Some golf courses demand your attention, others steal your heart: the best golf courses in the world do both—often before you’ve even reached the 1st tee.
They are etched into landscapes shaped by time and tide, designed by visionaries, and revered by generations of golfers. Whether it’s the heather and dunes of Ireland, the golden coastline of New Zealand, or the pine-covered cliffs of California, these places have something in common: they speak the language of the game fluently, and they don’t whisper—they sing.
By definition any list of the best golf courses in the world: courses is going to be subjective. One of its many joys, is that golf is a game of opinions. This list is an opinion but we have drafted it because we believe these courses have earned their place not through hype, but through history, architecture, and the unforgettable experiences they offer.
1. Royal County Down – N. Ireland
Why is Royal County Down one of the best golf courses in the world?
Royal County Down is golf as nature intended. With the Mourne Mountains as a backdrop and Dundrum Bay constantly in view, this is one of the most visually arresting links anywhere on earth. Laid out in 1889 and shaped by legends like Old Tom Morris and Harry Colt, the Championship Links is a symphony of blind shots, rumpled fairways, and brutally beautiful bunkering. The 4th, 9th and 13th are unforgettable, but there’s no weak hole here. At Royal County Down, every round feels like a pilgrimage.
2. Royal Dornoch – Scotland
Why is Royal Dornoch one of the top golf courses in the world?
Tucked away in the Highlands of Scotland, Royal Dornoch is a course that feels untouched by time. It doesn’t host Open Championships. It doesn’t need to. Its legend is built on the purity of the experience. Donald Ross, who would go on to shape Pinehurst and influence American golf design, learned his craft here. The raised, dome-like greens are still his calling card. Few links are blessed with a more dramatic location and the stretch of holes along the north shore of Dornoch Firth are among the most exhilarating in golf. The serenity of it, especially if the gorse is in bloom, only deepens the sense of awe.
3. The Old Course – Scotland
Why is the Old Course one of the best golf courses in the world?
You don’t play the Old Course, St Andrews, you experience it, you drink it in, you allow it to wash over you. Golf has been played on the Links at St Andrews for more than 600 years, and each square foot of of the town seems to hum with history. The Old Course warrants it place in the top 10 of best golf courses in the world not only because of that unmatched history, but because of its ongoing relevance to the game. The Road Hole, the Swilcan Bridge, the vast double greens – the images are so familiar, we associate them with the soul of the game of golf. But the Old Course is more than the sum of its parts. The design is endlessly subtle—deceptively so—and the wind off the North Sea means no two rounds are alike. To walk up the 18th here, with the R&A clubhouse behind you, is to walk in the footsteps of legends.
4. Pine Valley Golf Club – United States
Is Pine Valley the best golf course in the USA?
Pine Valley doesn’t host majors – it doesn’t need to. Tucked into the New Jersey pines, it’s consistently ranked the No.1 course in the US for a reason. It is brutally difficult, strategically complex, and breathtakingly beautiful. Designed by George Crump and Harry Colt, Pine Valley fuses penal and strategic design like few others. Every shot asks a question. Every mistake is punished. Yet the setting is tranquil and meditative. If ever there were a course that golfers speak of in hushed tones, it’s this one. Many believe Pine Valley is not only the best golf course in America, but the best in the world.
5. Muirfield – Scotland
Why is Muirfield one of the best golf courses in the world?
It is often said that Muirfield is the purest, fairest test of links golf anywhere in Scotland. Over the years, it has hosted no fewer than 16 Open Championships. The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers does not believe in frills — and neither does this golf course. Muirfield offers some of the fairest and most brilliant routing in the game with the front 9 circling clockwise around the perimeter of this links, before the back nine takes you anti-clockwise on an inner circuit of the land, which means the wind is always changing, and no hole feels the same as the one before. It’s a cerebral challenge—but one that rewards good decision-making more than brute strength.
6. Tara Iti Golf Club – New Zealand
Is Tara Iti the best modern golf course in the world?
Tara Iti is like nowhere else. Built in 2015 by Tom Doak on the eastern coast of New Zealand’s North Island, it blends the wild beauty of a windswept beach with architectural brilliance. Every hole offers multiple lines of play. The turf is firm, the greens are fast, and the visuals are staggering. Tara Iti redefines what the best golf courses in the world can look and feel like in the 21st century.
7. Cypress Point Club – United States
Why is Cypress Point one of the best golf courses in the world?
Cypress Point on the Monterey Peninsula in California is a place of myth and folklore. Intensely private, its beauty is beyond question, with dramatic coastal stretches, inland holes which cut through the Monterey Pines and the trees which give this golf course its name. Designed by the great Alister MacKenzie it’s effortlessly elegant. The 15th, 16th, and 17th—which hug the Pacific Ocean like a baby to its mother —are some of the most photogenic and photographed holes in golf. Gaining access is nearly impossible, but for those lucky enough to play it, Cypress Point offers a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
8. Ballybunion Old Course – Ireland
Is Ballybunion the best links in Ireland?
There is a wildness and a wonder to Ballybunion that refuses to be tamed. Set along Ireland’s endlessly dramatic Wild Atlantic Way, the Old Course at Ballybunion plunges through enormous dunes, bends with the wind, and challenges the bold. This golf course offers a gentle opening six holes but from the 7th tee, Ballybunion moves through the gears and up into the realm of the world’s best golf courses. Holes like the 11th and 15th are unforgettable. You don’t play Ballybunion for polish. You play it to feel alive.
9. Royal Melbourne (WEST) – Australia
The best golf course in Australia? We think so
Royal Melbourne’s West Course is no stranger to pladuits. Designed by Alister MacKenzie and Alex Russell, this is the crown jewel of the famed Melbourne Sandbelt. The undulations are dramatic, the design is imaginative and the naturally rugged appearance is the stuff of legend. The greens at Royal Melbourne are widely viewed as the best in Australia, while the bunkering is beautiful and terrifying in equal measure. Every hole gives you options, and every option has consequences. It’s the kind of place that teaches you a little more about the game every time you play it—which is exactly what the best golf courses in the world should do.
10. Royal Portrush – Northern Ireland
Why is Royal Portrush one of the world’s best golf courses?
Few clubs have undergone as dramatic and successful a transformation as Royal Portrush. Host of The Open in 2019 and again in 2025, the iconic Dunluce Links has been extensively reimagined by Martin Ebert to rave reviews. But make no mistake, long before the upgrades, Portrush had incredible pedigree. The rugged cliffs, sweeping views of the Atlantic, and legendary holes like Calamity Corner already gave it greatness. What it has now is refinement and routing that elevate it to one of the best golf courses in the world.
Final Thoughts: Best Golf Courses in the World
To play these 10 courses is to trace the evolution of golf itself—from the windswept origins of St Andrews to the brutal test of Pine Valley, from the modern artistry of Tara Iti to the secluded magic of Cypress Point. These aren’t just the best golf courses in the world—they’re the ones that make us fall in love with the game all over again.
