge, it is one of the great modern courses and the most thrilling clifftop walk on this list after Pebble.
Golf on a diamond shaped headland that juts two miles into the Atlantic off Kinsale, ringed by cliffs on almost every side and an old lighthouse at its tip. Opened in 1997 to a design team that included Eddie Hackett and Ron Kirby, Old Head is less a links than a clifftop spectacle, with several holes played along the very edge of the cliffs above the sea. On a clear day it is one of the most photographed courses in the world, and an unforgettable round.
The course that put King Island, in Bass Strait between Tasmania and the mainland, on the world golf map. Completed in 2015 to a design by Mike DeVries and Darius Oliver, Cape Wickham wraps around a beach and a headland beneath a lighthouse, with the sea visible from every hole and several played right along the coast. Remote and weather exposed, it ranks among the best modern courses anywhere and is the southern hemisphere's purest ocean links.
The course that confirmed Bandon Dunes as the great American links destination and made Tom Doak's name. Opened in 2001 along the bluffs of the Oregon coast, Pacific Dunes routes holes hard against the Pacific, including a famous back to back pair of par 3s on the cliff edge. Firm, windswept and walking only, it is many good judges' favourite course in the country. Public, part of a resort built for golf, and far easier to access than the courses above it.
The clifftop half of the Cabot resort on the west coast of Cape Breton, designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and opened in 2015. The closing stretch, especially the par 3 sixteenth perched above the Gulf of St Lawrence, is as photographed as anything in North America. A varied, strategic layout that mixes clifftop, dune and inland holes, it is one of the finest modern courses and an easier resort booking than Pebble or Cape Kidnappers.
The sister property to Cape Kidnappers at the top of New Zealand's North Island, opened in 2000 to a David Harman design. Fifteen of its holes look out over the Pacific and a run of them play along cliffs above the Cavalli Islands and Pink Beach. Lusher and a touch gentler than Cape Kidnappers, it is a stunning clifftop round in its own right and pairs naturally with its more famous sibling on a New Zealand trip.
The clifftop course on the Garden Route, designed by Peter Matkovich and opened in 2006 on the rocky shore of Mossel Bay. Seven holes line the Indian Ocean cliffs and four are played over ocean and rock, giving it some of the most dramatic individual holes in Africa. Less complete than the courses above it, but for sheer clifftop theatre it earns its place, and it is an easy add to a South African golf and safari trip.
Designers, opening years and settings verified June 2026. Several of these courses have limited tee times, restrict play to resort or lodge guests, and carry premium green fees. Always confirm visitor access and fees directly before booking. Check tee time availability.
Tell us which of these clifftop rounds are on your list and roughly when, and whether you want to build a trip around one or string several together. One concierge arranges the access, tee times and base and costs the trip to the head, with no obligation.
Pebble Beach Golf Links in California is our number one, the ocean course every other clifftop layout is measured against, with the stretch from the par 3 seventh to the par 5 eighteenth running right along the Pacific. Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand, set on cliffs nearly five hundred feet above Hawke's Bay, is its closest rival. Reasonable people will reorder the list below the top two.
Most of them, yes. Pebble Beach, Pacific Dunes, Old Head, Cape Wickham, Cabot Cliffs, Kauri Cliffs and Pinnacle Point all welcome visitor or resort play, several requiring a stay or an advance booking. Cape Kidnappers is reserved primarily for lodge guests. Green fees at the marquee courses are high and tee times are limited, so book well ahead and always confirm directly before booking.
Cape Wickham on King Island and Old Head of Kinsale are about as exposed to the sea as golf gets, almost every hole within sight of the water and several played along the cliff edge. Pebble Beach, Cape Kidnappers and Pinnacle Point each save their drama for a run of cliffside holes rather than the whole round. All reward a calm, clear day.
It depends on the hemisphere. The northern courses such as Pebble Beach, Pacific Dunes, Old Head and Cabot Cliffs are best from late spring to early autumn, May to September. The southern courses, Cape Kidnappers, Cape Wickham, Kauri Cliffs and Pinnacle Point, play best from their spring to autumn, November to April. Wind is part of the experience everywhere, so pick a settled forecast.
The great ocean courses, the tee time windows that matter and where to base. Every other week.
Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Course designers, opening years and settings verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.