Every two years, Golf Magazine [USA] publishes its list of the World's Top 100 golf courses. This highly respected listing is the culmination of voting by a select panel of just over 100 panellists, many of whom have played most if not all of the courses featured. Whilst there are other "world" rankings published this listing is considered the most credible.
Course NameLocationCountry2021201920172015201320112009
Pine Valley Golf Club
Pine Valley, New JerseyUSA1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Cypress Point Club
Pebble Beach, CaliforniaUSA2 2 2 2 2 2 2
St. Andrews Golf Club [Old]
St. Andrews, FifeSCOTLAND3 3 3 3 4 4 4
Shinnecock Hills Golf Club
Southampton, New YorkUSA4 4 6 6 5 6 6
National Golf Links Of America
Southampton, New YorkUSA5 5 7 10 11 12 12
Royal County Down Golf Club
Newcastle, DownN. IRELAND6 6 4 5 6 5 5
Royal Melbourne G.C. [West]
Melbourne, VictoriaAUSTRALIA7 7 11 12 13 13 14
Oakmont Country Club
Oakmont, PennsylvaniaUSA8 8 8 8 8 8 8
Augusta National Golf Club
Augusta, GeorgiaUSA9 9 5 4 3 3 3
Sand Hills Golf Club
Mullen, NebraskaUSA10 14 13 13 12 11 11
Muirfield Golf Club
Gullane, LothianSCOTLAND11 12 10 9 10 9 9
Royal Dornoch Golf Club
Dornoch HighlandSCOTLAND12 10 15 14 14 16 15
Merion Golf Club [East]
Ardmore, PennsylvaniaUSA13 15 12 11 9 10 10
Pebble Beach Golf Links
Pebble Beach, CaliforniaUSA14 11 9 7 7 7 7
Royal Portrush Golf Club [Dunluce]
Portrush, AntrimN. IRELAND15 13 14 15 15 14 13
Fishers Island Golf Club
Fishers Island, New YorkUSA16 18 19 18 24 28 31
Pinehurst Country Club [No. 2]
Pinehurst, North CarolinaUSA17 16 18 16 16 15 19
Turnberry Golf Club [Ailsa]
Turnberry, StrathclydeSCOTLAND18 17 16 23 18 18 17
Chicago Golf Club
Wheaton, IllinoisUSA19 19 21 26 25 24 24
Los Angeles C.C. [North]
Los Angeles, CaliforniaUSA20 20 22 30 30 39 52
Friars Head
Baiting Hollow, New YorkUSA21 26 33 31 32 38 32
Kingston Heath Golf Club
Melbourne, VictoriaAUSTRALIA22 22 20 28 28 27 27
Tara Iti
Te Arai, New ZealandNEW ZEALAND23 27 29 - - - -
Ballybunion Golf Club [Old]
Ballybunion, KerryIRELAND24 21 17 17 17 17 18
Winged Foot Golf Club [West]
Mamaroneck, New YorkUSA25 23 27 20 21 22 23
Prairie Dunes Country Club
Hutchinson, KansasUSA26 31 30 27 26 25 25
Riviera Country Club
Pacific Palisades, CaliforniaUSA27 28 32 29 33 31 30
Pacific Dunes Golf Club
Bandon, OregonUSA28 24 26 21 20 19 16
Crystal Downs Country Club
Frankfort, MichiganUSA29 25 24 22 19 20 20
Sunningdale Golf Club [Old]
Sunningdale, SurreyENGLAND30 29 31 35 39 35 33
Oakland Hills C.C. [South]
Bloomfield Hills, MichiganUSA31 72 53 44 35 29 28
Seminole Golf Club
North Palm Beach, FloridaUSA32 34 23 19 22 23 21
Royal St. George's Golf Club
Sandwich, KentENGLAND33 33 42 33 29 32 34
San Francisco Golf Club
San Francisco, CaliforniaUSA34 30 25 24 27 26 26
North Berwick [West]
North BerwickSCOTLAND35 37 51 63 68 89 93
Lahinch Golf Club
Lahinch, ClareIRELAND36 36 35 41 40 42 44
Hirono Golf Club
Kobe, KobeJAPAN37 39 40 42 37 40 39
Barnbougle Dunes
Bridport, TasmaniaAUSTRALIA38 35 38 36 34 41 43
Carnoustie G.C.[Championship]
Carnoustie, TaysideSCOTLAND39 32 28 25 23 21 22
The Country Club [Open]
Brookline, MassachusettsUSA40 38 37 34 42 37 37
Morfontaine Golf Club
Senlis, Senlis,FRANCE41 41 45 45 53 55 54
Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Southport, MerseysideENGLAND42 40 34 32 31 30 29
Somerset Hills Country Club
Bernardsville, New JerseyUSA43 42 75 71 77 81 79
Cabot Cliffs
Inverness, Nova ScotiaCANADA44 43 50 - - - -
Garden City Golf Club
Garden City, New YorkUSA45 47 56 51 47 50 51
Southern Hills Country Club
Tulsa, OklahomaUSA46 49 69 62 64 63 60
New South Wales Golf Club
La Perouse, New South WalesAUSTRALIA47 46 43 37 41 34 38
California Golf Club of San Francisco
San Francisco, CaliforniaUSA48 50 73 81 - - -
Shoreacres Country Club
Lake Bluff, IllinoisUSA49 45 57 56 61 64 71
Swinley Forest
AscotENGLAND50 55 87 89 92 92 84
Cape Kidnappers
Havelock North, North IslandNEW ZEALAND51 44 44 40 38 33 36
Bethpage Golf Club [Black]
Farmingdale, New YorkUSA52 53 52 46 36 36 35
Portmarnock Golf Club
Portmarnock, DublinIRELAND53 48 49 55 54 46 45
Ballyneal
Holyoke, ColoradoUSA54 57 86 78 75 79 83
Rosapenna [St Patrick's Links]
IRELAND55 - - - - - -
Maidstone Club
East Hampton, New YorkUSA56 64 70 66 67 72 65
Baltusrol Golf Club [Lower]
Springfield, New JerseyUSA57 - 74 59 51 53 49
Camargo Club
Indian Hill, OhioUSA58 52 63 57 70 69 66
Royal Troon Golf Club [Old]
Troon, StrathclydeSCOTLAND59 51 47 49 44 48 48
Kiawah Island [Ocean]
Kiawah Island, South CarolinaUSA60 58 54 50 43 45 47
Woodhall Spa Golf Club
Woodhall Spa, LincolnshireENGLAND61 54 66 70 62 59 56
Kawana Golf Club [Fuji]
Shizuoka, ShizuokaJAPAN62 56 68 67 71 76 74
Cruden Bay Golf Club
Cruden Bay, GrampianSCOTLAND63 63 77 77 79 83 81
Sunningdale - New Course
Sunningdale, SurreyENGLAND64 73 80 95 - - -
Inverness Club
Toledo, OhioUSA65 81 98 79 83 71 68
Rye Golf Club
Camber, East SussexENGLAND66 67 - 98 96 - -
Royal Lytham & St. Annes G.C.
Lytham St. Annes, LancashireENGLAND67 61 61 61 59 57 53
Winged Foot Golf Club [East]
Mamaroneck, New YorkUSA68 62 83 84 - 75 67
Prestwick Golf Club
Prestwick, ScotlandSCOTLAND69 75 100 - - - -
Cape Wickham Links
King Island, AustraliaAUSTRALIA70 60 72 - - - -
Sleepy Hollow
Scarborough, New YorkUSA71 - - - - - -
Myopia Hunt Club
So. Hamilton, MaineUSA72 - - - - - -
Ohoopee Match Club
Cobbtown, GeorgiaUSA73 - - - - - -
Ardfin
JuraSCOTLAND74 - - - - - -
Casa De Campo [Teeth of the Dog]
La Romana La RomanaDOM. REP.75 59 48 39 46 47 42
Oak Hill Country Club [East]
Rochester, New YorkUSA76 - 93 68 60 61 57
Castle Stuart
InvernessSCOTLAND77 66 71 69 56 56 -
Cabot Links
CabotCANADA78 82 96 75 82 - -
Royal Liverpool Golf Club
Hoylake, MerseysideENGLAND79 65 84 82 69 77 80
Bandon Dunes Golf Club
Bandon, OregonUSA80 80 65 64 63 60 58
Kingsbarns Golf Club
St. Andrews, FifeSCOTLAND81 71 64 65 55 54 61
Whistling Straits Golf Club
Haven, WisconsinUSA82 69 58 52 49 44 40
Ellerston Golf Course
Scone, New South WalesAUSTRALIA83 77 62 73 - - -
Rock Creek Cattle Company
Deer Lodge, MontanaUSA84 - - - - - -
Muirfield Village Golf Club
Dublin, OhioUSA85 85 59 53 48 52 46
Royal Hague Golf & CC
WassenaarHOLLAND86 78 81 92 - - -
Quaker Ridge Golf Club
Scarsdale, New YorkUSA87 74 78 74 73 70 70
St. George's Hill [A & B]
WeybridgeENGLAND88 - - - - - -
Yeamans Hall
Hanahan, SCUSA89 - - - - - -
Peachtree Golf Club
Atlanta, GeorgiaUSA90 91 - - - - -
Bandon Trails
Bandon, OregonUSA91 87 - - - - -
Old Town Club
USA92 - - - - - -
Nine Bridges
Bongsong-riKOREA93 94 41 43 45 49 55
Royal Melbourne G.C. [East]
Melbourne, VictoriaAUSTRALIA94 96 - - 94 - -
De Pan [Utrechtche]
UtrechtTHE NETHERLANDS95 - - - - - -
Olympic Club [Lake]
San Francisco, CaliforniaUSA96 79 67 60 57 43 41
Les Bordes [New]
Loire ValleyFRANCE97 - - - - - -
Diamante
Cabo San LucasMEXICO98 70 36 38 52 58 -
St. George's Golf Club
Islington, OntarioCANADA99 95 94 87 87 90 89
The Golf Club
New Albany, OhioUSA100 84 79 72 66 62 59
Oitavas Dunes
CascaisPORTUGAL- - 55 58 65 68 88
Shanqin Bay Golf Course
HainanCHINA- - 39 47 78 - -
Trump International Golf Links
MenieSCOTLAND- 100 46 48 50 - -
TPC At Sawgrass [Stadium]
Ponte Vedra Beach, FloridaUSA- 68 60 54 58 51 50
Royal Porthcawl
PorthcawlWALES- - 85 88 95 94 100
Barnbougle Lost Farm
Bridport, TasmaniaAUSTRALIA- 89 90 85 72 82 -
Walton Heath Golf Club [Old]
Tadworth, SurreyENGLAND- 90 92 86 80 86 82
Macrihanish
MacrihanishSCOTLAND- 93 88 93 91 93 92
Kauri Cliffs
Kerikeri, NorthlandNEW ZEALAND- - - 94 74 80 78
European Club
Brittas BayIRELAND- - 97 90 86 95 85
Harbour Town Golf Links
Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaUSA- - - 91 81 78 73
Waterville
WatervilleIRELAND- 97 82 83 76 91 91
Ganton Golf Club
Ganton, North YorkshireENGLAND- - 89 80 84 66 63
Ayodhya Links
BangkokTHAILAND- - 76 76 - - -
Yale University Golf Course
New Haven, ConnecticutUSA- 83 - - - - -
Valderrama Club de Golf
Sotogrande CadizSPAIN- - 95 99 98 88 76
Cabo Del Sol Golf Club
Los Cabos, BajaMEXICO- - - 100 97 100 95
Tokyo Golf Club
TokyoJAPAN- - 99 96 93 96 97
Durban Golf Club
Durban, DurbanS. AFRICA- - - 97 100 99 94
Medinah Country Club [No. 3]
Medinah, IllinoisUSA- - - - 85 65 62
Old Sandwich
Plymouth, MassachussettsUSA- - - - 90 67 69
Loch Lomond Golf Club
Luss, StrathclydeSCOTLAND- - - - 89 73 64
Old Macdonald
Bandon, OregonUSA- - - - 88 74 -
Nanea
Kailua-Kona, HawaiiUSA- - - - - 84 75
Royal Adelaide Golf Club
Adelaide, South AustraliaAUSTRALIA- - - - 99 85 72
Chambers Bay
University Place. WashingtonUSA- - - - - 87 77
Valley Club Of Montecito
Santa Barbara, CaliforniaUSA- - - - - 97 98
Highlands Links Golf Club
Ingonish, Nova ScotiaCANADA- - - - - 98 86
Yas Links
Abu Dhabi, UAEUNITED ARAB EMIRATES- - 91 - - - -
De Pan [Utrechtche]
UtrechtTHE NETHERLANDS- 88 - - - - -
Myopia Hunt Club
So. Hamilton, MaineUSA- 92 - - - - -
Ohoopee Match Club
Cobbtown, GeorgiaUSA- 98 - - - - -
Rock Creek Cattle Company
Deer Lodge, MontanaUSA- 99 - - - - -
Sleepy Hollow
Scarborough, New YorkUSA- 76 - - - - -
St. George's Hill [A & B]
WeybridgeENGLAND- 86 - - - - -
What is the Gleneagles world ranking?
Gleneagles received full marks in both the amenities and accommodation categories which helped it to no. 2 in the overall global rankings, which were topped by Bandon Dunes in Oregon, USA.
Why is Pine Valley so hard?
6. The greens – A significant part of Pine Valley's difficulty emanates from the greens. The fairways are in fact wide, but hitting and holding the greens are the real challenge in Clementon. And they are among the best conditioned on the planet [honorable mention to Winged Foot, Augusta and Carnoustie].
How many golf courses are in South Africa?
The allure of golf in South Africa is further enhanced by its collection of 450 golf course courses, such as Leopard Creek, Fancourt, and Sun City, celebrated for their unparalleled design and picturesque landscapes.
How many golf courses are there in England?
According to the R&A, there are over 2200 golf courses in England, compared to roughly 600 in Scotland.