For a course famed for its difficulty, what gets lost in the shuffle is the brilliance of its short par-4s. Right on the California's coastline, Pebble Beach golf course has hosted the U.S. Open in 2010 and has been the home to five U.S. Open Championships. Between the wind, tricky slopes, and sand dunes, all 18 holes are no easy feat. There are plenty of familiar names on this year’s list of Top 100 Courses in the World. Access to these golf courses should be cherished, and these holes are the best of the bunch. Even today, no more thrilling, spectacular stretch exists than holes 4 through 10. 1 spot for decades. (Photo: Evan Schiller), Greg Norman has never been shy about professing his admiration for Alister MacKenzie. As Alister MacKenzie must have felt about his 1928 design, it's almost inconceivable that land this stunning was made available for golf. The longest golf course in the world at 8,548 yards, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain includes a 711-yard par-five (and two more that measure over 680 yards), a … (No change), Neither as long nor as tough as its illustrious West sibling, the East enjoys its own devoted fanbase for its variety and the encouraging manner in which ground game options are now presented. Do you agree with the list? The standout on the back is the 14th, with its valley fairway and glorious North Sea vistas. Brian is the former lifestyle editor at BestProducts.com, and his work has been featured on Popular Mechanics and Good Housekeeping; He covers everything from the latest viral product trends to the coolest things in pop culture. Following events such as the 2004 Ryder Cup and 2008 PGA Championship won by Padraig Harrington, the brilliant Donald Ross routing and beguiling green contouring has restored its status to "great," as opposed to "hard." Some grouse that the course’s reputation is built on the club’s exclusivity, which is unfair given that standout holes abound, including the 4th, 6th, 13th and one of the great trio of finishing holes in the sport. Our expert course raters sized up the best golf courses on the planet to rank GOLF’s Top 100 Courses in the World for 2020-21. Arnold Palmer once tabbed the 15th as one of golf's best par-3s. This is a Nordic design combined with Nordic nature. Too bad more modern architects are leery to build finishers that reward mind over muscle. (Up 7), This quiet club across the street from Winged Foot has counted Jack Nicklaus and Pete Dye as admirers. (Photo: Patrick Koenig), Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam are among those who won Irish Opens at this low-profile but character-filled Dublin-area links. Seth Raynor retooled his mentor C.B. Golf at the Angus Glen Golf Club offers beauty, challenge, first-class service and variety. The Resort Course at Coeur d'Alene has the world's only floating island green. Ranked 1st on Golf Digest's biennial 'World's 100 Greatest Golf Courses' list in 2016 and again in 2018, Royal County Down Golf Club needs little introduction. Walton Heath was the venue of the 1981 Ryder Cup, when arguably the strongest American side of all time demolished the Europeans, 18.5 to 9.5. Lost Farm is fairly new in the world of golf. Known as the Duel Hole, the drop-shot par-3 7th may be the course’s most famous hole but its par-4s, like the 2nd, 10th and 12th, deserve equal acclaim. I'm also a fan of the often very wide fairways that reward positioning and of the mix of long and short par-4s. What helped Myopia jump up the list was recent restoration work whereby trees came down, and fairways were expanded/reconnected to Herbert Leeds’s fabulous pit bunkers. (Up 3), Lahinch charms with titanic sandhills and stunning views of both the Atlantic Ocean and of the Cliffs of Moher. Look for four of its plateau greens, namely those at the 2nd, 3rd, 11th and 14th, to have a large say in who wins the 2021 PGA Championship. (Up 2), Though Spyglass Hill just slipped off the list, Robert Trent Jones’s work is still represented by Peachtree’s strong showing. Best for the Open Terrain. It was renovated and designed by world renowned golf architect Andy dye back in 1995.. (Photo: Joann Dost), Now under the Trump aegis, Turnberry provides unforgettable images, from Tom Watson's heroic and tragic performances to remarkable seaside holes that feature churning surf, a lighthouse and vistas of the football-shaped monolith called Ailsa Craig jutting out of the sea. Some of its template holes, including the Alps 3rd, the Redan 4th, the Short 6th and the Leven 17th, are arguably superior to their namesake holes in the United Kingdom that Macdonald copied. Modern architects, take note! Credit architects H.S. Kudos to Kyle Phillips as the seamless melding of flat farmland and Old World links contours is quite the design accomplishment. Add in its fescue fairways and the site’s broad slopes and you have a course whose asks change daily. There's internal out-of-bounds all over the lot. (Photo: Joann Dost), This seaside classic is worth the journey. The game’s best front nine includes the 217-yard, par-3 4th and the blind par-4 9th with its views of the Irish Sea, the Mountains of Mourne and the red-brick steeple of the Slieve Donard Hotel. Who knew inland golf could be this exciting? Opens and the 1999 Ryder Cup. (Down 7), Ben Hogan called this course a "monster" in capturing the 1951 U.S. Open, thanks to a severe course setup and alterations by Robert Trent Jones Sr. Welcome to Golf World’s Top 100 Golf Courses Scotland: an established and comprehensive ranking of the best golf courses in Scotland. The 9-hole course is often seen as a necessary evil to play when there isn’t the chance to get a full 18 holes in. The fact that you can walk it in two and half hours makes you question the merit of courses that are so much longer. For the lucky few who get to play here, they enjoy one of the best walks in the sport as MacKenzie effortlessly transports the player around the diverse property. The bridge is famous all over the world in the golf community. It should also be reiterated that we have such high-quality golf in this area, both public and private. Together, they took bunker configuration and angled greens to new heights in the 1920s. Highlights include wide fairways, wild and woolly bunkers and panoramic views of Moray Firth and the Scottish Highlands. (Photo: Keyur Khamar/PGA Tour), From London’s heathland to the cliffs of Northern Ireland to sandy sites in the Netherlands, Colt enjoyed many fine sites in Europe over his extended career. We have compiled a list of some of our favorite courses factoring playability, conditioning, layout and value. This remote Old Tom Morris design entrances more for its ambience than for its challenge. However, in 2010, the course was restored back to the original design. Its two nines are quite diverse, the first being on more open land while the second jumps into the woods where Tillinghast incorporated natural water features to perfection. Which Courses are Regarded as the Best 9 Hole Golf Courses in the World? Opening in 2004, the course caught the attention of players all over the world and made GOLF Magazine's World Top 100 list in the first year. Tillinghast design this way: "There are probably six hard holes, six really hard holes and six impossible holes." The beautiful, yet steep, natural sand dunes make for memorable yet challenging game. (Photo: Gary Kellner/Dimpled Rock), Tree-dotted dunes, open meadows and bluff-top views of Long Island Sound highlight play at this 2003 Bill Coore-Ben Crenshaw design. “Sandwich,” as it is known colloquially, serves up blind shots and supremely interesting contours in equal measure. (Photo: Larry Lambrecht), This Southwest Ireland gem is wedged between huge sandhills and the Atlantic Ocean. Tillinghast layout. Teeth of the Dog at Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic. T77. Its enviable location in the dunes along the Pacific Ocean, along with superior fine-fescue fairways and swirls of natural grass and sand, have some reviewers wishing it could host an Open tomorrow — if only it were 11,000 miles farther northwest. (Photo: Patrick Koenig), The layout's signature hole is the 195-yard, par-3 6th, which demands a stout carry over an inlet of Cape Banks — but it wasn't Alister MacKenzie's handiwork. The middle of the back nine has some of the finest green contours of any links. Same applies here, with Pine Valley’s only benchmark being itself. With bunkers and water hazards framed by railroad ties and tall native grasses scattered throughout, the distinctive Dye style began to take hold. Maintaining coastal dunes is an art form: expose too much sand and it blows away; cover it up and you lose a sense of place. (Photo: Andy Johnson/The Fried Egg), Gil Hanse's team restored George Thomas's classic to perfection in 2010. (Down 1), Ever confident in his own work, Alister MacKenzie was quick to praise the talent of others. This is one of their best — public or private. Location: Te Awanga, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, Best for Playing a Game Amongst Crazy Views. Recent tree-planting and narrowing of corridors stands in contrast to that shared vision and is at odds with what has transpired at other Golden Age cornerstone designs this century, proving what a tough position ANGC finds itself in continuing to test the world’s best players in golf’s most anticipated event. 36 holes, a huge two-story automated driving range with spectacular city views, an epic mini golf course (perfect for date night) and a stellar 19 th hole AKA the bar, it’s got something for every level of golfer. Playing at this golf course is … A superb set of par-5s is but one of the highlights. The exposed, gorgeous par-3 4th that juts out to the tip of Sally's Point invites comparisons to Pebble Beach's 7th. (Down 53), Preeminent Canadian architect Stanley Thompson hit his professional peak at this quiet club near downtown Toronto. (Photo: Evan Schiller), Modern architecture did itself no favors by pursuing holes that constantly scream at the golfer, because at some point the golfer goes tone deaf. That’s great architecture. Though Montana’s rocky conditions made for a tough build, the result is wide fairways that flow over the tumbling land with a grace and ease that is hard to fathom. Only the best golf courses available for public play; An interactive map to locate golf courses along highway corridors; Rates, contact information, map of golf course’s location, photos, yardages, course/slope ratings, and a brief description of the course. Work commenced in 1928 and the course didn’t open until 1931. Thanks to the inspired positioning of the bunkers and the angled green, options abound on how to card a big number on this tiny hole. Some critics of rankings grumble that hosting a major unduly elevates a course. Throw in a wonderful routing that hopscotches from one island of turf to the next across the rolling, sandy landscape and you have a course that hasn’t budged from the No. (Up 5), The first great American public oceanside course, Pebble benefits from an ingenious routing that brings the player right to the ocean's edge, then away into the woods, then back again. It finished seventh in Golf Digest's ranking of Best New Resort Courses of 1994, well behind World Woods' Pine Barrens Course (which ranks No. His own sense of aesthetics complemented the rustic site’s color palette of browns, rusts and tans. The barren landscape possesses virtually no trees or water, just drainage ditches that traverse the land. 82. Spectacular ocean views often come with the price of atrocious playing conditions but not here. (Up 1), Many of the game's elite consider this course to be the fairest Open rota course. It also happens to include some of the most popular vacation destinations in the entire world. (Down 4), This 14-time British Open host dates to 1887. Its fairways are flat, its vistas bleak. (Up 4), Thanks to a 25-year-long restoration effort with meticulous attention to detail, Somerset Hills has reached the point where it joins Winged Foot and San Francisco GC as exemplars of Tillinghast's enormous talent. (Photo: Wood Sabold), Andrew Green’s recent renovation restored Ross features, expunged those that were not and added length to test today's tournament players. Koninklijke Haagsche (Royal Hague). When you discover the design plays as good as it looks, you have something special. Tom Doak and Ian Andrew spearheaded a restoration that was completed in 2015. We've picked out eight of the best public courses that any golf lover will be elated to play. (Photo: Gary Lisbon), Augusta National is the vision of Bobby Jones and his chosen architect, Alister MacKenzie. (New), One of Pete Dye's early masterworks, this rural retreat in suburban Columbus is where Jack Nicklaus first learned about design, as an unpaid consultant. Holes such as the par-5 14th call to mind an East Coast version of Cypress Point. Designed by hall-of-fame designer Peter Dye, Whistling Straights is made up of two prestigious golf courses: the Straits and the Irish Course. (Up 14), Recently restored by Coore & Crenshaw, Maidstone's glorious edge-of-the-Atlantic location is once again fully evident. Tom Weiskopf cites the primary appeal: "The continuous change in direction from hole to hole leads to different winds, great balance and maximum variety." Fuji and cliff-top panoramas of the Pacific Ocean. Colt, 1895/Tom Simpson/Herbert Tippet/Guy Campbell, 1907, Davis Love III/Mark Love, 2010/Paul Cowley, 2016, Donald Ross, 1917/Robert Trent Jones Sr., 1950, C.B. (Photo: Courtesy Kiawah Island Resort), Pete Dye's personal favorite of all of his designs, Teeth of the Dog is flat-out gorgeous, with seven holes practically sunk into the Caribbean Sea. Two of the New’s par-5s — the 6th and 13th — are exceptions and anchor each nine. (Photo: Patrick Koenig), “Hoylake,” as it's popularly known, hosted its 12th Open Championship in 2014. (Photo: Evan Schiller), Because of its remote location, Crystal Downs was once overlooked but that changed when Tom Doak introduced the course to Ben Crenshaw in the 1980s. A slew of par-4s on the first nine gives way to a peculiar 3-3-5-4-3-5 start to the second nine. So, each time you play Angus Glen, you are walking the same fairways that the world’s best golfers have competed on. The drivable ½-par 9th is another design standout with its angled green toward play. Along with Tobacco Road, Wolf Creek is easily one of the most fun golf courses in America that you can play. Mark Brooks, 1996 PGA champion, summed up this Golden Age A.W. Strategically designed by David Ross, in 1907, so that it was the "fairest test of championship golf. The dirty secret at Winged Foot is that more than a few consider the 13th and 17th as the best par-3s on the property, an outlandish claim until you play them. A collection of golf's most fearsome-looking bunkers populate the course. Equally impressive was how Nicklaus seamlessly integrated spectator areas into the closing holes, using hillsides and amphitheater-style mounding to provide patrons with clear views of the action. When you layer on Colt’s improvements (such as moving the 12th green high and to the left), you end up with one of the game’s most noble inland courses. The beauty of Oakmont is how it doesn’t doll itself up, and yet to a purist the view from the crest of the hill on 15 is as breathtaking as any in the country. Wembley Golf Course proclaims to be Australia’s best public golf course, and to be fair it’s pretty hard to argue. To see our latest World Top 100, simply scroll down this page. Golf is generally considered best along a cool coastline. Our brand-new list features 11 courses that jumped inside this year’s Top 100, reflecting changing trends and a revamped ranking. Tillinghast, 1929/Gil Hanse, 2017, Charles Hunter, 1876/Old Tom Morris, 1879, Golf’s 2020-2021 Ranking of the Top 100 Courses in the World. However, it was reputably known that Mary, Queen of Scots, had played the course in 1567. from $410 per game, americanclubresort.com, Location: Kohler, Wisconsin, United States. The short par-4 4th, reachable par-5 11th and the long par-4 14th rank among Dye’s all-time best. You have everything you need to plan the perfect golf outing anywhere you travel. After Tom Watson played here before his Open defense in 1981, he remarked that the experience was “the most fun I've ever had a on a golf course.” Donald Ross grew up here, though Dornoch took its final shape as we know it today well after he left. Dye and owner Herb Kohler engineered a mind-boggling cleanup, moved 3 million cubic yards of dirt, trucked in 7,000 loads of sand to create the hills and bunkers and relocated the bluffs back off the shore. Winged Foot, Cabot, Bandon, Sunningdale or here? Bunkers were reshaped and relocated, fairways were widened and re-shaped and a natural barranca was brought back into play as a strategic hazard. The course plays along and between two main dune lines, and Ross made the most of the opportunity with holes continually tacking in different directions. If you buy something from the links on this page, we may earn a commission. That changed in 2016 when Gil Hanse embarked on a two-year project to imbue the greens with a C.B. Hotchkin, 1926, H.S. (Up 26), This Westchester County course has always enjoyed a spectacular component to it, courtesy of breathtaking views of the Hudson River. Orlando is a perfect hub for year-round golf, attracting retirees from around the country and snow-bound golfers during the winter months. In part, by breaking the “rules” and having back-to-back par-5s on the front and back-to-back par-3s on the back. Colt and S.V. A poor course set-up for the 1999 Open only furthered its reputation as “Carnastie,” but if you play from the right set of tees, you will be surprised by the variety and interest that its holes possess. 50. Which courses would you've liked to see? Its tournament course is a composite layout, comprised of 18 of the club's 27 holes. Hard to imagine that the professionals now try to drive the sliver of green at 14 but that’s how the game has changed. California Golf Club of San Francisco, 78. Woods was the only golfer to break par for 72 holes, owing to rugged, uphill par-4s, massive bunkers and the wrist-fracturing rough found on this Rees Jones-restored A.W. Colt's 97-year-old companion to its charming elder, the Old, stands on its own merits. (LC Lambrecht), This cult classic is a personal favorite of both Pete Dye and Tom Doak. Only Mike Keiser would have approved of such an unusual sequence and this course helped modern architecture break free from some certain design shackles that had constrained designers over the past five decades. (Photo: Nile Young), H.S. Dating to 1916, the course was made over by A.W. (Photo: Patrick Koenig), Bandon's original course is a David McLay Kidd design draped atop craggy headlands above the Pacific. Phil Mickelson opined that it is his favorite modern course. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io, A Theatre Lover’s Guide to the Best Musicals, Trust Us, You'll Never Forget Swimming With Sharks, 13 Best Marijuana Dispensaries in Colorado, These Are the Best Fantasy Baseball Sites, Best Places in the US to See Cherry Blossoms, No. Welcome to Golf World’s Top 100 Golf Courses England: the definitive guide to the best golf courses in the country. With the greens now Stimping in the 10 to 10.5 range, balls are releasing across the rumpled ground and players are delighting in finding creative ways to use banks and punchbowl features to work their shots close. A dream course to play on a regular basis. Doug Carrick's stunning course constructed from a former gravel quarry continues to be one of the best public golf options in the Greater Toronto Area. It has played host to 10 Opens, most recently Jordan Spieth's remarkable win in 2017. Equal parts weird and wonderful, this host to 24 Open Championships (including the first 12) features a perfect combination of quirk and muscle. Ross spent much personal time on this design and it manifests itself with a stunning collection of par-4s headlined by the 6th, 7th, 15th, 17th and 18th. (Photo: Evan Schiller), This 16-time Open venue was never more testing or memorable than in 2013, when Phil Mickelson rode his 3-wood to victory. (Up 1), Its stark, open-plain setting is the definition of a heathland and as a test of character and shotmaking, Walton Heath has few peers. It's easy to see why it's Golf Magazine's top public golf course in the country. The usual quartet of Raynor template one shot holes (Redan, Short, Biarritz, and Eden) are here and rival his best set. (Up 12), Roughly 200 bunkers menace this rugged links that has hosted Open Championships since 1926. Though the course is barely 30 years old, it already has an illustrious history of hosting famous events, none more so than the drama-filled 1991 "War by the Shore" Ryder Cup. ," this course will definitely challenge golfers. (Photo: LC Lambrecht), Blend the towering dunes of Ballybunion, the relentless challenge of Carnoustie and the legendary bombast of Donald Trump and you'd have a potential Open site for the ages. (Photo: Dave Samson). The result is a low-profile design that beguiles. On a "difficulty" scale of 1 to 10, Jack Nicklaus once rated the West course a 12. A bold start that features a 475-yard par-4 and a 225-yard par-3 give way to gentler, though strategically, rich holes that were favorites of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, a frequent visitor. Current count is 95 out of 100. Location: Pebble Beach, California, United States. Echoed five-time Open champion Tom Watson, “It is one of the best and most beautiful tests of links golf anywhere.” Greenkeeper John Bambury embarked several years ago to convert the poa greens to fine fescue and to re-establish the running game. (New), Several of Coore & Crenshaw’s finest designs are located at hard-to-access private clubs but many of their works thankfully are available to the public, often courtesy of Mike Keiser. Probably not, given its last one was in 1908. Macan, 1926/Alister MacKenzie, 1928/Kyle Phillips, 2007, Harry Vardon, 1905/H.S. After the Women’s U.S. Open was played the following week, a powerful message had been broadcast around the world from the home of American golf about the virtues of width, short grass and great greens. Does anything in golf compare with that final stroll up the par-5 18th as it curves left around Carmel Bay? But it’s good to have some new blood too, right? Over the century, the course has been updated and changed slightly from how Ross has designed it. The question is answered at the 1st, with a green that follows the natural contours and slopes away from the player. (Photo: Channing Benjamin), Tara Iti jumped onto our World list in 2017 as one of our highest debuting courses ever. Pine Valley excels at all three, with many contending it has the most formidable hazards and sophisticated green complexes in golf. Rebuilt following its use for RAF airfields in World War II, the "Duel in the Sun" 1977 British Open venue witnessed a recent series of well-received design changes by MacKenzie & Ebert that better utilized the rugged coastline. The Muirfield Village Golf Club is widely considered as one of the oldest golf courses as it houses the world’s oldest golfing society, Muirfield. (Up 2), A.W. There are plenty to pick from here, including the 1st, 4th, 8th, 10th and the love-it-or-hate-it 18th, but the hole everyone needs to see at least once in their life is the famous downhill Biarritz 9th. Macdonald’s course in 1923 and not much has changed since as its slew of exemplary template holes make it just as relevant today as it was in the age of hickory golf. Lost Farm is fairly new in the world of golf. Hotchkin for enhancing Vardon's work and turning the course into one of golf's supreme shotmaking tests. (Photo: Gary Lisbon), The birthplace of golf features blind bunkers, huge double greens, quirks such as the Road Hole and Hell Bunker and strategic options that vary with the day’s wind. No. (Photo: Patrick Koenig), Golf in the United Kingdom started along its coastline on linksland but as the sport became popular, people wanted courses nearer to where they lived. The Clyde/Squirrel combo was used for the 1913 Open when local lad Francis Ouimet stunned the big, bad Brits. Old Tom Morris' 1893 design, coupled with Alister MacKenzie's 1927 enhancements, including the 9th green, and Martin Hawtree's 2003 push into the big dunes, proves an irresistible combination of beauty, challenge and fun. “Victorian golf has long been recognised for Melbourne’s famous Sand Belt region, home to arguably the finest collection of golf courses in the world.