Greatest Golf Courses in the World

Last updated on March 12, 2021

Are you interested in what the world’s greatest golf courses are? Do you want to visit them and play golf there? Then you are reading the right article. We have ranked a bunch of world class golf courses with some extra information for you! We have divided this article in the best courses worldwide and per continent. The ‘worldwide list’ counts ten great golf courses. For every continent we’ve selected the five best golf courses.

Top 10 Greatest Courses Worldwide

Starting off with our ‘worldwide list’. We’ve picked the 10 greatest courses in the whole world for you! You can visit them if you want to play golf or just for your interest. If you are a golf fanatic, then these courses are all lovely places you really want to visit in a lifetime.

1. Royal County Down G.C.
Newcastle, Northern Ireland / 7,186 yards – Par 71

There is no lovelier place than this golf club. The golf course is surrounded by mountains in the south, Dundrum Bay to the east and gorse covered golden dunes. The bunkers with dense marram grasses are the highlight of the course, surrounded by clumps of heather. The greens are looking nice and really flat. Donald Steel is the most recent architect working on this golf course. The design is attributed to Old Tom Morris. This golf course looks really good and has so many highlights. If you are a real golf fanatic, we’ll recommend you to visit this course.

2. Tara Iti G.C.
Mangawhai, New Zealand / 6,840 yards – Par 71

This golf course has one of the best meetings between land and sea. There are views everywhere of the Hauraki Golf. The holes of Tara Iti are inspired by Royal St. George’s, Cypress Point and Royal Dornoch. This great looking golf course is built by Tom Doak. Tom Doak and Brian Slawnik spent more than two years resculpting the punch bowls, sand dunes and hummocks. There is a lot of sand on the course, but there are no bunkers at all. Golf fanatics will love this course and may ground their clubs anywhere.

3. Muirfield
Gullane, Scotland / 7,245 yards – Par 71

Harry Shapland Colt redesigned Old Tom Morris’ design and that resulted in the Muirfield we know nowadays. This golf course is known for straightforward links. Every shot on this course (except the 11th tee shot) is clearly visible. Greens are the correct size for every approach with the expected iron. The direction changes on every routing hole to pose different wind conditions. All in all a really great golf course you might want to visit!

4. Royal Melbourne G.C.
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia / 6,643 yards – Par 72

This is a great golf course with greens that are a miniature version of the landscape that surrounds Royal Melbourne. The bunkers chew into the fairways and greens. An angle into the ping is everything on this course, because the most holes are doglegs. Alister MacKenzie’s routing from 1926 fits precisely into the contours of the land.

5. Royal Dornoch G.C.
Dornoch, Sutherland, Scotland / 6,704 yards – Par 70

The greens of this lovely course sit mostly on plateaus. Hitting those greens in a ‘’Dornoch’ wind is a challenge and they don’t really favor the bounce-and-run golf play style. Royal Dornoch is tucked in dunes along the coastline with a view on the North Sea. Herbert Warren Wind called this golf course the most natural course he’d ever seen. Old Tom Morris, George Duncan, Donald Steel and most recent architect Tom Mackenzie worked on this great golf course!

6. The Old Course at St. Andrews
St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland / 7,279 yards – Par 72

This is the oldest golf course in the world. The first rounds ever documented were in 1552 and that makes this course the oldest of all golf courses! Every course designed is a reaction against or a response to one or more features. The Old Course has enormous greens and blind shots. Architects either love or hate that.

7. Royal Portrush G.C.
Northern Ireland / 7,317 yards – Par 72

Royal Portrush is one of the best golf courses in the world. It’s a private golf club and the only one that hosts The Open in Ireland. One of the designers H.S. Colt is known for designing one of the best putting greens in the world. Royal Portrush also has these perfect putting greens.

8. Morfontaine G.C.
France / 6,584 yards – Par 70

Morfontaine has a timeless design. This golf club was founded in 1913 and still is a great golf course today! The looks are like a heathland course around London. The surrounding forest is really dense. You can also find scottish pines and heather clumps on a base of sand. Morfontaine is the greatest golf course in Europe.

9. South Cape Owners Club
Namhae Island, South Korea / 7,313 yards – Par 72

This golf course is pretty recent, it’s been open for around five years now. The South Cape Owners Club has beautiful ocean views and a stunning clubhouse.

10. Trump Turnberry
Scotland / 7,489 yards – Par 71

Philip Mackenzie Ross re-established a legendary links that was ravaged by WWII. Donald Trump purchased this golf course. Since then a lot of changes happened to the golf course, like creating new par 3s, par 5s and so on. Revetted bunkers were replaced for ragged-edged bunkers and now Trump Turnberry has a complete new look. You might want to visit this one!

Top 5 Greatest Courses per Continent

Do you want to know what the greatest courses per continent are? Then this piece of the article suits you best. We’ve divided this content into nine continents, Antarctica isn’t included, because the environment there is not really suitable for playing golf.

Africa

1. Fancourt Links
George, Western Cape, South Africa / 6,919 yards – Par 72

2. Windhoek Golf & Country Club
Western Bypass, Namibia / 6,675 yards – Par 71

3. Flamingo Golf Course
Monastir, Tunisia / 6,698 yards – Par 72

4. Heritage Golf Club
Bel Ombre, Mauritius / 7,000 – Par 72

5. The Cascades at Soma Bay
Hurghada, Egypt / 6,991 – Par 72

Asia

1. South Cape Owners Club
Namhae Island, South Korea / 7,313 yards – Par 72

2. Hirono Golf Club
Kinki (Kansai), Japan / 7,169 yards – Par 72

3. Kawana Golf Club (Fuji)
Chubu, Japan / 6,242 yards – Par 72

4. Naruto Golf Club
Kinki (Kansai), Japan / 6,595 yards – Par 70

5. Lanhai International C.C. (Yangtze Dunes)
Shanghai, China / Par 72

Britain and Ireland

1. Royal County Down G.C.
Newcastle, Northern Ireland / 7,186 yards – Par 71

2. Royal Dornoch G.C.
Dornoch, Sutherland, Scotland / 6,704 yards – Par 70

3. The Old Course at St. Andrews
St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland / 7,279 yards – Par 72

4. Royal Portrush G.C.
Northern Ireland / 7,317 yards – Par 72

5. Trump Turnberry
Scotland / 7,489 yards – Par 71

Caribbean

1. Casa de Campo (Teeth of the Dog)
La Romana, Dominican Republic / 6,739 yards – Par 71

2. Mid Ocean Club
HM GX, Bermuda / 6,530 yards – Par 71

3. Punta Espada
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic / 7,396 yards – Par 72

4. Punta Cana (Corales)
Higüey, Dominican Republic / 7,650 – Par 72

5. Royal Blue – Baha Mar
New Providence, Bahamas / 7,153 yards – Par 72

Central and South America

1. Jockey Club (Red)
Buenos Aires, Argentina / 6,577 yards – Par 72

2. Olympic Golf Course
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil / 7,128 yards – Par 71

3. Lagunita CC
Caracas, Venezuela / 6,882 yards – Par 70

4. Los Olivos (White/Red)
Buenos Aires, Argentina / 3,387 yards – Par 36

5. El Rincon de Cajica
Bogóta, Colombia / 7,542 yards – Par 72

Europe

1. Morfontaine G.C.
France / 6,584 yards – Par 70

2. Koninklijke Haagsche
Wassenaar, Netherlands / 6 836 yards – Par 72

3. Utrecht de Pan
Utrecht, Netherlands / 6,654 yards – Par 72

4. Real Valderrama
Southern Spain, Spain / 6,990 yards – Par 71

5. El Saler
Valencia, Spain / 6,952 yards – Par 72

Middle East

1. Yas Links
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates / 7,414 yards – Par 72

2. Al Mouj (Championship)
Masqat, Oman / 7,299 yards – Par 72

3. Emirates (Majlis)
Dubai, United Arab Emirates / 7,301 yards – Par 72

4. Jumeirah (Earth)
Dubai, United Arab Emirates / 7,706 yards – Par 72

5. Dubai Creek
Dubai, United Arab Emirates / 6,967 yards – Par 71

North America

1. Cypress Point
California, United States / 6,524 yards – Par 72

2. Pine Valley
New Jersey, United States / 7,057 – Par 70

3. Shinnecock Hills
New York, United States / 6,940 yards – Par 70

4. National Golf Links of America
New York, United States / 6,873 – Par 73

5. Oakmont Country Club
Pennsylvania, United States / 7,255 yards – Par 71

Oceania

1. Tara Iti G.C.
Mangawhai, New Zealand / 6,840 yards – Par 71

2. Royal Melbourne G.C.
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia / 6,643 yards – Par 72

3. Kingston Heath
Victoria, Australia / 6,946 yards – Par 72

4. Barnbougle Dunes
Tasmania, Australia / 6,723 yards – Par 71

5. New South Wales
New South Wales, Australia / 6,829 yards – Par 72

Summary

Now you know the ten greatest golf courses in the world and the best golf courses per continent. You also know some big names of architects that made these courses like we know them nowadays.