Golf is unique because you can follow legends’ footsteps and play the incredible venues where the greats made their name and cemented their legacy.
Here we will take a look at the world’s ten greatest courses. What constitutes the world’s top course for you is a matter of taste and opinion, but we have taken stunning aesthetics, the level of the challenge and difficulty of the course and the history made there all into account when compiling this highly subjective list of the finest golf courses in the world.
10. Royal Dornoch Golf Club
Details: Dornoch, 6,722 yards. Par 70.
A golf course possibly not as well known as the others that will feature, especially outside of the U.K, but a course deserving of its place in the top ten nevertheless.
Tom Watson said playing Royal Dornoch was “the most fun I’ve ever had on a golf course.”
This is one of the very best golf courses in the United Kingdom but lacks the long tournament history and prestige of the other courses in the top ten due to its relative inaccessibility, which naturally diminishes its tournament pedigree.
This beautiful seaside links course has mainly elevated greens; unlike most links courses, this makes it impossible to run the ball onto the greens.
9. Royal County Down
Details: Newcastle, Northern Ireland. 7,183 yards. Par 71.
The near-impossible angles and crazy rolls of Royal County Down stand it apart from other courses. Royal County Down runs parallel with the stunning Murlough Nature Reserve on Northern Ireland’s East Coast.
The twisting, turning and rolling holes of this spectacular course push golfers’ skills and imagination to the test while enjoying both the views of the Mountains of Morne and the glistening clear water of Dundrum Bay.
Many golfers and enthusiasts believe Royal County Down has the finest front 9 in the world of golf.
8. Oakmont Country Club
Details: Oakmont, Pennsylvania. 7,254 yards. Par 71.
The greens are why Oakmont Country Club makes the upper regions of the greatest course in the world list. Without them being arguably the most challenging in the world, this course would be lucky to make a top 50, never mind a top 10.
The course that hosted Dustin Johnson’s first major win at the 2016 U.S Open was rumoured to have actually slowed down the greens for that, and even then, they played an enormous role as the storyline of that famous maiden major victory for DJ unravelled.
7. National Golf Links of America
Details: Southampton, New York. 6,935. Par 72.
This golf course is a marvel of modern design. Famous holes such as the Alps 3rd, the short 6th, and the Leven 17th mean this course makes the top ten ahead of the other prominent Philadelphia course – Merion. This course is the better of the two.
‘National’ as it’s known has never been the host of a national championship, only because they have never wanted to. The 2013 Walker Cup being the exception to the rule.
6. Cabot Cliffs Cape Breton
Details: Inverness, Nova Scotia. 6,764. Par 72.
The best golf course in Canada and the best hardcore links course outwith the U.K offers a sun-drenched, serene venue where golfers can watch the crashing waves of the North Atlantic crash into the Canadian granite while they ponder their next shot.
There are few holes in the world of golf as dramatic and stunning as the Par 3, 16th at Cabot Cliffs. Golfers play from one cliff edge to another with nothing between them but a 100-foot drop to the rocky coast of the Atlantic ocean.
5. Cypress Point Club
Details: Pebble Beach, California. 6,524. Par 72.
Cyprus Point is simply a glorious collection of golf holes. The course has remained short over time, resisting the urge to add length to combat updates in technology, and rightly so. The course is perfect the way it is.
The iconic 16th at Cyprus Point, a stunning Par 3, is probably the most photographed hole in golf, but that is far from the only highlight. The jagged coastline of the Pacific and the mammoth dunes around the course mean any golfer who plays this almost ‘out of this world’ course won’t forget it in a hurry.
The course is renowned for breaking the “rules” of golf with back-to-back par-5s on the front nine and back-to-back par-3s on the back 9.