WORLD’S 100 GREATEST GOLF COURSES Golf Digest surveyed hundreds of course-ranking panellists from around the globe to determine this year’s World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses outside the United States. Here are the results.
1. (1) ROYAL COUNTY DOWN GC (CHAMPIONSHIP) Newcastle, Northern Ireland Old Tom Morris (1889), Donald Steel
12. (15) SUNNINGDALE GC (OLD) England Willie Park Jr. (1901), HS Colt (1922),
Donald Steel (1986) 6 666 yards, par 70
(remodelled, 1998) 7 206 yards, par 71
13. (10) CABOT CLIFFS Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw (2015) 6 835 yards, par 72 14. (12) CAPE WICKHAM LINKS King Island, Australia Mike DeVries, Darius Oliver (2015) 6 725 yards, par 72
2. (3) ROYAL DORNOCH GC (CHAMPIONSHIP) Scotland Old Tom Morris (1892), George Duncan (1947), Donald Steel (1993), Tom Mackenzie (2013) 6 799 yards, par 70 3. (9) THE OLD COURSE ST ANDREWS Fife, Scotland Allan Robertson (1848), Old Tom Morris (1865-’85), Martin Hawtree (2013-’14; ’20) 7 313 yards, par 72 4. (8) ROYAL PORTRUSH GC (DUNLUCE) Northern Ireland Tom Gilroy (9, 1888), Old Tom Morris (9, 1889), HS Colt (1933), Martin Ebert (2015) 7 317 yards, par 72 5. (4) ROYAL MELBOURNE GC (WEST) Black Rock, Australia Alister MacKenzie, Alex Russell (1931),
15. (21) CAPE KIDNAPPERS GC Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand
Tom Doak (2004) 7 143 yards, par 71
16. (24) CARNOUSTIE LINKS (CHAMPIONSHIP) Scotland Allan Robertson (1838), Old Tom Morris (1895), James Wright (1931), Martin Hawtree (2006), Martin Ebert (2016) 7 421 yards, par 71 17. (5) MORFONTAINE GC France Tom Simpson (1927), Kyle Phillips (2004) 6 584 yards, par 70 18. (19) ROYAL MELBOURNE GC (EAST) Black Rock, Australia Alex Russell (1932), Tom Doak (2012) 6 579 yards, par 71 19. (17) ROYAL BIRKDALE GC Southport, England George Lowe (1897), FG Hawtree, JH Taylor (1931), Fred W Hawtree (1974-’85), Martin Hawtree (2010) 7 156 yards, par 70 20. (30) ROYAL ST GEORGE’S GC Sandwich, England W Laidlaw Purves (1887), HS Colt (1914), Old Tom Morris, Archie Simpson (1899), Tom Simpson (1926), Tom Mackenzie (2015) 6 615 yards, par 70 22. (46) KINGSBARNS LINKS St Andrews, Scotland Kyle Phillips, Mark Parsinen (1999) 7 224 yards, par 72 23. (14) NEW SOUTH WALES GC La Perouse, Australia Des Soutar, Carnegie Clark, Alister MacKenzie (1928), Eric Apperly (1936), Greg Norman (2010), Tom Doak (2018) 6 829 yards, par 72 Martin Ebert (2010) 7 204 yards, par 70 21. (51) CRUDEN BAY GC Scotland
Tom Doak (2015-’16) 6 645 yards, par 72
RUB O’ THE GREEN St. Patrick’s Links at Rosapenna (Ireland) opened in 2021 and is one of five ranked courses from Tom Doak.
6. (7) MUIRFIELD Gullane, Scotland Old Tom Morris (1891), HS Colt (1925), Martin Hawtree (2011) 7 245 yards, par 71
7. (2) TARA ITI GC Mangawhai, New Zealand
Just as important as quantity in demonstrating the appreciation for sand is the upward movement of links courses in the rankings. Nine of the top 10 courses are links, up from six in 2022-2023. Links courses, in fact, jumped a collective 351 places in the poll, marked most notably by Trump International surging 33 places, followed by Cruden Bay (30 places), Prestwick (28), Portmarnock (Championship) and Royal Troon (25 each) and Kingsbarns (24). Links stalwarts like Royal Hague (No 48), designed in 1939 by Charles Alison, Royal St David’s in Wales (No 76), Enniscrone in Ireland (No 87) and Paraparaumu Beach in New Zealand (No 96) enter or re- enter the ranking. “Secondary” courses at established clubs also get love, with Turnberry, Portrush, St Andrews and several others placing two courses on the list for the first time.
Tom Doak (2015) 6 951 yards, par 71
8. (13) TRUMP TURNBERRY RESORT (AILSA) Scotland PM Ross (1951), Martin Ebert (2015) 7 489 yards, par 71 9. (23) NORTH BERWICK GC Scotland David Strath (1877), CK Hutchison (1935) 6 551 yards, par 71 10. (18) BALLYBUNION GC (OLD) Ireland Lionel Hewson (9, 1906), Reginald Beale (9, 1927), Tom Simpson (1937), Martin Hawtree (2011), Graeme Webster (2015) 6 802 yards, par 71
11. (11) KINGSTON HEATH GC Heatherton, Australia Des Soutar, Mick Morcom (1925), Mike Clayton (2002) 7 102 yards, par 72
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