The 22 Best Golf Courses in the World

From cathedral-like Masters fairways to windswept Scottish links and cliffside dunes on the far side of the world, this lineup spans championship royalty and cult pilgrimage sites alike. Cast your vote!

1. 1
   St Andrews Old Course

   The Scottish links widely called the Home of Golf, dating back over 600 years in the town of St Andrews.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Pine Valley Golf Club

   A secluded New Jersey course of sandy waste areas and thick pines, often ranked the toughest test in golf.
   764pts
3. 3
   Augusta National Golf Club

   The private Georgia club that hosts the Masters every April, famed for its blooming azaleas and Amen Corner.
   716pts
4. 4
   Cape Kidnappers

   A Tom Doak design on New Zealand's North Island, known for fairways perched atop dramatic ocean cliffs.
   716pts
5. 5
   Teeth of the Dog

   A Pete Dye design at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic, with seven holes running along the Caribbean Sea.
   681pts

   DI
6. 6
   Muirfield

   One of Scotland's oldest links, home to The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and repeat Open host.
   661pts
7. 7
   Royal County Down

   A rugged links in Newcastle, Northern Ireland, set beneath the Mourne Mountains with dramatic dune bunkering.
   611pts
8. 8
   Cabot Cliffs

   A modern Coore & Crenshaw design on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton coast, celebrated for its dramatic cliffside holes.
   600pts
9. 9
   Royal Melbourne Golf Club

   An Alister MacKenzie sandbelt masterpiece in Australia, celebrated for strategic bunkering and firm fairways.
   529pts
10. 10
    Royal Dornoch Golf Club

    A remote Scottish Highlands links credited with influencing Donald Ross and revered by traveling purists.
    529pts
11. 11
    Shinnecock Hills Golf Club

    A windswept Long Island links-style course and one of the founding clubs of the USGA.
    529pts
12. 12
    Royal Portrush (Dunluce Links)

    A dramatic dunesland course on Northern Ireland's Antrim coast, host of the 2019 and 2025 Open Championships.
    448pts
13. 13
    Barnbougle Dunes

    A wild oceanfront links on Tasmania's north coast, a modern cult favorite among traveling golfers.
    448pts
14. 14
    Bethpage Black

    A rugged, punishing public course on Long Island that has hosted multiple U.S. Opens and a Ryder Cup.
    448pts
15. 15
    Cypress Point Club

    An exclusive Pebble Beach-area links-and-forest course famed for its cliffside par-3 16th hole over the Pacific.
    353pts
16. 16
    Carnoustie Golf Links

    A famously demanding Scottish links nicknamed 'Car-nasty' for its punishing finishing holes along the Barry Burn.
    353pts
17. 17
    Turnberry (Ailsa Course)

    A Scottish Ayrshire links famous for its lighthouse hole and views across the Firth of Clyde to Ailsa Craig.
    353pts
18. 18
    Pinehurst No. 2

    A Donald Ross design in North Carolina known for its crowned, turtleback greens and sandy waste areas.
    353pts
19. 19
    Sand Hills Golf Club

    A minimalist Coore & Crenshaw design carved into the dunes of remote rural Nebraska.
    353pts
20. 20
    Whistling Straits

    A rugged Wisconsin links built along Lake Michigan, host of multiple PGA Championships and the 2021 Ryder Cup.
    240pts
21. 21
    Kiawah Island Ocean Course

    A Pete Dye design along the South Carolina coast, exposed to Atlantic winds and host of the 2012 PGA Championship.
    0pts
22. 22
    Pebble Beach Golf Links

    A dramatic California links perched along the cliffs of Carmel Bay on the Monterey Peninsula.
    0pts

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