Royal County Down Golf Club
Ranked · 8 courses · updated 2026

The Best Links Courses in the World

Links golf is the original game, played firm and fast over sandy ground between dune and sea, where the wind sets the pace and the ground does half the work. The greatest of them sit on a handful of coasts in Scotland, Ireland and northern England. Here are the eight we rate above all others, 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: Royal County Down Golf Club, M O, via Google

How we chose them

There is parkland golf and there is desert golf, and then there is the real thing. A true links is built on the sandy, rumpled ground that the sea left behind, the strip that links the beach to the land. It plays hard and brown, throws the ball sideways off humps you cannot see from the tee, and asks you to play along the ground as often as through the air. Almost every great example is found on the same three coasts, the east and west of Scotland, the south west and north of Ireland, and the dune belt of north west England, which is why this is an honest list of where the form of the game is at its purest, not a polite attempt to spread the map.

We weighed design, setting, the demands of the wind and the weight of history, and we leaned toward courses a travelling golfer can actually get on. Every fact here, from designers and opening years to par, yardage and host events, was checked at the time of writing against the clubs and the championship record. The order is our editors' view, informed by the major published rankings but not bound to any single one. Where we mention green fees they are seasonal and indicative and run high at this level, so always confirm directly before booking. If you want two or three of these threaded into one trip, that is exactly what our concierge builds.

The ranking

01

Royal County Down, Championship Links

Old Tom Morris, 1889 · Par 71, around 7,186 yards · Newcastle, Northern Ireland

The course most experts now rate first in the world, named the number one course on earth by Golf Digest for its 2026 to 2027 list. Laid out by Old Tom Morris in 1889 beneath the Mountains of Mourne, it is links golf at its most dramatic and most demanding, with blind drives over shaggy dunes, fairways framed by bearded bunkers and a front nine many regard as the finest start in golf. Beauty and beast in equal measure, and the standard against which every other links is measured.

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02

The Old Course at St Andrews

Nature and centuries of play · Par 72, around 7,300 yards · St Andrews, Scotland

The home of golf, the most famous links in the world and the spiritual heart of the game. The Old Course has hosted the Open more times than any other, and its double greens, the Swilcan Bridge, the Road Hole seventeenth and the Valley of Sin in front of the eighteenth are landmarks every golfer knows before they ever tee it up. It can look benign and play brutal when the wind turns. No round in golf carries more history, and the daily ballot gives visitors a genuine chance to play it.

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03

Royal Dornoch, Championship Course

Old Tom Morris, 1886 · Par 70, around 6,799 yards · Dornoch, Scotland

The great pilgrimage links of the far north, founded in 1877 and extended by Old Tom Morris in 1886, three hours beyond Inverness and worth every mile. Dornoch's raised, domed greens fall away on every side and demand the most precise approach play in Scotland, all of it framed by gorse that blazes yellow in early summer. It has never hosted an Open, purely because of its remote Highland setting, yet sits in the world's top handful on reputation alone. A favourite of architects and purists the world over.

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04

Muirfield

Old Tom Morris, refined by Harry Colt · Par 71, around 7,245 yards · Gullane, East Lothian

Home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, the oldest golf club in the world, and the most respected examination on the Open rota. Muirfield's two loops run clockwise and counter clockwise, so the wind never lets you settle, and its bunkering is the fairest and most punishing in championship golf. Sixteen Opens have been decided here, the last in 2013, won by Phil Mickelson. Players consistently name it the best and most honest test in Britain. Visitors are admitted on set days through the year.

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05

Royal Portrush, Dunluce Links

Harry Colt, 1932 · Par 71, around 7,337 yards · Portrush, Northern Ireland

The only course outside Great Britain on the modern Open rota, and a Harry Colt masterpiece on the Antrim coast. The Dunluce Links returned to the championship stage in 2019 and again in 2025, when Scottie Scheffler ran away with the Claret Jug, the layout lengthened and re routed to a par 71 of around 7,337 yards. Calamity Corner, the long par 3 fourteenth carried over a chasm, is one of the great one shot holes in golf. Wild, exposed and utterly thrilling when the sea wind blows.

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06

Ballybunion, Old Course

Evolved links, refined by Tom Simpson · Par 71, around 6,800 yards · County Kerry, Ireland

The wild west of Irish links and Tom Watson's enduring favourite, a course he once said anyone who wants to design golf holes should study. The Old Course at Ballybunion runs through towering dunes along the Atlantic in County Kerry, with cliff edge fairways, a graveyard beside the first tee and greens perched where the land falls into the ocean. Refined over the years and famously praised by the game's great players, it is the heart of any south west Ireland golf trip and pure, untamed links.

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07

Carnoustie, Championship Course

Allan Robertson and Old Tom Morris, revised by James Braid · Par 72, around 7,400 yards · Carnoustie, Scotland

The toughest test on the Open rota, known with affection and dread as Car nasty. Carnoustie's closing stretch, with the Barry Burn snaking across the seventeenth and eighteenth, has wrecked more championship hopes than any finish in golf, most memorably in 1999. There is little of the soft beauty of the western links here, just a long, exposed, relentlessly fair examination of every club in the bag. Eight Opens have been played here, the last in 2018, won by Francesco Molinari. Bring your best ball striking.

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08

Royal Birkdale

George Low, redesigned by Hawtree and Taylor · Par 70, around 7,000 yards · Southport, England

The pick of England's great links and the most admired course on the Lancashire coast. Birkdale threads its fairways through flat valleys between huge, sand cliff dunes, so the lies are fair and the trouble waits to the sides, which is why players rate it the fairest of the English Open venues. Ten Opens have been decided here, the last in 2017, won by Jordan Spieth, along with Ryder Cups and Women's Opens. Modern, exacting and beautifully conditioned, it anchors England's golf coast.

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Designers, opening years, par, yardages and host events verified June 2026 against the clubs and the championship record. Green fees at this level are seasonal and indicative and run high, and tee times are limited. Course profiles are added across the site as the directory grows. Always confirm fees, access and dress code directly before booking. Check tee time availability.

Play the world's great links

Tell us which of these are on your list and roughly when, and whether you want a Scotland run, an Ireland run or a mix. One concierge arranges the tee times and hotels and costs the trip to the head, with no obligation.

Links golf questions

What is the best links course in the world?

Royal County Down in Northern Ireland is our pick and sits at the top of most expert rankings, named the world's number one course by Golf Digest for its 2026 to 2027 list. Laid out by Old Tom Morris and opened in 1889, its Championship Links runs beneath the Mountains of Mourne and pairs blind drives, tumbling fairways and bearded bunkers in a setting few courses anywhere can match.

What counts as a true links course?

A true links is built on sandy coastal ground reclaimed from the sea, the dune land that links the beach to the farmland inland. It plays firm and fast, is shaped by wind rather than trees and water, and rewards the running shot along the ground. Almost all the world's greatest links lie in Scotland, Ireland and the north of England, which is why this list is drawn from those coasts.

Which links courses host the Open Championship?

The Open is played only on links. The current rota includes the Old Course at St Andrews, Carnoustie, Muirfield, Royal Troon and Royal Birkdale, with Royal Portrush returning in 2025 when Scottie Scheffler won. Royal County Down and Royal Dornoch are ranked among the very best in the world but are not on the rota, the first because of access and the second because of its remote Highland location.

Can visitors play these links courses?

Most of these courses welcome visitors with advance booking, though tee times at the flagship links are limited and go quickly, especially in summer. The Old Course at St Andrews runs a daily ballot, Muirfield admits visitors on set days, and the great Irish links sell out months ahead. Green fees at this level are among the highest in golf. Always confirm access, dress code and fees directly before booking.

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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Last reviewed June 2026. We verify designers, opening years, par, yardages and host events at the time of writing and review them again on a schedule.