51 - 75 Golf Courses
51. Sunningdale (New), England
The old course at Sunningdale opened in 1901 and the new course opened in 1923. It was designed by the brilliant Harry Colt. The land is made up of heather, gorse and some pine trees. The new course is considered to be more rugged, with less bunkering and tree lining than its older sibling. Right from the start, you know you are on a championship course as the first is a testing par 4 with trouble all the way down the left. The colours on show here in the summertime are stunning with purple being the most prominent apart from green. Read More
6 Best Holes: 10, 9, 11, 4, 15, 1
Best Par 3: 10
Best Par 4: 11
Best Par 5: 6
52. Portmarnock, Ireland
I have had the pleasure of playing this great links course many times as it is less than an hour from where I live. The course opened in 1894 and is situated on a headland on the outskirts of Dublin. The clubhouse is one of the finest in the world and you are never in a hurry to leave it. Read More
6 Best Holes: 4, 15, 14, 17, 3, 8
Best Par 3: 15
Best Par 4: 4
Best Par 5: 16
53. Rye (Old), England
The course was designed in 1895 by the great Harry Colt. When you arrive at Ryde Golf Club, you may wonder if you are in the right place. There is a clubhouse above the car park and the pro shop is across the road. It does not scream world class golf course, but four hours later you will change your mind as this is a brilliant golf course. Read More
6 Best Holes: 4, 5, 13, 6, 15, 7
Best Par 3: 5
Best Par 4: 4
Best Par 5: 1
Playlist
Rye (Old), England
0:16Rye (Old), England
0:1654. Ardfin, Scotland
We must love our golf. It took two flights and a ferry to get to Ardfin but it was worth the effort. Normally you have to stay at the hotel to play the course but my American pal Travis emailed me to say that they were doing a special without having to stay, so my cousin Sean and I booked. Read More
6 Best Holes: 10, 14, 8, 11, 17, 1
Best Par 3: 10
Best Par 4: 14
Best Par 5: 16
55. Wentworth, England
How is Wentworth not more highly rated on some of the golfing lists? It has the design, the history, the course condition and is a brilliant heathland golf course. It deserves to be ranked much higher than it is currently. It was designed by Harry Colt and played host to the Ryder Cup in 1953. It staged the World Matchplay from 1967 to 2007 and has also staged the No. 1 European Tour event, namely the BMW PGA Championship every year since 1984. Read More
6 Best Holes: 15, 13, 3, 14, 9, 11
Best Par 3: 14
Best Par 4: 15
Best Par 5: 17
56. Te Arai North, New Zealand
This course only opened in October 2023 and I got to play it a year later. You would think the course was there for 20 years. Tom Doak did a super job with the design. The huge parcel of land that the owners bought to build both Te Arai’s along with Tara Iti is an incredible piece of earth and must have been a designers dream to be let loose on. Read More
6 Best Holes: 13, 2, 17, 10, 4, 16
Best Par 3: 2
Best Par 4: 13
Best Par 5: 11
Playlist
57. Somerset Hills, USA
This course opened in 1918 and was designed by the great A.W. Tillinghast. Before that the site had been used as a racecourse and you can still see the track in some parts of the course. The clubhouse is old world. It is very beautiful and looks over most of the course. Read More
6 Best Holes: 2, 15, 7, 11 16, 1
Best Par 3: 2
Best Par 4: 15
Best Par 5: 9
Playlist
Somerset Hills, USA
0:1658. Bandon Trails, USA
Bandon Trails starts out as a links course, then moves inland and finishes back up as a links course again. That might sound a little odd but it works really well. All credit to Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw for a great layout. Everyone that goes to Bandon Dunes has different opinions on what order they would rate the 5 courses but my friend Ben and I had the same order. We put Bandon Trails in second place out of the five. Read More
6 Best Holes: 13, 7, 16, 6, 18, 4
Best Par 3: 17
Best Par 4: 13
Best Par 5: 16
59. Royal Melbourne East, Australia
This course may live a little in the shadow of the West course but make no mistake the East course is top class too. When the club hosts a pro event they usually take six holes from the East course and twelve from the West course and that shows that both courses are of quite a similar standard. Read More
6 Best Holes: 16, 2, 18, 13, 9, 12
Best Par 3: 16
Best Par 4: 2
Best Par 5: 10
60. Casa De Campo, Dominican Republic
It was obviously a total coincidence that our family holiday ended up in the Dominican Republic and that two famous golf courses are located there. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! Casa DE Campo (Teeth of the Dog) and Punta Espada are two stunning golf courses and well worth playing if you ever visit that part of the world. Pete Dye designed this course and he did a super job. Read More
6 Best Holes: 5, 15, 7, 6, 17, 18
Best Par 3: 5
Best Par 4: 15
Best Par 5: 3
61. Cape Wickham, Australia
Cape Wickham is located at the northern tip of King Island in Australia and is roughly halfway between Melbourne and Tasmania. The course is brilliant but the club needs some infrastructure as when I was there, there was just a very small building which acted as a clubhouse. There was accommodation on site and it was poor. Read More
6 Best Holes: 18, 9, 16, 5, 1, 8
Best Par 3: 17
Best Par 4: 18
Best Par 5: 9
62. Valderrama, Spain
This course played host to the Ryder Cup in 1997 when famously the European side was captained by the legend that was Seve. This is the No. 1 course out of the 400 that there are in Spain. There is an elegance and beauty to the clubhouse that greets you as you enter along with the perfect practice area. It feels special from the start. It opened in 1974 and was designed by Robert Trent Jones. Read More
6 Best Holes: 16, 18, 17, 8, 10, 15
Best Par 3: 15
Best Par 4: 16
Best Par 5: 17
63. Utrecht De Pan, Holland
When you think of Holland, you might think of football, flat land, tulips and the brilliant city of Amsterdam but you wouldn’t think of golf. Can you name one famous Dutch golfer? I couldn’t either. So before I played Utrecht De Pan, I thought the course would be ok but I was way off. This course is a belter. You could think that you were close to Sunningdale or Wentworth as it is a beautiful heathland course. Read More
6 Best Holes: 10, 4, 6, 13, 2, 9
Best Par 3: 12
Best Par 4: 10
Best Par 5: 5
Playlist
64. St. Georges Hill, England
St. Georges Hill opened in 1913 and designed by the brilliant Harry Colt. It is set in a private estate of houses and facilities that are 5 star all the way. The tennis club nearby looked top class. The cost of property in this area must be frightening. The clubhouse is famous. It is a lovely building that looks over the course from a height. Read More
6 Best Holes: 16, 17, 6, 10, 13, 1
Best Par 3: 8
Best Par 4: 16
Best Par 5: 15
Playlist
65. Ballyneal, USA
This course only opened in 2006 and was designed by Tom Doak. The name Ballyneal comes from a combination of the two owners Jim and Rupert O’Neal’s surname along with wanting to have an Irish feel to it and so the name Ballyneal came about. Read More
6 Best Holes: 2, 13, 8, 17, 7, 9
Best Par 3: 11
Best Par 4: 2
Best Par 5: 8
Playlist
Ballyneal, USA
0:1666. Ganton, England
This inland links in North Yorkshire was founded as Scarborough Golf Club in 1891 and then changed its name to Ganton Golf Club in 1907. It was originally designed by Tom Chisholm. Since then modifications to the course have been made by people including James Braid, J.H. Taylor, Harry Vardon, Harry Colt, Dr. Alister Mackenzie and Tom Simpson. What a list! From Leeds Bradford airport, it is about a 90 minute drive. Read More
6 Best Holes: 8, 18, 11, 15, 4, 16
Best Par 3: 17
Best Par 4: 8
Best Par 5: 13
Playlist
Ganton, England
0:16Ganton, England
0:16Ganton, England
0:16Ganton, England
0:16Ganton, England
0:16Ganton, England
0:16Ganton, England
0:1667. Royal Porthcawl, Wales
We flew to Wales in the morning, played Royal Porthcawl and flew back to Dublin that evening. My cousin Sean and my pal Gary thought I was mad to suggest it but it all worked out well. This is the No. 1 course in Wales and is easy to see why. The club was founded in 1891 but moved to its current location 4 years later which was a very good idea when you see the surroundings. Read More
6 Best Holes: 8, 13, 2, 15, 14, 16
Best Par 3: 14
Best Par 4: 13
Best Par 5: 8
Playlist
68. Royal Aberdeen, Scotland
Royal Aberdeen Golf Club is situated on the north east coast of Scotland facing out onto the North Sea. It is a short drive from Aberdeen which is where we stayed. I would suggest maybe staying in another town besides Aberdeen. The club was founded in 1780 and claims to be the 6th oldest golf club in the world. This course is famous for having one of the best front nines in the world and we all agreed that was true. The thing that surprised us the most was the fact that the back nine was super also. The size of the sand dunes here are some of the biggest you will see on any golf course. Read More
6 Best Holes: 9, 8, 14, 2, 4, 16
Best Par 3: 8
Best Par 4: 9
Best Par 5: 2
Playlist
69. St. Enodoc (Church), England
St. Enodoc Golf Club has such a pretty idyllic setting along the coast of Cornwall in south west England. I can see why property is expensive in this area as I would imagine a lot of English people retire to this beautiful part of the world. Perhaps the fact that we played it on a sunny May day, probably helped. Read More
6 Best Holes: 3, 18, 9, 17, 6, 2
Best Par 3: 17
Best Par 4: 3
Best Par 5: 1
70. Victoria, Australia
Yet another beautiful sand belt course in Melbourne. You get a real sense of Victoria GC being a great members club. There was a lovely atmosphere in the clubhouse. They raise national flags for visitors right beside the putting green and it was nice to see the Irish flag blowing in the breeze. The course opened in 1927 and the Prime Minister at the time, Stanley Bruce, hit the opening tee shot. Since then it has held the Australian Men’s Open 4 times – 1961, 1981, 2002 and 2022. Read More
6 Best Holes: 4, 7, 11, 6, 13, 16
Best Par 3: 4
Best Par 4: 11
Best Par 5: 9
Playlist
Victoria, Australia
0:16Victoria, Australia
0:1671. Royal Liverpool, England
This course is also known as Hoylake and opened in 1869. Before that the land was used as a racecourse for the Liverpool Hunt Club. The course was redesigned by Harry Colt early on in the 20th century. It has been host to 13 British Opens, most recently in 2023. Read More
6 Best Holes: 11, 10, 5, 12, 16, 9
Best Par 3: 11
Best Par 4: 10
Best Par 5: 16
72. Bandon Dunes, USA
This was the first of 5 courses to open at the resort and did so in 1999. The course is perched on a bluff high above the Pacific Ocean where the views may distract you on many occasions. It is one of the best golf resorts in the world where nothing is overlooked as they say except the ocean. You will need to book at least 12 months in advance if you wish to play and stay here. Read More
6 Best Holes: 5, 16, 15, 4, 6, 12
Best Par 3: 15
Best Par 4: 5
Best Par 5: 18
Playlist
Bandon Dunes, USA
0:1673. Royal Cinque Ports, England
This course was founded in 1891 and is located along the English south coast in Kent. It is quite close to Royal St. Georges and Prince’s Golf Clubs. Playing all three on consecutive days would be quite the golf trip. It held the Open Championship in 1909 and again in 1920. It would have held more but was badly flooded on a couple of occasions. This course is good enough to host an Open Championship at some future point if required. Read More
6 Best Holes: 16, 18, 7, 3, 15, 4
Best Par 3: 4
Best Par 4: 18
Best Par 5: 16
74. Int. Golf Links Aberdeen, Scotland
The owner of this course usually does things on a large scale and this course must have some of the biggest sand dunes ever used for a links course. The course opened only in 2012 after many objections from locals. The course looks like it has been there for decades. Read More
6 Best Holes: 14, 8, 4, 9, 11, 18
Best Par 3: 3
Best Par 4: 14
Best Par 5: 4
75. Te Arai South, New Zealand
This links course only opened in 2022 and was designed by Coore and Crenshaw. It is located just over an hour’s drive from Auckland. There are 3 courses here now, along with Tara Iti and Te Arai South. Tara Iti is fully private and you must be invited by a Member. The other two courses are open to the public on alternate days. Sitting around the Te Arai clubhouse has to be one of the nicest places in the world to be. It is so friendly and easy going. It’s a classy place but there is no dress code which is refreshing. The huge putting green is a source of great entertainment. Dan, Eanna, Aussie Sam and I stayed around the clubhouse and the putting green for hours after our round. We had a great laugh. A day to remember. Read More
6 Best Holes: 4, 1, 17, 10, 14, 5
Best Par 3: 17
Best Par 4: 4
Best Par 5: 1
