The landscape on the west side of Scotland is characterised by long, wooded peninsulas and small islands and Argyle and Bute covers a windswept area that stretches from Ballachulish in the north to Southend at the southern tip of the Mull of Kintyre. It’s here that you’ll find over two dozen courses affiliated to the Argyle and Bute Golf Union, many of them charming little 9-hole tracks, where green fees are left in an honesty box placed near the first tee and golf is played out over moorland fairways that lead to little bunkerless greens.
It’s only fitting that such a romantic region should be the setting for two of the finest courses in the entire golfing world. Machrie is an old Willie Campbell design on the island of Islay and a constant stream of links lovers make the pilgrimage to play this venerable old links. Old Tom Morris’s Machrihanish, although slightly more accessible, still requires considerable effort to get to but for those who do tee it up here, the golfing reward is immeasurable.
Our Argyll & Bute Best in Region rankings were last updated in July 2017. Click the link to read the story.
Golf has been part of the sporting landscape in Scotland since at least the 15th century when King James II banned the game by Act of Parliament in 1457 and there is mention of the game being played on a number of sites along the east side of the country during the 16th century, including Stirling (1505), Carnoustie (1527), Montrose (1562) and St Andrews (1574). Courses that developed at these locations, and many others that emerged along the eastern coastline, from Dornoch in the north to Dunbar in the south, still present a formidable challenge to golfers in the modern era.
By 1880, there were 42 courses in play around the country and that number doubled over the following decade at the start of a golf boom that would last for around 30 years. Incredibly, a further 200 courses emerged in the 20 years between 1890 and 1910 as the popularity of golf soared during a period of industrial growth. The next 70 years saw a slow and steady growth before the next golf boom of the 1980s and 90s, bringing the total number of golf courses in Scotland to around 500. That number has since risen to 578 at the end of 2016.
We updated Scotland's Top 100 in October 2017. Full details are here: Top 100 Golf Courses of Scotland
The Ayrshire Golf Association controls golf to the south west of Glasgow and this administrative body presides over 63 clubs (whose members play on 44 different courses in Ayrshire and the Isle of Arran).
It’s an area with more than its fair share of big time, championship golf courses, including two Open venues – the Old course at Royal Troon and the Ailsa at Turnberry – as well as venerable old layouts at Prestwick and Western Gailes.
The Isle of Arran lies just off Scotland’s west coast and its seven old-fashioned courses – one of which is the quirky, 12-hole Shiskine links – are all worth visiting. The purchase of an Arran Golf Pass allows golfers to play every course on the island at a price of just over £1 a hole which represents terrific value for money.
Our Ayrshire & Arran Best in Region rankings were last updated in July 2017. Click the link to read the story.
Golf has been part of the sporting landscape in Scotland since at least the 15th century when King James II banned the game by Act of Parliament in 1457 and there is mention of the game being played on a number of sites along the east side of the country during the 16th century, including Stirling (1505), Carnoustie (1527), Montrose (1562) and St Andrews (1574). Courses that developed at these locations, and many others that emerged along the eastern coastline, from Dornoch in the north to Dunbar in the south, still present a formidable challenge to golfers in the modern era.
By 1880, there were 42 courses in play around the country and that number doubled over the following decade at the start of a golf boom that would last for around 30 years. Incredibly, a further 200 courses emerged in the 20 years between 1890 and 1910 as the popularity of golf soared during a period of industrial growth. The next 70 years saw a slow and steady growth before the next golf boom of the 1980s and 90s, bringing the total number of golf courses in Scotland to around 500. That number has since risen to 578 at the end of 2016.
We updated Scotland's Top 100 in October 2017. Full details are here: Top 100 Golf Courses of Scotland
The Scottish Borders, known to many for its rivers, reivers (raiders) and rugby, is an area that also makes its mark in the sporting world of golf.
The Border Golfers’ Association looks after the interests of 21 clubs in this south east corner of Scotland, with eight of these clubs owning 9-hole courses.
Torwoodlee was the venue for the Scottish Club Championship in 2005 (when local club Cardrona won the competition) and Peebles hosted the Scottish Area Team Championship in 1999, an event which saw Lothians claim its eighth title.
The two most famous courses in the Borders are both Dave Thomas creations. The Roxburghe, near Kelso, opened first in 1997 then Cardrona, close to Peebles, followed six years later. Although 40 miles apart, many golfers still think it worth the hour’s drive to play each course in one 36-hole visit.
Our Borders Best in Region rankings were last updated in August 2017. Click the link to read the story.
Golf has been part of the sporting landscape in Scotland since at least the 15th century when King James II banned the game by Act of Parliament in 1457 and there is mention of the game being played on a number of sites along the east side of the country during the 16th century, including Stirling (1505), Carnoustie (1527), Montrose (1562) and St Andrews (1574). Courses that developed at these locations, and many others that emerged along the eastern coastline, from Dornoch in the north to Dunbar in the south, still present a formidable challenge to golfers in the modern era.
By 1880, there were 42 courses in play around the country and that number doubled over the following decade at the start of a golf boom that would last for around 30 years. Incredibly, a further 200 courses emerged in the 20 years between 1890 and 1910 as the popularity of golf soared during a period of industrial growth. The next 70 years saw a slow and steady growth before the next golf boom of the 1980s and 90s, bringing the total number of golf courses in Scotland to around 500. That number has since risen to 578 at the end of 2016.
We updated Scotland's Top 100 in October 2017. Full details are here: Top 100 Golf Courses of Scotland
The Central district encompasses the Golfing Unions of Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire, with a total membership of 23 clubs. The latter Union is somewhat dwarfed by its neighbour (which is not surprising as it has only six clubs in its jurisdiction) but then it is the smallest county in Scotland per head of population with only around 50,000 inhabitants.
The Schawpark course at Alloa has twice been used as the venue for the Scottish Area Team Championships with Stirlingshire winning in 1981 and Lothians coming out on top in 2003. The Scottish Club Championships have been held a couple of times at Tulliallan in recent years with the host club lifting the prestigious national trophy in 2002.
The seventeen clubs in the Sirlingshire area are spread out between the 18-hole Buchanan Castle course in the west and the 9-hole Polmont layout in the east, offering a fine mix of parkland and moorland golf.
Our Central Scotland Best in Region rankings were last updated in August 2017. Click the link to read the story.
Golf has been part of the sporting landscape in Scotland since at least the 15th century when King James II banned the game by Act of Parliament in 1457 and there is mention of the game being played on a number of sites along the east side of the country during the 16th century, including Stirling (1505), Carnoustie (1527), Montrose (1562) and St Andrews (1574). Courses that developed at these locations, and many others that emerged along the eastern coastline, from Dornoch in the north to Dunbar in the south, still present a formidable challenge to golfers in the modern era.
By 1880, there were 42 courses in play around the country and that number doubled over the following decade at the start of a golf boom that would last for around 30 years. Incredibly, a further 200 courses emerged in the 20 years between 1890 and 1910 as the popularity of golf soared during a period of industrial growth. The next 70 years saw a slow and steady growth before the next golf boom of the 1980s and 90s, bringing the total number of golf courses in Scotland to around 500. That number has since risen to 578 at the end of 2016.
We updated Scotland's Top 100 in October 2017. Full details are here: Top 100 Golf Courses of Scotland
In an area of outstanding natural beauty that’s not really regarded as one of Scotland’s top golfing destinations, there’s still plenty of good golf to be had in this south west corner of the nation.
There are a couple of dozen golf courses spread out between Portpatrick in the west and Powfoot in the east and many of these are old-fashioned 9-hole courses that have been around for an awfully long time. At the other end of the golfing scale, the links at Southerness is a major jewel in the Scottish golfing crown and it consistently appears in national Top 50 ranking lists.
The South of Scotland Golfers’ Association is the governing body for around two-dozen golf clubs in the area and it celebrated its centenary in 2005.
Our Dumfries & Galloway Best in Region rankings were last updated in July 2017. Click the link to read the story.
Golf has been part of the sporting landscape in Scotland since at least the 15th century when King James II banned the game by Act of Parliament in 1457 and there is mention of the game being played on a number of sites along the east side of the country during the 16th century, including Stirling (1505), Carnoustie (1527), Montrose (1562) and St Andrews (1574). Courses that developed at these locations, and many others that emerged along the eastern coastline, from Dornoch in the north to Dunbar in the south, still present a formidable challenge to golfers in the modern era.
By 1880, there were 42 courses in play around the country and that number doubled over the following decade at the start of a golf boom that would last for around 30 years. Incredibly, a further 200 courses emerged in the 20 years between 1890 and 1910 as the popularity of golf soared during a period of industrial growth. The next 70 years saw a slow and steady growth before the next golf boom of the 1980s and 90s, bringing the total number of golf courses in Scotland to around 500. That number has since risen to 578 at the end of 2016.
We updated Scotland's Top 100 in October 2017. Full details are here: Top 100 Golf Courses of Scotland
The Dumbartonshire Golf Union was formed as far back as 1886 when six local clubs formed an inaugural committee to oversee golfing matters in the region. The number of affiliated clubs now totals 26 and their members play over 26 different courses in an area north of the River Clyde that extends from Helensburgh in the west to Cumbernauld in the east. The district is now commonly known as Dunbartonshire.
Three clubs are fortunate enough to operate two 18-hole courses: Dullatur boasts the Carrickstone and Antonine courses whilst Hilton Park members can choose between the Hilton or the Allander layouts. The most famous club in the area is situated on the shores of Loch Lomond, though its sister course, Dundonald, lies 45 miles away in Ayrshire.
Dumbarton’s Charlie Green is one of the greatest amateur golfers that Scotland ever produced. An international player between 1961 and 1979, Charlie won three of the five Scottish Amateur Championship Finals he contested (1970, 1982 and 1983) as well as claiming the Stroke Play title in 1984. His prowess continued when he reached Senior level, winning the national title five times during the 1990s.
Our Dunbartonshire Best in Region rankings were last updated in July 2017. Click the link to read the story.
Golf has been part of the sporting landscape in Scotland since at least the 15th century when King James II banned the game by Act of Parliament in 1457 and there is mention of the game being played on a number of sites along the east side of the country during the 16th century, including Stirling (1505), Carnoustie (1527), Montrose (1562) and St Andrews (1574). Courses that developed at these locations, and many others that emerged along the eastern coastline, from Dornoch in the north to Dunbar in the south, still present a formidable challenge to golfers in the modern era.
By 1880, there were 42 courses in play around the country and that number doubled over the following decade at the start of a golf boom that would last for around 30 years. Incredibly, a further 200 courses emerged in the 20 years between 1890 and 1910 as the popularity of golf soared during a period of industrial growth. The next 70 years saw a slow and steady growth before the next golf boom of the 1980s and 90s, bringing the total number of golf courses in Scotland to around 500. That number has since risen to 578 at the end of 2016.
We updated Scotland's Top 100 in October 2017. Full details are here: Top 100 Golf Courses of Scotland
Fife Golfing Association provides administration services to more than 50 clubs playing over 44 courses in an area that’s bounded by the Firth of Tay to the north and Firth of Forth to the south, with inland boundaries to Perth & Kinross and Clackmannanshire.
Amazingly for a region so steeped in the game, Fife’s 6-man Gents amateur team had never won the Scottish Area Team Championships (inaugurated in 1977) until May 2011 when they defeated holders North East at Prestwick.
At Fife’s golfing epicentre lies St. Andrews, famed the world over as the Home of Golf, and it’s here that the Links Trust manages seven courses in and around the “Auld Grey Toon.” The area is synonymous with links golf and there are plenty of courses to choose from along the coastline though don’t forget the inland layouts at The Duke’s or Ladybank as these are two of the very best courses in the country.
Our Fife Best in Region rankings were last updated in August 2017. Click the link to read the story.
Golf has been part of the sporting landscape in Scotland since at least the 15th century when King James II banned the game by Act of Parliament in 1457 and there is mention of the game being played on a number of sites along the east side of the country during the 16th century, including Stirling (1505), Carnoustie (1527), Montrose (1562) and St Andrews (1574). Courses that developed at these locations, and many others that emerged along the eastern coastline, from Dornoch in the north to Dunbar in the south, still present a formidable challenge to golfers in the modern era.
By 1880, there were 42 courses in play around the country and that number doubled over the following decade at the start of a golf boom that would last for around 30 years. Incredibly, a further 200 courses emerged in the 20 years between 1890 and 1910 as the popularity of golf soared during a period of industrial growth. The next 70 years saw a slow and steady growth before the next golf boom of the 1980s and 90s, bringing the total number of golf courses in Scotland to around 500. That number has since risen to 578 at the end of 2016.
We updated Scotland's Top 100 in October 2017. Full details are here: Top 100 Golf Courses of Scotland
Founded in 1955, the Glasgow Golf Union represents 31 clubs whose members play on 18 different courses. Cawder’s two 18-hole layouts – the Cawder and the Keir – sit side by side in Bishopbriggs, while Glasgow’s two courses, Killermont and Gailes, are situated 35 miles apart because the latter is located on the Ayrshire coast.
The City Council of Glasgow has a proud tradition of promoting golf within its Parks department and it operates half a dozen courses around the municipality; three 9-holers and three full 18-hole layouts – many of the members at the private clubs in and around Glasgow will have learned to play the game at the likes of the City Council’s Lethamhill or Littlehill courses.
Glasgow Golf Club is the 9th oldest in the world, having formed in 1787, and its members have played at a number of venues down the years. They moved initially from Glasgow Green to Queen’s Park in 1870 then onto Alexandra Park four years later. In 1895 they decamped to Blackhill before finally settling at Killermont nine years later.
Our Glasgow Best in Region rankings were last updated in July 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",93,"2018-09-01 04:54:15",Scotland,"Golf has been part of the sporting landscape in Scotland since at least the 15th century when King James II banned the game by Act of Parliament in 1457 and there is mention of the game being played on a number of sites along the east side of the country during the 16th century, including Stirling (1505), Carnoustie (1527), Montrose (1562) and St Andrews (1574). Courses that developed at these locations, and many others that emerged along the eastern coastline, from Dornoch in the north to Dunbar in the south, still present a formidable challenge to golfers in the modern era.
By 1880, there were 42 courses in play around the country and that number doubled over the following decade at the start of a golf boom that would last for around 30 years. Incredibly, a further 200 courses emerged in the 20 years between 1890 and 1910 as the popularity of golf soared during a period of industrial growth. The next 70 years saw a slow and steady growth before the next golf boom of the 1980s and 90s, bringing the total number of golf courses in Scotland to around 500. That number has since risen to 578 at the end of 2016.
We updated Scotland's Top 100 in October 2017. Full details are here: Top 100 Golf Courses of Scotland
The Lanarkshire Golf Association was formed in 1953 and one of its co-founding Presidents, John S.Montgomerie of Cambuslang, went on to win the Scottish Amateur Championship four years later.
Today, more than 37 clubs play over 33 courses in the area and the Association organises regional competitions, selecting venues and dates, as well as setting conditions and rules under which the events are held.
The area has produced many outstanding amateur golfers who, like John S. Montgomerie, have claimed the Scottish Amateur title; men like Craig Everett at Gullane in 1990, Graham Rankin at Prestwick in 1998, Craig Heap at Cruden Bay the following year then Steven O'Hara the year after that at Royal Dornoch.
Our Lanarkshire Best in Region rankings were last updated in July 2017. Click the link to read the story.
Golf has been part of the sporting landscape in Scotland since at least the 15th century when King James II banned the game by Act of Parliament in 1457 and there is mention of the game being played on a number of sites along the east side of the country during the 16th century, including Stirling (1505), Carnoustie (1527), Montrose (1562) and St Andrews (1574). Courses that developed at these locations, and many others that emerged along the eastern coastline, from Dornoch in the north to Dunbar in the south, still present a formidable challenge to golfers in the modern era.
By 1880, there were 42 courses in play around the country and that number doubled over the following decade at the start of a golf boom that would last for around 30 years. Incredibly, a further 200 courses emerged in the 20 years between 1890 and 1910 as the popularity of golf soared during a period of industrial growth. The next 70 years saw a slow and steady growth before the next golf boom of the 1980s and 90s, bringing the total number of golf courses in Scotland to around 500. That number has since risen to 578 at the end of 2016.
We updated Scotland's Top 100 in October 2017. Full details are here: Top 100 Golf Courses of Scotland
Formed in 1921, Lothians Golf Association is the largest of the 16 districts affiliated to the SGU with 69 clubs and 40 affiliates (playing on 66 courses) under their wing. Since the Scottish Area Team Championships were inaugurated in 1977, Lothians has enjoyed unparalleled success in the competition, winning it 13 times up until 2011.
While many focus on the golfing delights to be found on the north side of the Firth of Forth in the Kingdom of Fife, it should not be forgotten that the coastline on the other flank of the Firth is home to the largest concentration of links golf courses anywhere in the world, and they’re strung out like pearls in a necklace from Aberlady through to Dunbar.
Muirfield is the obvious star of the show in this region but a stellar supporting cast that includes the West course at North Berwick, Gullane No.1 and Dunbar ably backs it up. Watch out too for the trio of new private Dirleton courses – two at Archerfield and Renaissance Club – as they are all now offering limited pay and play opportunities at a price.
Our Lothians Best in Region rankings were last updated in August 2017. Click the link to read the story.
Golf has been part of the sporting landscape in Scotland since at least the 15th century when King James II banned the game by Act of Parliament in 1457 and there is mention of the game being played on a number of sites along the east side of the country during the 16th century, including Stirling (1505), Carnoustie (1527), Montrose (1562) and St Andrews (1574). Courses that developed at these locations, and many others that emerged along the eastern coastline, from Dornoch in the north to Dunbar in the south, still present a formidable challenge to golfers in the modern era.
By 1880, there were 42 courses in play around the country and that number doubled over the following decade at the start of a golf boom that would last for around 30 years. Incredibly, a further 200 courses emerged in the 20 years between 1890 and 1910 as the popularity of golf soared during a period of industrial growth. The next 70 years saw a slow and steady growth before the next golf boom of the 1980s and 90s, bringing the total number of golf courses in Scotland to around 500. That number has since risen to 578 at the end of 2016.
We updated Scotland's Top 100 in October 2017. Full details are here: Top 100 Golf Courses of Scotland
There are more than 50 clubs playing in the area of Scotland controlled by the North East District Scottish Golf Union. The most famous of these is Royal Aberdeen – the 6th oldest in the world – where members play on the wonderful Balgownie course.
In an area renowned for quality links courses like Cruden Bay, Murcar and Fraserburgh (Corbie Hill), many golfers are now enjoying the eagerly anticipated and much-publicised arrival of architect Martin Hawtree’s new layout on the Menie estate at Balmedie, which opened for play in July 2012. Surprisingly, one golf magazine (that claimed to be “definitive”) placed the new Trump International Golf Links at 8th position in their 2012 GB&I Top 100. This was the highest new entry ever in their rankings, which they published two months prior to the Trump course actually opening.
The North East District enjoyed recent success in the Scottish Area Team Championships when it won the event for the fourth time (after a gap of 18 years) at Kinross in 2010. Another SGU competition, the Scottish Club Championship was only inaugurated in 1986 and since then, two clubs from the North East have come out on top in this tournament – Turriff in 1998 and Cruden Bay in 2004 and 2006.
Our North East Scotland Best in Region rankings were last updated in September 2017. Click the link to read the story.
Golf has been part of the sporting landscape in Scotland since at least the 15th century when King James II banned the game by Act of Parliament in 1457 and there is mention of the game being played on a number of sites along the east side of the country during the 16th century, including Stirling (1505), Carnoustie (1527), Montrose (1562) and St Andrews (1574). Courses that developed at these locations, and many others that emerged along the eastern coastline, from Dornoch in the north to Dunbar in the south, still present a formidable challenge to golfers in the modern era.
By 1880, there were 42 courses in play around the country and that number doubled over the following decade at the start of a golf boom that would last for around 30 years. Incredibly, a further 200 courses emerged in the 20 years between 1890 and 1910 as the popularity of golf soared during a period of industrial growth. The next 70 years saw a slow and steady growth before the next golf boom of the 1980s and 90s, bringing the total number of golf courses in Scotland to around 500. That number has since risen to 578 at the end of 2016.
We updated Scotland's Top 100 in October 2017. Full details are here: Top 100 Golf Courses of Scotland
The North District Golf Association comprises around 60 member clubs and these clubs play on a corresponding number of courses, a third of which are 9-hole layouts. The North covers the largest geographical area in Scotland, an area that includes many of the Western Isles, the Orkney and Shetland islands.
It’s the often tumultuous rise and fall of the land in the Highlands and Islands that makes it so appealing to those seeking a different type of golfing experience. Big names like Royal Dornoch, Nairn and Castle Stuart may grab most of the mainstream attention on the mainland, but it’s lesser-known courses like Askernish, on South Uist, that help golfers reconnect to the basic elements of the game.
For such a diverse region, the North has done very well in competitive matches against the other Scottish associations. The male squad has been fortunate enough to win the Scottish Area team Championships three times in recent years; at Lanark in 1977, Edzell in 1995 and East Kibride in 2000.
Our North Scotland Best in Region rankings were last updated in September 2017. Click the link to read the story.
Golf has been part of the sporting landscape in Scotland since at least the 15th century when King James II banned the game by Act of Parliament in 1457 and there is mention of the game being played on a number of sites along the east side of the country during the 16th century, including Stirling (1505), Carnoustie (1527), Montrose (1562) and St Andrews (1574). Courses that developed at these locations, and many others that emerged along the eastern coastline, from Dornoch in the north to Dunbar in the south, still present a formidable challenge to golfers in the modern era.
By 1880, there were 42 courses in play around the country and that number doubled over the following decade at the start of a golf boom that would last for around 30 years. Incredibly, a further 200 courses emerged in the 20 years between 1890 and 1910 as the popularity of golf soared during a period of industrial growth. The next 70 years saw a slow and steady growth before the next golf boom of the 1980s and 90s, bringing the total number of golf courses in Scotland to around 500. That number has since risen to 578 at the end of 2016.
We updated Scotland's Top 100 in October 2017. Full details are here: Top 100 Golf Courses of Scotland
Perth & Kinross is a land locked region so there’s no links golf played here. Instead, there are some wonderful tracts of moorland, heathland and parkland terrain to be found and it’s on some of these prime sites where top tracks like the three 18-hole layouts at Gleneagles or the two 18-hole courses at Blairgowrie have been laid out.
Around forty golf clubs and societies come under the auspices of Perth & Kinross County Golf Union and many of these clubs operate from little 9-hole courses tucked away in the glens of the Perthshire hills. There are more than a dozen of these wee charmers dotted around the area and it’s worth taking the time and trouble to turn off the beaten track now and then to discover these hidden gems.
Since the Scottish Area Team Championships was inaugurated by the Scottish Golf Union in 1977, Perth & Kinross district has won the event on three occasions. The first two titles came with back-to-back victories at Panmure in 2001 then at East Renfrewshire the following year. The most recent championship was claimed on home soil at Blairgowrie in 2012.
Not many people are aware that the oldest Royal golf club in the world resides in the county of Perthshire & Kinross. Royal Perth Golfing Society and County and City Club, as it's now named, was the first club to have the honoured Royal title conferred by a British monarch (King William IV) in 1833, eleven years after its formation.
Our Perth & Kinross Best in Region rankings were last updated in September 2017. Click the link to read the story.
Golf has been part of the sporting landscape in Scotland since at least the 15th century when King James II banned the game by Act of Parliament in 1457 and there is mention of the game being played on a number of sites along the east side of the country during the 16th century, including Stirling (1505), Carnoustie (1527), Montrose (1562) and St Andrews (1574). Courses that developed at these locations, and many others that emerged along the eastern coastline, from Dornoch in the north to Dunbar in the south, still present a formidable challenge to golfers in the modern era.
By 1880, there were 42 courses in play around the country and that number doubled over the following decade at the start of a golf boom that would last for around 30 years. Incredibly, a further 200 courses emerged in the 20 years between 1890 and 1910 as the popularity of golf soared during a period of industrial growth. The next 70 years saw a slow and steady growth before the next golf boom of the 1980s and 90s, bringing the total number of golf courses in Scotland to around 500. That number has since risen to 578 at the end of 2016.
We updated Scotland's Top 100 in October 2017. Full details are here: Top 100 Golf Courses of Scotland
The Renfrewshire Golf Union provides administration for over 10,000 golfers affiliated to 23 clubs in the area and it covers an area that stretches from Gourock in the north west to Bonnyton in the south east.
Top tracks in the county include the wonderful moorland trio of East Renfrewshire, Kilmacolm and Ranfurly Castle. Alternative top quality parkland venues include three along the banks of the River Clyde at Renfrew, Erskine and the new Earl of Mar course at Mar Hall.
Renfrewshire has tasted success in the Scottish Area Team Championships, supplying winning teams at Cardross in 1982, Machrihanish in 1996, Bathgate in 2005 and Crail in 2009. The county takes the development of young golfers very seriously, inviting children as young as nine to special coaching sessions at the Mearns Castle facility.
Our Renfrewshire Best in Region rankings were last updated in July 2017. Click the link to read the story.
Golf has been part of the sporting landscape in Scotland since at least the 15th century when King James II banned the game by Act of Parliament in 1457 and there is mention of the game being played on a number of sites along the east side of the country during the 16th century, including Stirling (1505), Carnoustie (1527), Montrose (1562) and St Andrews (1574). Courses that developed at these locations, and many others that emerged along the eastern coastline, from Dornoch in the north to Dunbar in the south, still present a formidable challenge to golfers in the modern era.
By 1880, there were 42 courses in play around the country and that number doubled over the following decade at the start of a golf boom that would last for around 30 years. Incredibly, a further 200 courses emerged in the 20 years between 1890 and 1910 as the popularity of golf soared during a period of industrial growth. The next 70 years saw a slow and steady growth before the next golf boom of the 1980s and 90s, bringing the total number of golf courses in Scotland to around 500. That number has since risen to 578 at the end of 2016.
We updated Scotland's Top 100 in October 2017. Full details are here: Top 100 Golf Courses of Scotland
Mid Wales encompasses the landlocked county of Powys and this area of 2,000 square miles is the largest county in Wales. Much of the terrain is mountainous and largely uninhabited but there are several pockets of population that support local golf clubs.
The bunkerless course at Llandrindod Wells is a real hidden gem, a course where not much has changed since it opened over a century ago. Golf has also been played at the James Braid-designed Welshpool course for over eighty years whilst the beautiful Cradoc course on the northern edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park has only been in use since the late 1960s.
The Brecon & Radnor Golf Union looks after the interests of male golfers in the Powys region and the Mid Wales County Golf Association takes care of golfing requirements for the ladies.
The Welsh Tourist Board once promoted Wales as follows: “For the many who have tired of sun loungers… Wales. Home of proper holidays. Phrasebook optional, sense of adventure essential, indifference best left at home.” What can we add to that? Probably not much really, especially as Wales was firmly in the golfing spotlight in October 2010 when Newport hosted the Ryder Cup.
Celtic Manor Resort’s Twenty Ten course was purpose-built for that event, which was not only a nail-biter, but also resulted in the first Monday finish in Ryder Cup history due to Friday’s play being washed out by torrential rain.
There are more than 140 golf courses in the country with associated clubs administered by the national governing body WalesGolf and around twenty County Unions and Associations. We feature the best fifty Welsh golf courses and a few of these world-class layouts should be on every golfer’s “must-play” list.
The two Royals of Porthcawl and St David’s are perennially located near the top of the national rankings but there are plenty of other excellent courses, many of them hugging the long Welsh coastline, and these should also be sought out and savoured.
We updated our Welsh golf course rankings in October 2017. Click the link for full details.
The romantic region of North Wales includes the districts of Clwyd, Gwynedd and the island of Anglesey and the area stretches from Wrexham in the east to Anglesey in the west, embracing a number of small seaside towns on its northern boundary. Further inland, more than 800 square miles of breathtaking beauty within Snowdonia’s National Park (including more than 100 lakes and 90 mountain peaks) has to be seen to be believed.
North Wales Counties Golf Association promotes the sport across 45 clubs within the region and it incorporates the Anglesey Golf Union, Caernarvon & District Golf Union, Denbighshire Golfing Union and the Union of Flintshire Golf Clubs.
The four top courses in North Wales are strung out along the coastline, beginning with Conwy, a fine links layout that lies on the Conwy Estuary. It’s a much underrated golf course that hovers just outside the Top 100 rankings for Great Britain & Ireland. A little more than fifty miles to the south, the seaside fairways that comprise the 26-hole layout at Nefyn and District are as unique a set of holes that you will find anywhere.
A one-hour journey away, the championship course at Royal St David’s serves up a strong test on the linksland that lies beneath the imposing presence of Harlech Castle. A short train journey further south from here, you alight onto the platform outside the clubhouse of the charming old course at Aberdovey, one of the most delightful venues in the UK.
The Welsh Tourist Board once promoted Wales as follows: “For the many who have tired of sun loungers… Wales. Home of proper holidays. Phrasebook optional, sense of adventure essential, indifference best left at home.” What can we add to that? Probably not much really, especially as Wales was firmly in the golfing spotlight in October 2010 when Newport hosted the Ryder Cup.
Celtic Manor Resort’s Twenty Ten course was purpose-built for that event, which was not only a nail-biter, but also resulted in the first Monday finish in Ryder Cup history due to Friday’s play being washed out by torrential rain.
There are more than 140 golf courses in the country with associated clubs administered by the national governing body WalesGolf and around twenty County Unions and Associations. We feature the best fifty Welsh golf courses and a few of these world-class layouts should be on every golfer’s “must-play” list.
The two Royals of Porthcawl and St David’s are perennially located near the top of the national rankings but there are plenty of other excellent courses, many of them hugging the long Welsh coastline, and these should also be sought out and savoured.
We updated our Welsh golf course rankings in October 2017. Click the link for full details.
Home to over two million people, the South Wales region includes the major cities of Cardiff and Swansea. The old coal pits and iron foundries that defined South Wales during the 19th century have now largely been replaced by service sector jobs and regeneration projects have removed almost all traces of a heavy industrial past as people in this part of Wales look forward to a bright future in a new millennium.
We’ve defined South Wales to include the preserved counties of Gwent and South, Mid and West Glamorgan, which in broad terms incorporates the two historic counties of Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire.
The Gwent Golf Union and the Glamorgan County Golf Union handle male golf in the area, with the Monmouthshire Ladies’ Counties Golf Association and Glamorgan Ladies’ County Golf Association administering golf for the ladies of South Wales.
Royal Porthcawl is acknowledged as the premier golf course in Wales, featuring prominently in Top 100 rankings for Great Britain and Ireland. Porthcawl is a classic old links layout that has hosted numerous professional golf tournaments but the course is better known for its contribution to amateur golf, having been used as the venue for sixteen Welsh Amateur Championships since 1900 and six Amateur Championships between 1951 and 2002. The Walker Cup was also held here in 1995 when Great Britain & Ireland defeated USA 14-10.
The title “brash new kid on the Welsh golfing scene” could easily be attributed to the Celtic Manor Resort where Welsh entrepreneur Sir Terry Matthews has developed three championship 18-hole courses in recent years. His Roman Road layout was first to open in 1995 then a decade passed before the 54-hole complex was completed with the reformation of the Montgomerie and the Ryder Cup Twenty Ten courses in 2007.
The Welsh Tourist Board once promoted Wales as follows: “For the many who have tired of sun loungers… Wales. Home of proper holidays. Phrasebook optional, sense of adventure essential, indifference best left at home.” What can we add to that? Probably not much really, especially as Wales was firmly in the golfing spotlight in October 2010 when Newport hosted the Ryder Cup.
Celtic Manor Resort’s Twenty Ten course was purpose-built for that event, which was not only a nail-biter, but also resulted in the first Monday finish in Ryder Cup history due to Friday’s play being washed out by torrential rain.
There are more than 140 golf courses in the country with associated clubs administered by the national governing body WalesGolf and around twenty County Unions and Associations. We feature the best fifty Welsh golf courses and a few of these world-class layouts should be on every golfer’s “must-play” list.
The two Royals of Porthcawl and St David’s are perennially located near the top of the national rankings but there are plenty of other excellent courses, many of them hugging the long Welsh coastline, and these should also be sought out and savoured.
We updated our Welsh golf course rankings in October 2017. Click the link for full details.
Covering an area of around 2,200 square miles, the maritime county of Pembrokeshire, the adjacent county of Carmarthenshire to the east and Cardiganshire (or Ceredigion as it is now known) to the north are tucked away in the southwest corner of Wales and they combine to form the West Wales region in the country. This largely rural part of Wales relies heavily on agriculture for its economy – Carmarthenshire is often called “The Garden of Wales” – though tourism also plays a large part in sustaining the local population.
Two controlling bodies handle ladies golf in the Dyfed region of West Wales: Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire Ladies County Golf Association and the West Wales Ladies Golfing Association. Male golfing requirements are administered by the Dyfed Golf Union.
Two long established courses, Tenby and Ashburnham, stand out amongst the others in West Wales. One of nine founder member clubs of the Golf Union of Wales in 1895, Tenby engaged James Braid to lay out a course for its members in 1907 and this 18-hole links layout has been charming golfers for over a century since. It has hosted the Welsh Amateur Championships on eight occasions between 1922 and 2010. JH Taylor made alterations to Ashburnham in 1914 and further enhancements were carried out by Fred Hawtree and Ken Cotton, both respected architects in their day. The course has hosted the Welsh Amateur Championships eleven times and the Men’s Home Internationals twice, the first time during the club’s centenary year in 1994 then again in 2010.
The Welsh Tourist Board once promoted Wales as follows: “For the many who have tired of sun loungers… Wales. Home of proper holidays. Phrasebook optional, sense of adventure essential, indifference best left at home.” What can we add to that? Probably not much really, especially as Wales was firmly in the golfing spotlight in October 2010 when Newport hosted the Ryder Cup.
Celtic Manor Resort’s Twenty Ten course was purpose-built for that event, which was not only a nail-biter, but also resulted in the first Monday finish in Ryder Cup history due to Friday’s play being washed out by torrential rain.
There are more than 140 golf courses in the country with associated clubs administered by the national governing body WalesGolf and around twenty County Unions and Associations. We feature the best fifty Welsh golf courses and a few of these world-class layouts should be on every golfer’s “must-play” list.
The two Royals of Porthcawl and St David’s are perennially located near the top of the national rankings but there are plenty of other excellent courses, many of them hugging the long Welsh coastline, and these should also be sought out and savoured.
We updated our Welsh golf course rankings in October 2017. Click the link for full details.
The Mediterranean island of Corsica is a French collectivité territoriale and so enjoys a little more autonomy than the regions of mainland France. The Corsican capital of Ajaccio was the birthplace of Napoléon Bonaparte and the island is a popular holiday destination, not only for French nationals, but also for many other European holidaymakers.
Despite measuring more than 100 miles in length and more than 50 miles in width, Corsica can boast only one 18-hole golf course. But, when it’s as good as Sperone, Corsicans are fully entitled to shout from the rooftops.
However, Corsica does have two 9-hole courses at Poretta to the south of Bastia and at Reginu to the east of L'Ile Rousse. There’s a further 6-hole course at Golf de Lezzi, just to the south of Porto Vecchio. In 2014 and unusual 12-hole Kyle Phillips-designed layout opened at Domaine de Murtoli. Any golfer visiting Corsica may want to play those courses too alongside the wonderful Sperone, which is routed across one of the most spectacular sites in the world.
",158,"2018-09-01 05:09:40",France,"France conjures up images of chateaux and vineyards, crusty bread and smelly cheeses, the Eiffel Tower, the Tour de France, even garlic and onions. The French people have an air of seductive sophistication with a twist of va-va-voom and a dash of je ne sais quoi.
In the 19th century Pau became popular with the British after a Scottish doctor proclaimed that the mild climate was good for the body and the soul. Naturally a golf course soon followed, in fact the first on the continent of Europe, which dates back to 1856.
With its varied landscapes and topography France is ideal golfing country. In 2016 the number of French courses reached 600, serving more than 400,000 affiliated golf club members. In 2018 the Ryder Cup will be hosted in France at Le Golf National's L'Albatros course. It will be the biggest golfing event to be staged on mainland Europe since the Ryder Cup visited the Costa del Sol in 1997.
We last updated our French Top 100 rankings in February 2018, click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 120,"2018-09-01 05:05:22","North East France","We’ve grouped the regions of Île-de-France (Paris), Picardy, Nord-Pas de Calais, Champagne, Burgundy, Franche-Comté and Alsace-Lorraine to create the North East area of France.
There are more golf courses in the region of Île-de-France than any other area in the country and the quality around the capital, Paris, is exemplary. Morfontaine, Chantilly and Fontainebleau head the classical list but the Albatros course at Golf National, host to the 2018 Ryder Cup matches, is a course that will become the French equivalent of England’s The Belfry.
To the south of Strasbourg in the Alsace Region, near the border of Germany, you’ll find the Kempferhof Golf Club, a tough, modern Robert von Hagge design that will test the very best golfers.
The Nord-Pas de Calais Region is where the Channel Tunnel rail link emerges from Folkestone in England and this is from where many thousands of British golfers head out in search of French fairways. The vast majority of golfing Brits end up at Hardelot, Le Touquet and the much-underrated Belle-Dune before heading back home via the Tunnel.
",158,"2018-09-01 05:09:40",France,"France conjures up images of chateaux and vineyards, crusty bread and smelly cheeses, the Eiffel Tower, the Tour de France, even garlic and onions. The French people have an air of seductive sophistication with a twist of va-va-voom and a dash of je ne sais quoi.
In the 19th century Pau became popular with the British after a Scottish doctor proclaimed that the mild climate was good for the body and the soul. Naturally a golf course soon followed, in fact the first on the continent of Europe, which dates back to 1856.
With its varied landscapes and topography France is ideal golfing country. In 2016 the number of French courses reached 600, serving more than 400,000 affiliated golf club members. In 2018 the Ryder Cup will be hosted in France at Le Golf National's L'Albatros course. It will be the biggest golfing event to be staged on mainland Europe since the Ryder Cup visited the Costa del Sol in 1997.
We last updated our French Top 100 rankings in February 2018, click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 121,"2018-09-01 05:05:38","North West France","We’ve grouped the regions of Normandy, Brittany, Centre and Pays de la Loire to create the North West area of France. There are many good golf courses to be found in the French North West but we’ve not yet completed our detailed review of the region.
In the north east of Normandy you’ll find a lovely, old-fashioned Willie Park Jr course at Dieppe-Pourville and further west at Le Havre there’s the Tom Simpson track at New Golf de Deauville that was extended to 27 holes by Henry Cotton. Further west in Brittany there’s the pretty coastal layout at Pléneuf Val André and to the south in the Loire you’ll find a lovely Henry Cotton designed parkland golf course at Golf de la Bretesche whose centrepiece is a delightful castle hotel that features in the Michelin Guide.
A few miles to the south west of Orléans in the Centre Region, you’ll find the jewel of the North West, which was the brainchild of Baron Marcel Bich (the man behind Bic pens). Texan, Robert von Hagge, designed Les Bordes on a day when he was at his most wickedly creative and it’s a must-play golf course that regularly vies with Morfontaine for the French No.1 spot.
",158,"2018-09-01 05:09:40",France,"France conjures up images of chateaux and vineyards, crusty bread and smelly cheeses, the Eiffel Tower, the Tour de France, even garlic and onions. The French people have an air of seductive sophistication with a twist of va-va-voom and a dash of je ne sais quoi.
In the 19th century Pau became popular with the British after a Scottish doctor proclaimed that the mild climate was good for the body and the soul. Naturally a golf course soon followed, in fact the first on the continent of Europe, which dates back to 1856.
With its varied landscapes and topography France is ideal golfing country. In 2016 the number of French courses reached 600, serving more than 400,000 affiliated golf club members. In 2018 the Ryder Cup will be hosted in France at Le Golf National's L'Albatros course. It will be the biggest golfing event to be staged on mainland Europe since the Ryder Cup visited the Costa del Sol in 1997.
We last updated our French Top 100 rankings in February 2018, click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 122,"2018-09-01 05:05:45","South East France","We’ve grouped the regions of Auvergne, Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Rhône-Alpes to create the South East area of France. Stretching from the French Alps to the Côte d'Azur, the South East area of France is the destination of choice for mountain-sports enthusiasts, sun seekers and gastronomes.
From a golf course perspective, Provence is perhaps the premier region and at Vidauban you’ll find (if invited) one of the country’s most private golf clubs and also one of the country’s most accessible facilities. It may be tricky to get a game at Prince de Provence, but it’s resort golf at its absolute finest at the 36-hole Four Seasons Terre Blanche.
Heading down to the south of France you’ll find the Pete Dye and PB Dye layout at Barbaroux, Léonard Morandi and Donald Harradine’s Nimes-Campagne, Robert von Hagge’s Royal Royal Mougins and the highly regarded Gary Player-designed Chateau de Taulane among numerous other fine French golf courses.
",158,"2018-09-01 05:09:40",France,"France conjures up images of chateaux and vineyards, crusty bread and smelly cheeses, the Eiffel Tower, the Tour de France, even garlic and onions. The French people have an air of seductive sophistication with a twist of va-va-voom and a dash of je ne sais quoi.
In the 19th century Pau became popular with the British after a Scottish doctor proclaimed that the mild climate was good for the body and the soul. Naturally a golf course soon followed, in fact the first on the continent of Europe, which dates back to 1856.
With its varied landscapes and topography France is ideal golfing country. In 2016 the number of French courses reached 600, serving more than 400,000 affiliated golf club members. In 2018 the Ryder Cup will be hosted in France at Le Golf National's L'Albatros course. It will be the biggest golfing event to be staged on mainland Europe since the Ryder Cup visited the Costa del Sol in 1997.
We last updated our French Top 100 rankings in February 2018, click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 123,"2018-09-01 05:06:00","South West France","We’ve grouped the regions of Aquitaine, Limousin, Midi-Pyrénées and Poitou-Charentes to create the South West area of France, and it was here at Pau where golf à la française began in 1856. In fact, Pau Golf Club is the oldest club in continental Europe.
Toulouse is the South West region’s largest city, but there are few top golf courses within easy reach of Toulouse. To the north of the city, the Jeremy Pern-designed course at Albi Golf Club is worth a inspecting and if you are interested in art you’ll perhaps want to check out the home of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. To the north of Bordeaux you’ll find the Châteaux course at Golf du Médoc, Bill Coore’s third solo design and his first and only project in Europe.
The greatest collection of top golf courses in the South West lie in Basque territory to the north of Biarritz, along the Bay of Biscay. Robert von Hagge’s Seignosse is considered one of the most beautiful courses in France and with RTJ’s Moliets further north and two Golden Age classics at Hossegor and Chiberta to the south, we can safely say that Biarritz is one of the most engaging golfing destinations in the entire country.
",158,"2018-09-01 05:09:40",France,"France conjures up images of chateaux and vineyards, crusty bread and smelly cheeses, the Eiffel Tower, the Tour de France, even garlic and onions. The French people have an air of seductive sophistication with a twist of va-va-voom and a dash of je ne sais quoi.
In the 19th century Pau became popular with the British after a Scottish doctor proclaimed that the mild climate was good for the body and the soul. Naturally a golf course soon followed, in fact the first on the continent of Europe, which dates back to 1856.
With its varied landscapes and topography France is ideal golfing country. In 2016 the number of French courses reached 600, serving more than 400,000 affiliated golf club members. In 2018 the Ryder Cup will be hosted in France at Le Golf National's L'Albatros course. It will be the biggest golfing event to be staged on mainland Europe since the Ryder Cup visited the Costa del Sol in 1997.
We last updated our French Top 100 rankings in February 2018, click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 124,"2018-09-01 05:06:02","North East Germany","We've grouped the regional golf federations of Berlin/Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony/Thuringia to create the North East area of Germany with a total of 61 courses.
Although the North East has the fewest courses of all regions, two of their layouts are good enough to warrant a European Top 100 ranking. The Faldo course at Sporting Club Berlin has been around since 1997 and it makes the cut for the European chart, along with another new track, Winston (Links), which made a very recent appearance on the German golf scene in 2011.
As can be expected, much of the golf is played in the metropolitan area of Berlin, where Seddiner See (South) by Robert Trent Jones Jnr and historical Berlin Wannsee (Karl Hoffmann) are the picks, whereas on the Eastern front it's hard not to have fun at Dresden Elbflorenz.
However, the real story of the North East is its unique golf resorts. After the reunification of Germany a whole new country was opened up for development and while some of it crashed and burned, the golf projects came away mostly unscathed. Fleesensee is the largest operation with 72 holes, amongst them the Schloss course by Stan Eby. A-Rosa Scharmützelsee at Bad Saarow adds an Arnold Palmer track and another Stan Eby to the flagship Faldo course.
Balmer See on the island of Usedom is holiday golf at its best: 36 exciting, but not too difficult holes and a tasteful hotel concept. 20 minutes across the island another resort opened recently: Baltic Hills hopes to prove that one course is just a course, but two courses are a destination.
Not on an island, but also on the coast is wind-swept Wittenbeck by Christoph Städler, who designed another dark horse at the southern end of the region: the Goethe course near Weimar. Like the ""Geheimrat"" himself, the place is full of character – as is the entire region.
",160,"2018-09-01 05:09:50",Germany,"Germany is set deep in the heart of Europe and it has left its indelible historical mark. Synonymous with reliable cars, Weltschmerz, Black Forest gateaux, poolside beach towels and the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall. With exciting and vibrant cities such as Cologne and Munich, Germany has plenty to offer between its world-famous museums, perched up fairytale castles and mouth-watering culinary delights.
The natural scenery is pretty impressive too with expansive beaches, rugged cliffs and lovely heather in the north, the mighty Bavarian Alps in the south, the Rhine Valley, a 40-mile long Unesco World Heritage site in the west and the birthplace of free climbing, the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, in the east.
Much of the northern part of Germany has sandy soil, which is often protected from development, so only very few golf clubs have been able to build on those free draining sites. Instead, clay and trees dominate the German golf landscape and so the parkland style prevails. Towards the south the soil becomes heavier and, while the average architectural quality of the courses is comparable, the high end cannot hold a candle to the north.
According to the German Golf Federation there are now 732 golf courses in the country serving more than 640,000 affiliated golfers (2016). Golf is growing slowly in Germany, but it is still growing – although there are concerns that the traditional club membership isn't part of that growth. The majority of clubs are semi-private, so we are confident that you can get a game in most places if you call in advance.
Our rankings of the Top 100 Golf Courses of Germany were last updated in January 2018. Click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 125,"2018-09-01 05:06:05","North West Germany","We've grouped the regional golf federations of Hamburg, Lower Saxony/Bremen and Schleswig-Holstein to create the North West area of Germany with a total of 153 courses.
Of the five German courses that currently make it into our European Top 100 ranking, three are located in the North West: Hamburger Falkenstein, the century-old handiwork of Colt, Morrison and Alison, rides high in the European chart, as does a surprising newcomer in the shape of the links course at Budersand Sylt, which Rolf-Stephan Hansen unveiled to the public in 2009. Completing this triumvirate is St Dionys, which, despite replacing most of its front nine holes in 2012, has managed to retain its place amongst the continent’s most elite golfing layouts.
Hamburg certainly is a hotbed of golf in Germany; there are a number of good courses spread around the city with John Morrison's Hittfeld being perhaps the nearest challenger of Falkenstein. At Bremen is the Club zur Vahr with its Garlstedter Heide course, a Bernhard von Limburger classic that used to vie for the German top spot as well. More old-style golf awaits at ancient Kitzeberg near Kiel and at quirky Altenhof, routed around a grand manor in the best English parkland tradition.
Amongst the modern venues David Krause's Niedersachsen layout at the Hardenberg Golf Resort never fails to entertain. Links style holes can be found at Föhr, which is just a couple of nautical miles across from Budersand – only that there's no ferry! Finally, if you're looking for a tried and tested Tour venue, there's always Gut Kaden north of Hamburg.
",160,"2018-09-01 05:09:50",Germany,"Germany is set deep in the heart of Europe and it has left its indelible historical mark. Synonymous with reliable cars, Weltschmerz, Black Forest gateaux, poolside beach towels and the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall. With exciting and vibrant cities such as Cologne and Munich, Germany has plenty to offer between its world-famous museums, perched up fairytale castles and mouth-watering culinary delights.
The natural scenery is pretty impressive too with expansive beaches, rugged cliffs and lovely heather in the north, the mighty Bavarian Alps in the south, the Rhine Valley, a 40-mile long Unesco World Heritage site in the west and the birthplace of free climbing, the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, in the east.
Much of the northern part of Germany has sandy soil, which is often protected from development, so only very few golf clubs have been able to build on those free draining sites. Instead, clay and trees dominate the German golf landscape and so the parkland style prevails. Towards the south the soil becomes heavier and, while the average architectural quality of the courses is comparable, the high end cannot hold a candle to the north.
According to the German Golf Federation there are now 732 golf courses in the country serving more than 640,000 affiliated golfers (2016). Golf is growing slowly in Germany, but it is still growing – although there are concerns that the traditional club membership isn't part of that growth. The majority of clubs are semi-private, so we are confident that you can get a game in most places if you call in advance.
Our rankings of the Top 100 Golf Courses of Germany were last updated in January 2018. Click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 126,"2018-09-01 05:06:21","South East Germany","We've taken the regional golf federation of Bavaria and turned it into the South East region of Germany with a total of 174 courses.
Bavaria is a huge state and yet everyone seems to only talk about the Alpine regions in the very south. But with the exception of the spectacular Rossknecht routing at Sonnenalp-Oberallgäu, there's surprisingly little mountain golf to be found. Oberstaufen (courses at Buflings and Steibis) and Oberstdorf deserve a mention, as do Garmisch-Partenkirchen (very flat, but with views) and Reit im Winkl.
Interestingly, some of the luxurious clubs that are frequented by the high-rolling Munich crowd have very modest beginnings. For example the trio of Donald Harradine courses at Beuerberg, St. Eurach and Tegernseer Bad Wiessee were built on a shoestring budget, in a time when playing golf was considered more stuffy than cool. The one truly historic club to note is Feldafing (Bernhard von Limburger), since the original course of Münchener Golf Club is lost (the current 27 holes by Perry Dye).
About two hours east of Munich you'll find Bad Griesbach, the largest golf resort in Germany with six 18-hole layouts, the best of which are probably Brunnwies and, for would-be mountaineers, Lederbach. West of Munich is Augsburg (Bernhard von Limburger/Donald Harradine), where in 1965 Bernhard Langer got his start in golf as a caddie. There's another Harradine pleaser nearby at Schloss Klingenburg and one of his wilder routings further north at Regensburg, which often contends for fastest greens in Bavaria. Further up you'll find two decent modern tracks in Habsberg (Graham Marsh) and Schwanhof (Jerry Pate/Reinhold Weishaupt). Finally, there's Bad Kissingen, the oldest course in Bavaria. The 1911 design by legendary figure Cuthbert Strachan Butchart has turned into a completely mixed bag of truly magnificent and utterly dreadful holes.
",160,"2018-09-01 05:09:50",Germany,"Germany is set deep in the heart of Europe and it has left its indelible historical mark. Synonymous with reliable cars, Weltschmerz, Black Forest gateaux, poolside beach towels and the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall. With exciting and vibrant cities such as Cologne and Munich, Germany has plenty to offer between its world-famous museums, perched up fairytale castles and mouth-watering culinary delights.
The natural scenery is pretty impressive too with expansive beaches, rugged cliffs and lovely heather in the north, the mighty Bavarian Alps in the south, the Rhine Valley, a 40-mile long Unesco World Heritage site in the west and the birthplace of free climbing, the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, in the east.
Much of the northern part of Germany has sandy soil, which is often protected from development, so only very few golf clubs have been able to build on those free draining sites. Instead, clay and trees dominate the German golf landscape and so the parkland style prevails. Towards the south the soil becomes heavier and, while the average architectural quality of the courses is comparable, the high end cannot hold a candle to the north.
According to the German Golf Federation there are now 732 golf courses in the country serving more than 640,000 affiliated golfers (2016). Golf is growing slowly in Germany, but it is still growing – although there are concerns that the traditional club membership isn't part of that growth. The majority of clubs are semi-private, so we are confident that you can get a game in most places if you call in advance.
Our rankings of the Top 100 Golf Courses of Germany were last updated in January 2018. Click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 127,"2018-09-01 05:06:34","South West Germany","We've grouped the regional golf federations of Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate/Saarland to create the South West area of Germany with a total of 182 courses.
This region is blessed with a number of very good courses and the 27 ferocious holes at the Wendelinus resort top the list. At least that's what the reader poll of the German magazine Golf Journal suggests – and for once it's hard to disagree with popular opinion. Then there's a cluster of three great courses around Koblenz: the Golden Age classic at Bad Ems (Hoffmann, C. Mackenzie, Fahrenholtz), inspiring Jakobsberg and laid-back Rhein-Wied, a hidden hilltop track with honesty box. Moving a bit further up the Rhine Valley, old-fashioned Bad Neuenahr is worth a game, if you can get one.
The metropolitan region of Frankfurt am Main offers a lot of golf, but little to write home about. Harry Colt's design at Frankfurter is largely former glory, so the best parkland experience these days is Hanau-Wilhelmsbad with perhaps Bad Vilbel getting a nod for its flower beds and Main-Taunus for being the final design of Bernhard von Limburger. Thrill-seekers will want to travel 45 minutes into the hills west of the city and seek out Taunus-Weilrod, a hair-raising Donald Harradine stunner.
Going south you'll happen upon prestigious St Leon-Rot with its Tour-proven championship layouts (Rot by Hannes Schreiner and St Leon by Dave Thomas) and Stuttgarter Solitude (Bernhard von Limburger, renovated by Thomas Himmel). At the very southern end of the region is Lake Constance, the largest body of water in Germany. You could do worse than to play golf here, for instance at Rod Whitman's Schloss Langenstein or at Bad Waldsee. Golf-Club Konstanz wins nearest to the lake, because the two courses at Lindau (Bad Schachen: Bernhard von Limburger/Kurt Roßknecht, Weissensberg: Robert Trent Jones I) belong to the Bavarian and Swiss golf federations, respectively.
",160,"2018-09-01 05:09:50",Germany,"Germany is set deep in the heart of Europe and it has left its indelible historical mark. Synonymous with reliable cars, Weltschmerz, Black Forest gateaux, poolside beach towels and the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall. With exciting and vibrant cities such as Cologne and Munich, Germany has plenty to offer between its world-famous museums, perched up fairytale castles and mouth-watering culinary delights.
The natural scenery is pretty impressive too with expansive beaches, rugged cliffs and lovely heather in the north, the mighty Bavarian Alps in the south, the Rhine Valley, a 40-mile long Unesco World Heritage site in the west and the birthplace of free climbing, the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, in the east.
Much of the northern part of Germany has sandy soil, which is often protected from development, so only very few golf clubs have been able to build on those free draining sites. Instead, clay and trees dominate the German golf landscape and so the parkland style prevails. Towards the south the soil becomes heavier and, while the average architectural quality of the courses is comparable, the high end cannot hold a candle to the north.
According to the German Golf Federation there are now 732 golf courses in the country serving more than 640,000 affiliated golfers (2016). Golf is growing slowly in Germany, but it is still growing – although there are concerns that the traditional club membership isn't part of that growth. The majority of clubs are semi-private, so we are confident that you can get a game in most places if you call in advance.
Our rankings of the Top 100 Golf Courses of Germany were last updated in January 2018. Click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 128,"2018-09-01 05:06:40","West Germany","We've taken the regional golf federation of North Rhine-Westfalia and turned it into the West area of Germany with a total of 158 courses.
As far as its classic courses go, the West is definitely ""Limmy country"", as you'll find many of Bernhard von Limburger's best efforts here. Arguably his masterpiece and knocking on the door of the European Top 100 is Hubbelrath East in Düsseldorf. Bunched up behind this behemoth are the likes of Köln, Krefelder, Westfälischer Gütersloh, Bad Salzuflen and Dortmunder to name just a few. A special case is Bergisch Land, where John Morrison got the best property and Limmy had to build the last five holes as an afterthought. The other mostly intact Morrison layout is Aachen.
Limmy's main competitor in Germany was Donald Harradine, who got a few nods in the West as well, e.g. Essen-Heidhausen, Wasserburg Anholt and easy-going Burg Zievel with its medieval castle. Just a joust away is Bad Münstereifel, whose claim to fame is a historic radio telescope and a very peculiar course, which you'll adore if you grok acrobatic John Cleese in the Ministry of Silly Walks. If you're more into Titanic or Top Gun, then why not pay a visit to Jack's Gut Lärchenhof? And finally, if you're so inclined, you can also bag the home course of former World #1 and two-time Major champion Martin Kaymer at Golf Club Mettmann.
Generally speaking you will find hilly country south of Aachen and east of Cologne, while anything west of Düsseldorf will be largely flat with a high water table. There is some sandy soil and quite a bit of heathland in the northern parts of the region.
",160,"2018-09-01 05:09:50",Germany,"Germany is set deep in the heart of Europe and it has left its indelible historical mark. Synonymous with reliable cars, Weltschmerz, Black Forest gateaux, poolside beach towels and the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall. With exciting and vibrant cities such as Cologne and Munich, Germany has plenty to offer between its world-famous museums, perched up fairytale castles and mouth-watering culinary delights.
The natural scenery is pretty impressive too with expansive beaches, rugged cliffs and lovely heather in the north, the mighty Bavarian Alps in the south, the Rhine Valley, a 40-mile long Unesco World Heritage site in the west and the birthplace of free climbing, the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, in the east.
Much of the northern part of Germany has sandy soil, which is often protected from development, so only very few golf clubs have been able to build on those free draining sites. Instead, clay and trees dominate the German golf landscape and so the parkland style prevails. Towards the south the soil becomes heavier and, while the average architectural quality of the courses is comparable, the high end cannot hold a candle to the north.
According to the German Golf Federation there are now 732 golf courses in the country serving more than 640,000 affiliated golfers (2016). Golf is growing slowly in Germany, but it is still growing – although there are concerns that the traditional club membership isn't part of that growth. The majority of clubs are semi-private, so we are confident that you can get a game in most places if you call in advance.
Our rankings of the Top 100 Golf Courses of Germany were last updated in January 2018. Click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 129,"2018-09-01 05:06:45","Greek Islands","There are so many Greek islands that it’s likely that they’ve never all been counted. It’s estimated there could be anything up to 6,000 of them, only a couple of hundred of which are inhabited.
The largest island, Crete, has had a golf course in play since 2003, when Bob Hunt from PGA Design laid out the fairways for Crete Golf Club on fairly hilly terrain to the north of the island. Rhodes is the fourth largest Greek island, measuring around 540 square miles, and its Afandou course has been open since 1973 as an 18-hole layout, playing to a par of 73. It’s a Donald Harradine track – with five par fives and three par threes – offering affordable golf to members and visitors alike.
Corfu, situated in the Ionian Sea, measures around 230 square miles, making it the 7th largest Greek island. Donald Harradine also designed the course for Corfu Golf Club, routing the tree-lined fairways through the picturesque Ropa Valley, on the west side of the island. Bunkers have recently been renovated and they now contain white sand shipped in from the island of Milos.
",161,"2018-09-01 05:09:53",Greece,"Greece conjures up many images but most would mention their olives, feta cheese and Ouzo – the Greeks certainly know how to party and they also know how to relax because most tourist towns and villages tend to shut down for the winter. The Greeks love tradition and they are blessed with a rich and colourful history, their love of the gods, mythology and dreams of Atlantis, which are all very much alive today. Greece is regarded as the birthplace of democracy, literature, philosophy and naturally the Olympic Games. In fact, Greece has a little something for everyone, from relaxing beaches to hyperactive cities but unfortunately, there's precious little in Greece to please the traveling golfer.
Despite a rich sporting heritage, there are only seven 18-hole Greek golf courses (and one 9-holer). Greece is certainly focused on tourism and the Hellenic Golf Federation was founded in 1981 so we're genuinely surprised at the low number of courses in the country. Corfu and Rhodes have one course each, Crete has one 18-hole course and a 9-hole layout and there are four other tracks on the mainland. The Bernhard Langer-designed Dunes course and Robert Trent Jones Jnr’s Bay course at the Costa Navarino resort have raised the Greek golfing bar in recent times and that will certainly appeal to visiting golfers.
Unfortunately, the course at Glyfada often gets overlooked. The original Donald Harradine design opened for play in 1962 but the layout was extensively remodeled by Robert Trent Jones for the 1979 World Cup (won by the 2-man United States team of Hale Irwin and John Mahaffey) when a new irrigation system was installed and the distinctive creek was filled in. Located close to the Saronic Gulf, only ten kilometres south of Athens international airport, the clubhouse at Glyfada is home to both the Hellenic Golf Federation and the PGA of Greece so it’s truly at the epicentre of golf in the country.
Our golf course rankings for Greece were last updated in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
Our Greek Mainland region is defined as the main peninsula of Central Greece and the Peloponnese peninsula, which is separated from the mainland by the Corinth Canal. More than three quarters of the area within these two regions is mountainous, so the inhospitable terrain is as good a geographical reason as any when trying to explain why golf has never really caught on in the cradle of western civilisation.
There are only four courses located in this large area, the oldest of which is Donald Harradine’s Glyfada – host to the World Cup of Golf tournament in 1979 – and this sits 13 kilometres to the south of Athens city centre. Further to the northeast, not too far from Thessalonica, lies the Olive Grove course at the Porto Carras Resort and the original 9-hole layout was extended to a full 18-hole track in 2003.
On the southwest flank of the Peloponnese peninsula, the two courses at the new Costa Navarino resort are easily the best in the Hellenic Republic, to give Greece its official title. The Bernhard Langer-designed Dunes course was the first layout to open in 2010 followed a year later by the Bay course, which Robert Trent Jones Jnr fashioned on a property six miles further along the coast.
",161,"2018-09-01 05:09:53",Greece,"Greece conjures up many images but most would mention their olives, feta cheese and Ouzo – the Greeks certainly know how to party and they also know how to relax because most tourist towns and villages tend to shut down for the winter. The Greeks love tradition and they are blessed with a rich and colourful history, their love of the gods, mythology and dreams of Atlantis, which are all very much alive today. Greece is regarded as the birthplace of democracy, literature, philosophy and naturally the Olympic Games. In fact, Greece has a little something for everyone, from relaxing beaches to hyperactive cities but unfortunately, there's precious little in Greece to please the traveling golfer.
Despite a rich sporting heritage, there are only seven 18-hole Greek golf courses (and one 9-holer). Greece is certainly focused on tourism and the Hellenic Golf Federation was founded in 1981 so we're genuinely surprised at the low number of courses in the country. Corfu and Rhodes have one course each, Crete has one 18-hole course and a 9-hole layout and there are four other tracks on the mainland. The Bernhard Langer-designed Dunes course and Robert Trent Jones Jnr’s Bay course at the Costa Navarino resort have raised the Greek golfing bar in recent times and that will certainly appeal to visiting golfers.
Unfortunately, the course at Glyfada often gets overlooked. The original Donald Harradine design opened for play in 1962 but the layout was extensively remodeled by Robert Trent Jones for the 1979 World Cup (won by the 2-man United States team of Hale Irwin and John Mahaffey) when a new irrigation system was installed and the distinctive creek was filled in. Located close to the Saronic Gulf, only ten kilometres south of Athens international airport, the clubhouse at Glyfada is home to both the Hellenic Golf Federation and the PGA of Greece so it’s truly at the epicentre of golf in the country.
Our golf course rankings for Greece were last updated in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
Lazio, Marche, Tuscany and Umbria comprise the Central area of Italy and these four regions are further subdivided into 22 provinces, from which a total of 91 golf facilities are affiliated to Federazione Italiana Golf, the national governing body.
The best courses in the region are situated around Rome. To the southwest of the Eternal City, there’s Fioranello, a 1970s David Mezzacane design, and Castelgandalfo, which Robert Trent Jones Snr. laid out in in the mid-1980s.
Fifteen miles north east of the city centre, you’ll find the engaging Marco Simone course, where Eduardo Romero won the Italian Open in 1994, and it's set to become a household name as the 2022 Ryder Cup will be held at the Rome club.
Another three Roman courses are nationally ranked. The first of these, Roma Acquasanta, was established over a hundred years ago by British expats and it still presents a challenge in the modern era. The second layout is the West course at Olgiata, which was laid out by CK Cotton in the early 1960s and is now part of an excellent 27-hole setup.
Last, but certainly not least, Le Querce, is a Jim Fazio design that opened for play in 1990 and the site currently houses the headquarters of the Italian Golf Federation.
",165,"2018-09-01 05:10:28",Italy,"There’s something sexy about Italy right down to the country’s over-the-knee boot shape. Pizza, pasta, Parmesan, piazza, Prosecco, Piaggio and even the pope spring to mind along with Ferrari, Ducati and even Fiat, all these symbols are synonymous with the stylish Italian culture.
With Roman ruins, Renaissance art, the Alps, Venice and naturally some chic shopping, it’s not surprising that Italians called their homeland ""Il Belpaese"" (beautiful country).
Golf in Italy dates back more than a century when, in 1889, the then English colony of Florence founded the Florence Golf Club, the first Italian golf association. Florence Golf Club was renamed in 1933 to Ugolino Golf Club. Roma Acquasanta owns Italy's oldest golf course (the club was founded in 1903), but golf is a sport that has somehow failed to grip the Italian imagination unlike football, which is the country’s national sport. There are only 90,000 affiliated Italian golf club members who play their game on Italy’s 250 or so golf courses.
We last updated our Italian Top 50 rankings in February 2018, click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 132,"2018-09-01 05:07:10","Northern Italy","Eight regions – from Valle d’Aosta in the northwest to Friuli-Venezia Giulia in the northeast – make up the northern area of Italy, an area known to the locals as Alta Italia. These regions are split into 46 provinces, from where an impressive total of 241 golf facilities (two thirds of all the courses in the country) are affiliated to Federazione Italiana Golf, the national governing body.
This northern stronghold of the Italian golfing scene is where many of the top layouts are found and it’s dominated by old tracks from the 1920s – such as the Peter Gannon-designed Milano and Villa d’Este courses – and the 1950s, with the likes of the John Morrison courses at Torino La Mandria (Blue) and Biella-le Betulle.
A number of modern courses have also attained national prominence, including Robert von Hagge’s Conte and Bonora layouts at the 36-hole Bogogno complex whilst the two Robert Trent Jones Snr courses at Royal Park I Roveri in Turin and Castelconturbia, near Milan, are comfortably ranked within the Top 100 list of golf courses in Continental Europe.
",165,"2018-09-01 05:10:28",Italy,"There’s something sexy about Italy right down to the country’s over-the-knee boot shape. Pizza, pasta, Parmesan, piazza, Prosecco, Piaggio and even the pope spring to mind along with Ferrari, Ducati and even Fiat, all these symbols are synonymous with the stylish Italian culture.
With Roman ruins, Renaissance art, the Alps, Venice and naturally some chic shopping, it’s not surprising that Italians called their homeland ""Il Belpaese"" (beautiful country).
Golf in Italy dates back more than a century when, in 1889, the then English colony of Florence founded the Florence Golf Club, the first Italian golf association. Florence Golf Club was renamed in 1933 to Ugolino Golf Club. Roma Acquasanta owns Italy's oldest golf course (the club was founded in 1903), but golf is a sport that has somehow failed to grip the Italian imagination unlike football, which is the country’s national sport. There are only 90,000 affiliated Italian golf club members who play their game on Italy’s 250 or so golf courses.
We last updated our Italian Top 50 rankings in February 2018, click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 133,"2018-09-01 05:07:14",Sardinia,"Situated to the south of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea, Sardinia extends to an area of over 9,000 square miles though, with just over one and a half million people resident on the island, it’s one of the least densely populated regions of Italy.
Sardinia has been ruled from Rome for most of the last two thousand years but many forget that it endured a lengthy spell of Spanish control which (starting in 1323) lasted for almost four hundred years.
There are around a dozen golf facilities in Sardinia, varying from pitch and putt courses at Borgo Campagna and Chia to the 27-hole golf complex at Is Molas.
Visiting golfers will find enjoyable 9-hole holiday golf courses at Alghero, Puntaldia and Sa Tanca but for those seeking a greater golfing challenge, then Tanka – a 2007 design from Luigi Rota Caremoli – might just fit the bill.
Three Sardinian courses are well worth their national ranking. The first two, Pevero in Porto Cervo and Is Molas (Championship) in Santa Margherita du Pula are 1970s designs from Robert Trent Jones Snr. and Piero Mancinelli, respectively.
The third course, Is Arenas, is of more recent vintage, having had its fairways literally carved out of a pine forest close to Narbolia by Robert von Hagge in 2000.
",165,"2018-09-01 05:10:28",Italy,"There’s something sexy about Italy right down to the country’s over-the-knee boot shape. Pizza, pasta, Parmesan, piazza, Prosecco, Piaggio and even the pope spring to mind along with Ferrari, Ducati and even Fiat, all these symbols are synonymous with the stylish Italian culture.
With Roman ruins, Renaissance art, the Alps, Venice and naturally some chic shopping, it’s not surprising that Italians called their homeland ""Il Belpaese"" (beautiful country).
Golf in Italy dates back more than a century when, in 1889, the then English colony of Florence founded the Florence Golf Club, the first Italian golf association. Florence Golf Club was renamed in 1933 to Ugolino Golf Club. Roma Acquasanta owns Italy's oldest golf course (the club was founded in 1903), but golf is a sport that has somehow failed to grip the Italian imagination unlike football, which is the country’s national sport. There are only 90,000 affiliated Italian golf club members who play their game on Italy’s 250 or so golf courses.
We last updated our Italian Top 50 rankings in February 2018, click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 134,"2018-09-01 05:07:24",Sicily,"Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and the narrow Strait of Messina separates it from mainland Italy. Whilst Mount Etna smoulders menacingly in the background in the north east corner of the island, locals just get on with their daily business as usual, welcoming tourists in ever-increasing numbers every year to this charming holiday destination.
Golfers in Sicily are well catered for with a total of 126 holes available for play at five different golf facilities. These range from the homely little 9-hole course at Villa Airoldi in Palermo to the magnificent new 45-hole Verdura complex near Sciacca.
In between these golfing extremes, you’ll find a couple of Luigi Rota Caremoli-designed layouts at Picciolo and Le Madonie as well as two contrasting 18-hole courses at Donnafugata, near Vittoria.
Without doubt, the top tracks on the island are those at the luxury Verdura Resort, where half the fairways from the East and the West courses created a composite championship layout when the Sicilian Open was held here in 2012.
Donnafugata hosted the inaugural competition the year before and its Parkland and Links courses, designed by Gary Player and Franco Piras, form the centerpiece of an impressive five-star resort.
",165,"2018-09-01 05:10:28",Italy,"There’s something sexy about Italy right down to the country’s over-the-knee boot shape. Pizza, pasta, Parmesan, piazza, Prosecco, Piaggio and even the pope spring to mind along with Ferrari, Ducati and even Fiat, all these symbols are synonymous with the stylish Italian culture.
With Roman ruins, Renaissance art, the Alps, Venice and naturally some chic shopping, it’s not surprising that Italians called their homeland ""Il Belpaese"" (beautiful country).
Golf in Italy dates back more than a century when, in 1889, the then English colony of Florence founded the Florence Golf Club, the first Italian golf association. Florence Golf Club was renamed in 1933 to Ugolino Golf Club. Roma Acquasanta owns Italy's oldest golf course (the club was founded in 1903), but golf is a sport that has somehow failed to grip the Italian imagination unlike football, which is the country’s national sport. There are only 90,000 affiliated Italian golf club members who play their game on Italy’s 250 or so golf courses.
We last updated our Italian Top 50 rankings in February 2018, click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 135,"2018-09-01 05:07:38","Southern Italy","The southern area of Italy forms the lower “boot” of the country with the regions of Abruzzo, Basilica, Campania and Molise fashioning the ankle, Apulia shaping the heel and Calabria forming the toe.
The 24 provinces within these six regions account for only 24 of the golf facilities in Italy and considering there’s a healthy total of 363 clubs affiliated nationally to the Federazione Italiana Golf, that tells you golf is not exactly high on the sporting agenda in the south of the country.
Eight of the clubs in the south operate 9-hole courses with another eight offering golfers the use of an 18-hole layout. Five of these full sized courses are located in the region of Apulia.
The Riva dei Tessali and Metaponto courses are in play at the Riva dei Tessali Hotel & Golf Resort near Taranto whilst an hour’s drive to the north, the Bari Alto course lies 11 miles inland from Bari.
Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry recently completed the Acaya course at the Double Tree resort to the south east of Lecce and this modern new setup is a fine complement to the 18 holes at European Golf Design’s San Domenico resort further along the Adriatic coast.
",165,"2018-09-01 05:10:28",Italy,"There’s something sexy about Italy right down to the country’s over-the-knee boot shape. Pizza, pasta, Parmesan, piazza, Prosecco, Piaggio and even the pope spring to mind along with Ferrari, Ducati and even Fiat, all these symbols are synonymous with the stylish Italian culture.
With Roman ruins, Renaissance art, the Alps, Venice and naturally some chic shopping, it’s not surprising that Italians called their homeland ""Il Belpaese"" (beautiful country).
Golf in Italy dates back more than a century when, in 1889, the then English colony of Florence founded the Florence Golf Club, the first Italian golf association. Florence Golf Club was renamed in 1933 to Ugolino Golf Club. Roma Acquasanta owns Italy's oldest golf course (the club was founded in 1903), but golf is a sport that has somehow failed to grip the Italian imagination unlike football, which is the country’s national sport. There are only 90,000 affiliated Italian golf club members who play their game on Italy’s 250 or so golf courses.
We last updated our Italian Top 50 rankings in February 2018, click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 136,"2018-09-01 05:07:47",Algarve,"It’s hard to imagine that up until 1966 – when Henry Cotton laid out the Championship course at Penina – golf as a sporting pursuit in the Algarve was virtually non-existent. Fast forward almost half a century and the region is now one of Europe’s premier holiday destinations, drawing hundreds of thousands of golfers to its fairways all year round.
An incredible total of forty-two 9-hole or 18-hole layouts can be played at thirty-five different golf clubs within the Algarve zone of the Federação Portuguesa de Golfe and more than half the courses strung out along this 100-mile southern-facing coast feature in our Portuguese ranking list of top courses in the country.
The wonderful Oceânico complex at Vilamoura dominates the golfing scene in the Algarve with the Old, Victoria, Laguna and Pinhal layouts all rated in the national charts. Other courses meriting closer examination include Joe Lee’s 1988 layout at San Lorenzo, Rocky Roquemore’s new millennium offering at Quinta de Cima and last, but certainly not least, the magnificent Monte Rei (North) course from Jack Nicklaus which was unveiled in 2007.
",178,"2018-09-01 05:17:39",Portugal,"Situated on the west side of the Iberian Peninsula with a long Atlantic coastline, it’s not surprising that Portugal has a rich seafaring heritage. In 1415, the Portuguese discovered new ocean routes and they set sail to conquer new continents.
An independent kingdom since the 12th century, Portugal is one of Europe’s oldest nations and their way of life is still gloriously simple and relaxed with honest food and world famous Port and Madeira.Thanks to great weather, Portugal is also one of Europe’s popular golfing destinations and this is despite the fact that there are only 87 courses in the country with less than 15,000 registered Portuguese golf club members.
Fortunately, more than half of Portugal’s courses are high standard and they can thank the British for introducing the game of golf to the country in the 19th century when a group of British wine exporters formed Oporto Niblicks Club in 1890 (renamed Oporto Golf Club in 1901). Sir Henry Cotton started the Portuguese golf boom with the remarkable Penina which is the oldest course in the Algarve, dating back to 1966.
Our rankings of the Top 50 Golf Courses of Portugal were last updated in February 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The nine volcanic islands that comprise the Azores are situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, around 900 miles to the west of Lisbon. Discovered by seafaring Portuguese explorers in the 15th century, the Azores extend to an area of 900 square miles with a population of around a quarter of a million people.
The largest of the islands in the archipelago is São Miguel, the “Green Island,” where a dramatic landscape is characterised by old volcanic domes and craters. It’s here that two of the three Azorean golf courses are located (the other course being a former US Air Force base 9-hole layout on the island of Terceira which was expanded to 18 holes in 1954).
Batalha offers three 9-hole circuits at a very fine facility where an 18-hole course was used as the venue for the one-off Azores Senior Open in 2008. The original Philip Mackenzie Ross 9-hole layout at Furnas was constructed as a private course for a multi-millionaire in 1939 and fifty years would pass before Bob Cameron and Chris Powell extended it to its current 18-hole configuration.
",178,"2018-09-01 05:17:39",Portugal,"Situated on the west side of the Iberian Peninsula with a long Atlantic coastline, it’s not surprising that Portugal has a rich seafaring heritage. In 1415, the Portuguese discovered new ocean routes and they set sail to conquer new continents.
An independent kingdom since the 12th century, Portugal is one of Europe’s oldest nations and their way of life is still gloriously simple and relaxed with honest food and world famous Port and Madeira.Thanks to great weather, Portugal is also one of Europe’s popular golfing destinations and this is despite the fact that there are only 87 courses in the country with less than 15,000 registered Portuguese golf club members.
Fortunately, more than half of Portugal’s courses are high standard and they can thank the British for introducing the game of golf to the country in the 19th century when a group of British wine exporters formed Oporto Niblicks Club in 1890 (renamed Oporto Golf Club in 1901). Sir Henry Cotton started the Portuguese golf boom with the remarkable Penina which is the oldest course in the Algarve, dating back to 1966.
Our rankings of the Top 50 Golf Courses of Portugal were last updated in February 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The Lisbon and Centre area corresponds to the geographical regions of Lisboa, Alentejo, Coimbra and Central. Situated at the mouth of the Tagus River, Lisbon is reckoned to be one of the oldest cities in Europe with continuous habitation since around 1200BC. Further inland, the open plains, with their rich fertile soil, have been called the breadbasket of Portugal, such has been their agricultural importance to the country down the years.
Lisbon Sports Club offered its members participation in golf, football, cricket and tennis at the start of the 20th century but it took until 1922 before organised golf was established when a number of members founded their own golf club. Now, almost a hundred years on, there are twenty-nine 9-hole or 18-hole layouts to be found at twenty-five golf facilities within the Lisboa zone of the Federação Portuguesa de Golfe and more than a dozen of these courses feature in our national ranking chart.
There’s no denying the influence of American golf course design in the Lisbon area as architects who usually ply their trade on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean have fashioned many of the top layouts. Two of these courses were designed by Rocky Roquemore in the 1990s (Belas and Quinta do Peru), two are 1980s offerings from Robert Trent Jones Snr at Quinta da Marinha and Troia, whilst Robert Trent Jones Jnr, Cabell Robinson and Arthur Hills pitch in with one each at Penha Longa (Atlantico), Praia d’El Rey and Oitavos Dunes.
",178,"2018-09-01 05:17:39",Portugal,"Situated on the west side of the Iberian Peninsula with a long Atlantic coastline, it’s not surprising that Portugal has a rich seafaring heritage. In 1415, the Portuguese discovered new ocean routes and they set sail to conquer new continents.
An independent kingdom since the 12th century, Portugal is one of Europe’s oldest nations and their way of life is still gloriously simple and relaxed with honest food and world famous Port and Madeira.Thanks to great weather, Portugal is also one of Europe’s popular golfing destinations and this is despite the fact that there are only 87 courses in the country with less than 15,000 registered Portuguese golf club members.
Fortunately, more than half of Portugal’s courses are high standard and they can thank the British for introducing the game of golf to the country in the 19th century when a group of British wine exporters formed Oporto Niblicks Club in 1890 (renamed Oporto Golf Club in 1901). Sir Henry Cotton started the Portuguese golf boom with the remarkable Penina which is the oldest course in the Algarve, dating back to 1966.
Our rankings of the Top 50 Golf Courses of Portugal were last updated in February 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The Madeira archipelago (located in the North Atlantic Ocean, around 300 miles from the west coast of Africa) consists of the volcanic islands of Madeira, Porto Santo, the Desertas Islands and Savage Islands. Madeira is by far the largest of these islands, extending to an area of just under 300 square miles.
Porto Santo lies to the north east of Madeira and it’s well within striking distance for day-trippers taking the ferry from Funchal to sample the golfing delights of the Porto Santo course. Opened in 2004, this Seve Ballesteros-designed layout also made its mark within the Top 100 Continental European rankings, appearing in the chart from 2008 to 2014.
Back on Madeira, the original 9-hole golf club at Santo da Serra now boasts three 9-hole circuits – Machico, Desertas and Serras – thanks to a couple of upgrades in the 1990s by Robert Trent Jones Snr. Cabell Robinson, an old RTJ associate, was also busy on the island during the 1990s, designing the wonderful 18-hole Palheiro layout near the fabled gardens of the Quinta do Palheiro Estate.
",178,"2018-09-01 05:17:39",Portugal,"Situated on the west side of the Iberian Peninsula with a long Atlantic coastline, it’s not surprising that Portugal has a rich seafaring heritage. In 1415, the Portuguese discovered new ocean routes and they set sail to conquer new continents.
An independent kingdom since the 12th century, Portugal is one of Europe’s oldest nations and their way of life is still gloriously simple and relaxed with honest food and world famous Port and Madeira.Thanks to great weather, Portugal is also one of Europe’s popular golfing destinations and this is despite the fact that there are only 87 courses in the country with less than 15,000 registered Portuguese golf club members.
Fortunately, more than half of Portugal’s courses are high standard and they can thank the British for introducing the game of golf to the country in the 19th century when a group of British wine exporters formed Oporto Niblicks Club in 1890 (renamed Oporto Golf Club in 1901). Sir Henry Cotton started the Portuguese golf boom with the remarkable Penina which is the oldest course in the Algarve, dating back to 1966.
Our rankings of the Top 50 Golf Courses of Portugal were last updated in February 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The Porto & North areas of Portugal cover an expanse of land extending to 19,000 square miles with a population of around 6 million people. Stretching from Costa Verde on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the border castles that once protected the mountainous inland boundary with Spain, it’s a largely unspoiled region that’s well worth exploring.
Sixteen of Portugal’s ninety-seven 9-hole and 18-hole courses are located at fourteen different venues within the Norte and Centro zones of the Federação Portuguesa de Golfe. The only 27-hole facility is located at Golfe Montebelo, where Mark Stilwell and Malcolm Kenyon carved out three returning circuits on heavily forested, hilly terrain near the town of Viseu in the late 1990s.
Best in Region courses include two Philip Mackenzie Ross layouts. The first of these, Oporto, is one of the oldest layouts on the continent of Europe (established in 1890) and the architect remodeled it in the late 1950s. The other course, Vidago Palace, was laid out as a 9-holer in 1936 within the grounds of a magnificent five-star hotel and Bob Cameron and Chris Powell have recently overhauled this old track to form a new 18-hole layout.
",178,"2018-09-01 05:17:39",Portugal,"Situated on the west side of the Iberian Peninsula with a long Atlantic coastline, it’s not surprising that Portugal has a rich seafaring heritage. In 1415, the Portuguese discovered new ocean routes and they set sail to conquer new continents.
An independent kingdom since the 12th century, Portugal is one of Europe’s oldest nations and their way of life is still gloriously simple and relaxed with honest food and world famous Port and Madeira.Thanks to great weather, Portugal is also one of Europe’s popular golfing destinations and this is despite the fact that there are only 87 courses in the country with less than 15,000 registered Portuguese golf club members.
Fortunately, more than half of Portugal’s courses are high standard and they can thank the British for introducing the game of golf to the country in the 19th century when a group of British wine exporters formed Oporto Niblicks Club in 1890 (renamed Oporto Golf Club in 1901). Sir Henry Cotton started the Portuguese golf boom with the remarkable Penina which is the oldest course in the Algarve, dating back to 1966.
Our rankings of the Top 50 Golf Courses of Portugal were last updated in February 2018. Click the link to read the story.
Covering an area of around two thousand square miles, the Balearic Islands lie to the east of mainland Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. This small archipelago consists of four main islands – Mallorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera – along with a number of smaller isles, and their sun-kissed beaches attract millions of visitors to the region every year.
The Real Federación Española de Golf is split into nineteen geographical areas and one of these, Federación Balear de Golf, acts as the golfing authority for the amateur game in the Balearic Isles. Twenty clubs are affiliated to this federation with a local membership of 7,000 golfers and all but two of the clubs – Golf de Ibiza and Golf Son Parc in Minorca – are located on the island of Mallorca.
Three top tracks can be played close to the capital, Palma. The first of these is Son Vida, one of the older Balearic tracks, fashioned by Fred Hawtree in 1964. The second is Son Antem (West), a fine recent addition to the local golfing scene by Francisco Lopez Segales. Third, and best of all, Thomas Himmel’s Son Gual is a stunning new millennium course that’s already been ranked as one of the Top 100 courses in Continental Europe.
",184,"2018-09-01 05:19:18",Spain,"Spain is the original and best package holiday destination. It’s synonymous with Brits who are hell bent on sun, sangria and holiday homes, yet Spain has so much more to offer with wonderful architecture, food and wine.
With more than 50 million visitors each year it is no surprise to hear that Spain is still one of Europe’s premier golfing destinations and also one of the first European countries to successfully market the “package golf holiday” making life so very pleasant and easy for foreign visitors.
According to the KPMG's ""Golf Study"" report, published in 2017, there are now 349 golf courses in Spain. These courses cater, not only for the many visiting golfers, but also for the 300,000 or so members who are registered to Spanish golf clubs.
We last updated our Top 100 Golf Courses of Spain rankings in January 2018. Click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 142,"2018-09-01 05:08:46","Canary Islands","The Canary Islands lie to the west of Morocco in the Atlantic Ocean and their geographical position is such that each of the seven main islands enjoys a wonderfully warm climate with moist Gulf Stream winds ensuring the volcanic landscape always remains lush. Tourism plays a major part in the economy of the islands and millions of tourists arrive every year in search of sunny weather for their vacation.
The Real Federación Española de Golf is divided into nineteen geographical areas and one of these, Federación Canaria de Golf, is the governing body for the game in the Canaries. The islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria each boast seven layouts of 18 holes or more whilst there are four courses on Fuerteventura, two on Lanzarote and one course on La Gomera.
The best golfing layouts are found on the two main islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria, though some believe Martin Ebert’s Tecina course on La Gomera is too easily overlooked. El Cortijo and Maspalomas are excellent tracks on Gran Canaria, as are Las Americas and the 27-hole hole Del Sur complex on Tenerife but all four of these nationally ranked courses have now been eclipsed somewhat since the wonderful Dave Thomas-designed Abama layout was unveiled to the north of Las Americas in 2005.
",184,"2018-09-01 05:19:18",Spain,"Spain is the original and best package holiday destination. It’s synonymous with Brits who are hell bent on sun, sangria and holiday homes, yet Spain has so much more to offer with wonderful architecture, food and wine.
With more than 50 million visitors each year it is no surprise to hear that Spain is still one of Europe’s premier golfing destinations and also one of the first European countries to successfully market the “package golf holiday” making life so very pleasant and easy for foreign visitors.
According to the KPMG's ""Golf Study"" report, published in 2017, there are now 349 golf courses in Spain. These courses cater, not only for the many visiting golfers, but also for the 300,000 or so members who are registered to Spanish golf clubs.
We last updated our Top 100 Golf Courses of Spain rankings in January 2018. Click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 143,"2018-09-01 05:08:53","Central Spain","A high percentage of the millions of tourists who visit mainland Spain every year venture nowhere near the central region, heading instead for the resorts and beaches of the sunny Costas to the east and the south of the country. This makes it a little ironic to discover that the headquarters of the UN’s World Tourism Organization is sited in the Spanish capital, Madrid – a city located in the middle of the country.
More than a hundred golf clubs operate in the Central region of Spain and they’re affiliated to one of four federations: Federación Extremeña de Golf is the smallest with only 8 clubs, Federación de Golf de Castilla-La Mancha has 31 clubs split into five districts, Federación de Golf de Castilla-León controls 50 clubs in nine districts and the Federación de Madrid de Golf has more than 20 clubs on its books.
Apart from Santander, with its Rees Jones designed layout from 2005, the most distinguished clubs in the capital of Madrid operate from 36-hole golf complexes. Members of RHSE Club de Campo enjoy playing privileges at the North and South courses, both of which were designed by Robert von Hagge, whilst golfers at Real Club de la Puerta de Hiero can tee it up at either the wonderful Arriba or Abajo 18-hole layouts.
",184,"2018-09-01 05:19:18",Spain,"Spain is the original and best package holiday destination. It’s synonymous with Brits who are hell bent on sun, sangria and holiday homes, yet Spain has so much more to offer with wonderful architecture, food and wine.
With more than 50 million visitors each year it is no surprise to hear that Spain is still one of Europe’s premier golfing destinations and also one of the first European countries to successfully market the “package golf holiday” making life so very pleasant and easy for foreign visitors.
According to the KPMG's ""Golf Study"" report, published in 2017, there are now 349 golf courses in Spain. These courses cater, not only for the many visiting golfers, but also for the 300,000 or so members who are registered to Spanish golf clubs.
We last updated our Top 100 Golf Courses of Spain rankings in January 2018. Click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 144,"2018-09-01 05:08:59","Northern Spain","The north of Spain covers a vast tract of territory between Galicia on the Atlantic coast and Catalonia on the shores of the Mediterranean with the Pyrenees Mountains forming a natural boundary against France to the north. Many of the sporting institutions in the area are concentrated close to the principal cities of Gijon, Santander, Bilbao, Pamplona, Zaragoza and Barcelona.
Nine different federations, the largest of which is the Federación Catalana de Golf with around forty clubs, control amateur golf in the north of Spain. Four of the other eight governing bodies have memberships of less than ten clubs whilst two – Federación Navarra de Golf and Federación de Golf de la Rioja – preside over only three clubs.
Half a dozen of the best 18-hole courses in Spain can be found at three golf facilities in the north east of the country. The Stadium and Tour courses at the PGA Catalunya complex near Girona are top-drawer layouts, as are the nearby Links and Forest layouts at Emporda. A little to the south, outside Barcelona, the Open and Blue courses at El Prat form a pair of stellar new millennium offerings from the design studio of Greg Norman.
",184,"2018-09-01 05:19:18",Spain,"Spain is the original and best package holiday destination. It’s synonymous with Brits who are hell bent on sun, sangria and holiday homes, yet Spain has so much more to offer with wonderful architecture, food and wine.
With more than 50 million visitors each year it is no surprise to hear that Spain is still one of Europe’s premier golfing destinations and also one of the first European countries to successfully market the “package golf holiday” making life so very pleasant and easy for foreign visitors.
According to the KPMG's ""Golf Study"" report, published in 2017, there are now 349 golf courses in Spain. These courses cater, not only for the many visiting golfers, but also for the 300,000 or so members who are registered to Spanish golf clubs.
We last updated our Top 100 Golf Courses of Spain rankings in January 2018. Click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 145,"2018-09-01 05:09:07","Southern Spain","The southern region of Spain covers an enormous area extending from the border with Portugal through to the city of Valencia on the east coast. This very popular tourist region now boasts more than one hundred and fifty golf courses that are strung out like pearls on a necklace along the coastline from Costa de la Luz in the west, continuing along through Costa del Sol to Costa Blanca in the east.
Amateur golf is governed by four bodies in this region. Delegation Territorial Ceuta de Golf is responsible for golf in the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in Morocco, Federación de Golf Andaluza provides administration for 127 clubs divided into eight districts within the sprawling region of Andalucia, Federación de Golf de la Región de Murcia looks after 27 clubs in the south east of the country and Federación de Golf de la Comunidad Valenciana oversees the golfing affairs of 39 clubs located in three districts around Valencia.
More than half of all the Spanish Top 100 courses are located in the southern region of Spain which is testament to the quality of golf in this part of the country. And the very best of these courses are not just top national tracks, they’re also good enough to be ranked amongst the Top 100 layouts in Continental Europe – places like Javier Arana’s wonderful El Saler course, Cabell Robinson’s Finca Cortesin and La Reserva layouts – and at the very top of the tree, the Robert Trent Jones Snr masterpieces at Las Brisas, Sotogrande and Valderrama.
",184,"2018-09-01 05:19:18",Spain,"Spain is the original and best package holiday destination. It’s synonymous with Brits who are hell bent on sun, sangria and holiday homes, yet Spain has so much more to offer with wonderful architecture, food and wine.
With more than 50 million visitors each year it is no surprise to hear that Spain is still one of Europe’s premier golfing destinations and also one of the first European countries to successfully market the “package golf holiday” making life so very pleasant and easy for foreign visitors.
According to the KPMG's ""Golf Study"" report, published in 2017, there are now 349 golf courses in Spain. These courses cater, not only for the many visiting golfers, but also for the 300,000 or so members who are registered to Spanish golf clubs.
We last updated our Top 100 Golf Courses of Spain rankings in January 2018. Click the link to read the story.
",6,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","Continental Europe" 146,"2018-09-01 05:09:16",Alberta,"The most populous of Canada’s three prairie provinces, Alberta is home to nearly four million people, many of whom reside in either Edmonton, the capital, or Calgary, the largest city. Five of the nation’s fourteen UNESCO World Heritage sites can be found in the province and these attractions draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to the great outdoors of Alberta every year.
The Alberta Golf Association was founded in 1912 with five clubs represented on the inaugural committee. The equivalent female governing body followed ten years later when the Alberta Branch of the Canadian Ladies Golf Union was established and it would eventually merge with the AGA in 2000, forming an organisation that now looks after 57,000 golfers in over 220 clubs.
Top tracks in the province include a pair of Robert Trent Jones Snr layouts – Mt. Lorrette and Mt. Kidd – at the spectacular Kananaskis Country Golf Course complex, two exciting Rod Whitman-designed courses at Wolf Creek and Blackhawk and a couple of wonderful old Stanley Thompson tracks that date back to the 1920s at Jasper Park Lodge and Banff Springs.
",202,"2018-09-01 05:23:17",Canada,"Canada’s mix of French and British traditions makes you wonder why the French and English can’t get along a little better, but this cosmopolitan mix makes Canada excitingly diverse just like its landscape.
According to Golf Canada, the national governing body, there are more than 310,000 registered golfers in the country. With so many golf facilities to choose from, Canada has some serious quality and many courses have heaps of drama and excitement too.
With 2,363 golf facilities, 921 of which are 9-hole courses, Canada is the third largest golfing nation in the world. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec, home to around 60% of the nation’s population, contain just under half of all the golf facilities. Mirroring the welcoming nature of most Canadians, almost 90% of all courses in the country are open to the general golfing public.
We first established a Canadian Top 50 in 2006, which doubled in size to a Top 100 by 2010. Since then, the chart has been updated several times and we’ve expanded the provincial standings so that we now list more than 260 courses in total. The smaller golfing provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador and Saskatchewan all now feature at least five courses whilst Ontario, the largest province, glories in its own Top 100.
A recent R&A report entitled “Golf around the World 2015” confirmed that golf development had stagnated somewhat in Canada. At the end of 2014, there were 37 projects in various stages of development, including 20 that were actually under construction. Around 75% of all the new facilities were located in Alberta, British Columbia or Ontario, with most of them tied in to a resort or real estate project. To see the full report, click this R&A link then download the appropriate free publication.
Our Canadian golf course rankings were last updated in March 2017, click the link to read more.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 147,"2018-09-01 05:09:24","British Columbia","The most westerly of Canada’s provinces, British Columbia is a largely mountainous, heavily-forested region that’s ideally suited to outdoor pursuits – if you’re into hunting, shooting or fishing then BC’s the place for you. For the aquatically minded, there are plenty of water sport activities to be found along its rugged coastline whilst the world-famous Whistler resort is an ever-popular destination for a vast number of skiers.
On the golfing front, British Columbia Golf was formed in 2004 by the amalgamation of the British Columbia Ladies Golf Association and its male counterpart, the British Columbia Golf Association. This governing body looks after the interests of more than 60,000 members in almost 300 clubs that are divided into eight geographical zones. Competitive amateur golf has been played in the province since 1894 and nowadays, the BCG organises sixteen annual championships for men and women across a wide range of age groups.
One of Stanley Thompson’s old masterpieces, Capilano, is widely regarded as the best golfing layout in the province, though a trio of A.V. Macan designs at Shaughgnessy, Victoria and Royal Colwood also rest comfortably within the very top national bracket of golf courses. Of more recent vintage, Tom McBroom’s wonderful Tobiano course at Kamloops has attracted many admirers since its unveiling in 2007.
",202,"2018-09-01 05:23:17",Canada,"Canada’s mix of French and British traditions makes you wonder why the French and English can’t get along a little better, but this cosmopolitan mix makes Canada excitingly diverse just like its landscape.
According to Golf Canada, the national governing body, there are more than 310,000 registered golfers in the country. With so many golf facilities to choose from, Canada has some serious quality and many courses have heaps of drama and excitement too.
With 2,363 golf facilities, 921 of which are 9-hole courses, Canada is the third largest golfing nation in the world. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec, home to around 60% of the nation’s population, contain just under half of all the golf facilities. Mirroring the welcoming nature of most Canadians, almost 90% of all courses in the country are open to the general golfing public.
We first established a Canadian Top 50 in 2006, which doubled in size to a Top 100 by 2010. Since then, the chart has been updated several times and we’ve expanded the provincial standings so that we now list more than 260 courses in total. The smaller golfing provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador and Saskatchewan all now feature at least five courses whilst Ontario, the largest province, glories in its own Top 100.
A recent R&A report entitled “Golf around the World 2015” confirmed that golf development had stagnated somewhat in Canada. At the end of 2014, there were 37 projects in various stages of development, including 20 that were actually under construction. Around 75% of all the new facilities were located in Alberta, British Columbia or Ontario, with most of them tied in to a resort or real estate project. To see the full report, click this R&A link then download the appropriate free publication.
Our Canadian golf course rankings were last updated in March 2017, click the link to read more.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 148,"2018-09-01 05:09:33",Manitoba,"Manitoba extends to an area of more than a quarter of a million square miles and it’s home to around one and a quarter million people, many of whom are of British, Irish, German or Ukrainian descent. French then British traders established Winnipeg, the capital and largest city in the province, as a fur trading post in the early 18th century and its diverse modern economy is now one of the nation’s success stories.
Five clubs – St Charles, Pine Ridge, Norwood, Winnipeg Hunt Club and Elmhurst – were represented at the first meeting of the Manitoba Golf Association in 1915, seven years before women in the province established their own governing body, the Manitoba Ladies Golf Association. Both associations continued to serve their members for more than eighty years until they eventually merged in 2004 to form Golf Manitoba.
Manitoba is not exactly overflowing with quality golf courses but the layout at Pine Ridge, one of the province’s oldest clubs, is an old Tom Bendelow-design that was remodeled by Donald Ross when he visited Winnipeg in 1919 and it’s widely regarded as one of the province’s premier 18-hole tracks.
",202,"2018-09-01 05:23:17",Canada,"Canada’s mix of French and British traditions makes you wonder why the French and English can’t get along a little better, but this cosmopolitan mix makes Canada excitingly diverse just like its landscape.
According to Golf Canada, the national governing body, there are more than 310,000 registered golfers in the country. With so many golf facilities to choose from, Canada has some serious quality and many courses have heaps of drama and excitement too.
With 2,363 golf facilities, 921 of which are 9-hole courses, Canada is the third largest golfing nation in the world. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec, home to around 60% of the nation’s population, contain just under half of all the golf facilities. Mirroring the welcoming nature of most Canadians, almost 90% of all courses in the country are open to the general golfing public.
We first established a Canadian Top 50 in 2006, which doubled in size to a Top 100 by 2010. Since then, the chart has been updated several times and we’ve expanded the provincial standings so that we now list more than 260 courses in total. The smaller golfing provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador and Saskatchewan all now feature at least five courses whilst Ontario, the largest province, glories in its own Top 100.
A recent R&A report entitled “Golf around the World 2015” confirmed that golf development had stagnated somewhat in Canada. At the end of 2014, there were 37 projects in various stages of development, including 20 that were actually under construction. Around 75% of all the new facilities were located in Alberta, British Columbia or Ontario, with most of them tied in to a resort or real estate project. To see the full report, click this R&A link then download the appropriate free publication.
Our Canadian golf course rankings were last updated in March 2017, click the link to read more.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 149,"2018-09-01 05:10:43","New Brunswick","New Brunswick lies on Canada’s eastern seaboard though its coastline is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Gulf of St Lawrence and Northumberland Strait. Comprising less than 1% of the nation’s landmass, the province is home to around a million people of mainly French, English, Irish or Scottish descent.
New Brunswick Golf Association was formed in 1934, twenty-one years ahead of the New Brunswick Ladies Golf Association. Both governing bodies amalgamated in 2006 to form one provincial authority for male and female members of the forty-seven golf clubs in New Brunswick.
The 18 holes at the Algonquin Resort in St Andrews are acknowledged as the best golf course in the province. Golf has been played on this site since 1894 but it only really came of age when changes suggested by Donald Ross were implemented in the 1920s. Thomas McBroom redesigned the layout at the end of the 1990s before Rod Whitman was called to revamp the course in 2016, opening up views of the Atlantic on the back nine.
",202,"2018-09-01 05:23:17",Canada,"Canada’s mix of French and British traditions makes you wonder why the French and English can’t get along a little better, but this cosmopolitan mix makes Canada excitingly diverse just like its landscape.
According to Golf Canada, the national governing body, there are more than 310,000 registered golfers in the country. With so many golf facilities to choose from, Canada has some serious quality and many courses have heaps of drama and excitement too.
With 2,363 golf facilities, 921 of which are 9-hole courses, Canada is the third largest golfing nation in the world. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec, home to around 60% of the nation’s population, contain just under half of all the golf facilities. Mirroring the welcoming nature of most Canadians, almost 90% of all courses in the country are open to the general golfing public.
We first established a Canadian Top 50 in 2006, which doubled in size to a Top 100 by 2010. Since then, the chart has been updated several times and we’ve expanded the provincial standings so that we now list more than 260 courses in total. The smaller golfing provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador and Saskatchewan all now feature at least five courses whilst Ontario, the largest province, glories in its own Top 100.
A recent R&A report entitled “Golf around the World 2015” confirmed that golf development had stagnated somewhat in Canada. At the end of 2014, there were 37 projects in various stages of development, including 20 that were actually under construction. Around 75% of all the new facilities were located in Alberta, British Columbia or Ontario, with most of them tied in to a resort or real estate project. To see the full report, click this R&A link then download the appropriate free publication.
Our Canadian golf course rankings were last updated in March 2017, click the link to read more.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 150,"2018-09-01 05:10:47","Newfoundland and Labrador","Newfoundland and Labrador is the most easterly province in Canada, incorporating Labrador on the mainland and the island of Newfoundland, along with several thousand other small islands. Just over half a million people inhabit this territory with many of them claiming English or Irish ancestry.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Golf Association was formed in 1985, twenty-one years after the Newfoundland Golf Association was established. Divided into four districts, there are currently twenty-two member clubs affiliated to the N&LGA, only two of which – Amaruk and Tamarack – are located in Labrador.
The Humber Valley (River) course is rightly regarded as the number one layout in the province. Designed by the prolific Doug Carrick, this course – and its 10th hole in particular – has received nothing but rave reviews since it debuted in 2006.
",202,"2018-09-01 05:23:17",Canada,"Canada’s mix of French and British traditions makes you wonder why the French and English can’t get along a little better, but this cosmopolitan mix makes Canada excitingly diverse just like its landscape.
According to Golf Canada, the national governing body, there are more than 310,000 registered golfers in the country. With so many golf facilities to choose from, Canada has some serious quality and many courses have heaps of drama and excitement too.
With 2,363 golf facilities, 921 of which are 9-hole courses, Canada is the third largest golfing nation in the world. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec, home to around 60% of the nation’s population, contain just under half of all the golf facilities. Mirroring the welcoming nature of most Canadians, almost 90% of all courses in the country are open to the general golfing public.
We first established a Canadian Top 50 in 2006, which doubled in size to a Top 100 by 2010. Since then, the chart has been updated several times and we’ve expanded the provincial standings so that we now list more than 260 courses in total. The smaller golfing provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador and Saskatchewan all now feature at least five courses whilst Ontario, the largest province, glories in its own Top 100.
A recent R&A report entitled “Golf around the World 2015” confirmed that golf development had stagnated somewhat in Canada. At the end of 2014, there were 37 projects in various stages of development, including 20 that were actually under construction. Around 75% of all the new facilities were located in Alberta, British Columbia or Ontario, with most of them tied in to a resort or real estate project. To see the full report, click this R&A link then download the appropriate free publication.
Our Canadian golf course rankings were last updated in March 2017, click the link to read more.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 151,"2018-09-01 05:10:53","Northwest Territories","One of three federal territories in Canada, Northwest Territories only had its current borders defined in 1999 when the adjacent territory of Nunavut was created. Extending to over half a million square miles, the region varies in climate from sub arctic in the south to polar in the north so its population of around 40,0000 people really do live in the roof of the northern hemisphere.
There are half a dozen courses situated in the Northwest Territories, five of which are 9-hole affairs located in Fort Simpson, Fort Smith, Gameti, Hay River and – way, way up north at the most northerly golf course in North America – the small village of Ulukhaktok. The only full sized layout sits close to the airport at Yellowknife, where golfers play off mats on sand fairways that lead to artificially grassed putting surfaces.
Formed in 1948, Yellowknife Golf Club is recognised as having the most northerly 18-hole course in the country and because of its extreme location, it holds the annual Canadian North Midnight Classic event over the weekend closest to 21st of June, the longest day, when golfers play competitively into the wee sma’ hours of the morning.
",202,"2018-09-01 05:23:17",Canada,"Canada’s mix of French and British traditions makes you wonder why the French and English can’t get along a little better, but this cosmopolitan mix makes Canada excitingly diverse just like its landscape.
According to Golf Canada, the national governing body, there are more than 310,000 registered golfers in the country. With so many golf facilities to choose from, Canada has some serious quality and many courses have heaps of drama and excitement too.
With 2,363 golf facilities, 921 of which are 9-hole courses, Canada is the third largest golfing nation in the world. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec, home to around 60% of the nation’s population, contain just under half of all the golf facilities. Mirroring the welcoming nature of most Canadians, almost 90% of all courses in the country are open to the general golfing public.
We first established a Canadian Top 50 in 2006, which doubled in size to a Top 100 by 2010. Since then, the chart has been updated several times and we’ve expanded the provincial standings so that we now list more than 260 courses in total. The smaller golfing provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador and Saskatchewan all now feature at least five courses whilst Ontario, the largest province, glories in its own Top 100.
A recent R&A report entitled “Golf around the World 2015” confirmed that golf development had stagnated somewhat in Canada. At the end of 2014, there were 37 projects in various stages of development, including 20 that were actually under construction. Around 75% of all the new facilities were located in Alberta, British Columbia or Ontario, with most of them tied in to a resort or real estate project. To see the full report, click this R&A link then download the appropriate free publication.
Our Canadian golf course rankings were last updated in March 2017, click the link to read more.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 152,"2018-09-01 05:10:59","Nova Scotia","One of three maritime provinces in Canada, Nova Scotia lies to the east of the country where it’s surrounded by three major bodies of water; the Gulf of St Lawrence to the north, the Bay of Funday to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the south and east. Although named “New Scotland,” the province was actually first colonised by the French in 1605 when they formed one of the first European settlements in North America at Port Royal.
Competitive amateur golf events have been played at provincial level in Nova Scotia since the late 1920s (early 1930s for women) and the modern day Nova Scotia Golf Association organises more than a dozen annual competitions for members who play at sixty-four golf clubs, from Highlands Links in the north east to River Hills in the south west.
Architect Graham Cooke is responsible for a couple of top class contemporary layouts in Nova Scotia; the first of these can be found at Glen Arbour, near Halifax and the second lies within the Fox Harb’r golf resort and spa on the Northumberland coast.
“Best in Province” billing was once reserved for the classic old Highlands Links layout at Ingonish Beach, a Stanley Thompson track which Ian Andrew restored in 2012. However, the new golfing kids on the Nova Scotia block, Cabot Links, (opened in 2012) and Cabot Cliffs (unveiled in 2015) have now pushed the Old Lady into third spot.
Canada’s mix of French and British traditions makes you wonder why the French and English can’t get along a little better, but this cosmopolitan mix makes Canada excitingly diverse just like its landscape.
According to Golf Canada, the national governing body, there are more than 310,000 registered golfers in the country. With so many golf facilities to choose from, Canada has some serious quality and many courses have heaps of drama and excitement too.
With 2,363 golf facilities, 921 of which are 9-hole courses, Canada is the third largest golfing nation in the world. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec, home to around 60% of the nation’s population, contain just under half of all the golf facilities. Mirroring the welcoming nature of most Canadians, almost 90% of all courses in the country are open to the general golfing public.
We first established a Canadian Top 50 in 2006, which doubled in size to a Top 100 by 2010. Since then, the chart has been updated several times and we’ve expanded the provincial standings so that we now list more than 260 courses in total. The smaller golfing provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador and Saskatchewan all now feature at least five courses whilst Ontario, the largest province, glories in its own Top 100.
A recent R&A report entitled “Golf around the World 2015” confirmed that golf development had stagnated somewhat in Canada. At the end of 2014, there were 37 projects in various stages of development, including 20 that were actually under construction. Around 75% of all the new facilities were located in Alberta, British Columbia or Ontario, with most of them tied in to a resort or real estate project. To see the full report, click this R&A link then download the appropriate free publication.
Our Canadian golf course rankings were last updated in March 2017, click the link to read more.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 153,"2018-09-01 05:11:03",Nunavut,"Canada’s federal territory of Nunavut only came into being in 1999 when it was annexed from the Northwest Territories and its sparse population of mainly Inuit people is spread out over a vast area extending to more than 750,000 square miles of mainly snow, ice and inhospitable tundra.
The territorial capital of Iqaluit – which up until 1987 was known as Frobisher Bay – was founded as a US airbase during World War II and this small town sits on the south coast of Baffin Island. In Spring time, during the town’s annual Toonik Tyme festival, a rough and ready golf course is laid out on the frozen waters of Toonik Lake, with golfers invited to participate in a fun competition using coloured tennis balls as golf balls.
",202,"2018-09-01 05:23:17",Canada,"Canada’s mix of French and British traditions makes you wonder why the French and English can’t get along a little better, but this cosmopolitan mix makes Canada excitingly diverse just like its landscape.
According to Golf Canada, the national governing body, there are more than 310,000 registered golfers in the country. With so many golf facilities to choose from, Canada has some serious quality and many courses have heaps of drama and excitement too.
With 2,363 golf facilities, 921 of which are 9-hole courses, Canada is the third largest golfing nation in the world. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec, home to around 60% of the nation’s population, contain just under half of all the golf facilities. Mirroring the welcoming nature of most Canadians, almost 90% of all courses in the country are open to the general golfing public.
We first established a Canadian Top 50 in 2006, which doubled in size to a Top 100 by 2010. Since then, the chart has been updated several times and we’ve expanded the provincial standings so that we now list more than 260 courses in total. The smaller golfing provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador and Saskatchewan all now feature at least five courses whilst Ontario, the largest province, glories in its own Top 100.
A recent R&A report entitled “Golf around the World 2015” confirmed that golf development had stagnated somewhat in Canada. At the end of 2014, there were 37 projects in various stages of development, including 20 that were actually under construction. Around 75% of all the new facilities were located in Alberta, British Columbia or Ontario, with most of them tied in to a resort or real estate project. To see the full report, click this R&A link then download the appropriate free publication.
Our Canadian golf course rankings were last updated in March 2017, click the link to read more.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 154,"2018-09-01 05:11:09",Ontario,"Ontario, although not the largest province or territory in Canada, is the nation’s most populous, with four and a half million people living in Toronto, its largest city. The rocky Canadian Shield is a heavily forested area covering large swathes of land to the north of the province so most of the cities and general infrastructure are concentrated within the 53,000 square miles that comprise the Southern Ontario region.
The Golf Association of Ontario was founded in 2001, following the merger of the Ontario Golf Association and Ontario Ladies Golf Association and this new governing body organises over 100 competitions annually for male and female golfers in all age groups. With 115,000 golfers affiliated to more than 420 clubs, the GAO divides its membership into 14 more manageable districts.
There’s a wide choice of superior golf courses to be found in Ontario. If it’s classic old layouts that appeal most to you then check out a pair of Stanley Thompson-designed courses from the late 1920s at St George’s and Westmount or take a look at the old Harry Colt tracks at Hamilton (1916) and Toronto (1911). On the other hand, if modern courses are what you prefer, then the Tom McBroom course at Rocky Crest or the 18 holes designed by Doug Carrick at Muskoka Bay might just be to your taste.
",202,"2018-09-01 05:23:17",Canada,"Canada’s mix of French and British traditions makes you wonder why the French and English can’t get along a little better, but this cosmopolitan mix makes Canada excitingly diverse just like its landscape.
According to Golf Canada, the national governing body, there are more than 310,000 registered golfers in the country. With so many golf facilities to choose from, Canada has some serious quality and many courses have heaps of drama and excitement too.
With 2,363 golf facilities, 921 of which are 9-hole courses, Canada is the third largest golfing nation in the world. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec, home to around 60% of the nation’s population, contain just under half of all the golf facilities. Mirroring the welcoming nature of most Canadians, almost 90% of all courses in the country are open to the general golfing public.
We first established a Canadian Top 50 in 2006, which doubled in size to a Top 100 by 2010. Since then, the chart has been updated several times and we’ve expanded the provincial standings so that we now list more than 260 courses in total. The smaller golfing provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador and Saskatchewan all now feature at least five courses whilst Ontario, the largest province, glories in its own Top 100.
A recent R&A report entitled “Golf around the World 2015” confirmed that golf development had stagnated somewhat in Canada. At the end of 2014, there were 37 projects in various stages of development, including 20 that were actually under construction. Around 75% of all the new facilities were located in Alberta, British Columbia or Ontario, with most of them tied in to a resort or real estate project. To see the full report, click this R&A link then download the appropriate free publication.
Our Canadian golf course rankings were last updated in March 2017, click the link to read more.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 155,"2018-09-01 05:11:15","Prince Edward Island","Situated in the Gulf of St Lawrence, the maritime province of Prince Edward Island is the smallest in the country in physical size and by population, with approximately 140,000 people occupying a territory of just under 2,200 square miles. PEI hosted the Charlottesown Conference – the first meeting that led to the creation of the Canadian nation – in 1864, becoming the seventh province to join the Confederation nine years later.
The Prince Edward Island Golf Association was formed in 1971 and it’s the governing body for 28 clubs, ranging from Mill River in the west to Rollo Bay Greens in the east of the island. The PEIGA organises dozens of competitions around many of its member clubs during the golfing season.
Prolific Canadian architect Tom McBroom designed the Links at Crowbush Cove course in 1993 and it regularly features near the top of the national golf course listings. Dundarave was unveiled a little later – in 1999 to be precise – and this Michael Hurdzan/Dana Fry creation also makes a regular appearance in the Canadian Top 100 rankings.
",202,"2018-09-01 05:23:17",Canada,"Canada’s mix of French and British traditions makes you wonder why the French and English can’t get along a little better, but this cosmopolitan mix makes Canada excitingly diverse just like its landscape.
According to Golf Canada, the national governing body, there are more than 310,000 registered golfers in the country. With so many golf facilities to choose from, Canada has some serious quality and many courses have heaps of drama and excitement too.
With 2,363 golf facilities, 921 of which are 9-hole courses, Canada is the third largest golfing nation in the world. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec, home to around 60% of the nation’s population, contain just under half of all the golf facilities. Mirroring the welcoming nature of most Canadians, almost 90% of all courses in the country are open to the general golfing public.
We first established a Canadian Top 50 in 2006, which doubled in size to a Top 100 by 2010. Since then, the chart has been updated several times and we’ve expanded the provincial standings so that we now list more than 260 courses in total. The smaller golfing provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador and Saskatchewan all now feature at least five courses whilst Ontario, the largest province, glories in its own Top 100.
A recent R&A report entitled “Golf around the World 2015” confirmed that golf development had stagnated somewhat in Canada. At the end of 2014, there were 37 projects in various stages of development, including 20 that were actually under construction. Around 75% of all the new facilities were located in Alberta, British Columbia or Ontario, with most of them tied in to a resort or real estate project. To see the full report, click this R&A link then download the appropriate free publication.
Our Canadian golf course rankings were last updated in March 2017, click the link to read more.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 156,"2018-09-01 05:11:25",Quebec,"Québec is the only predominantly French-speaking province in Canada with less than 10% of the population using English as the language of choice. The strength of nationalistic feeling in Québec is such that several independence referendums have been held in recent years, with the last one in 1995 defeated only by a very slim margin. And so, for the time being at least, Québecers remain within the mainstream Canadian political structure but for how much longer?
Golf Québec was established in 2005 when the men of the Québec Golf Association joined forces with the women from the Québec Branch of the Canadian Ladies Golf Association to form a provincial governing body that now looks after the golfing interests of around 62,000 members in almost 300 clubs, ranging from Matane GC in the north east to Brockville CC in the south west.
Québec is home to the oldest golf club in North America - Royal Montreal - and this venerable old club was also first to receive the “Royal” prefix (in 1884), first to allow women members (in 1891) and first to host the Canadian Open (in 1904). The club moved to Ile Bizard in the late 1950s where Dick Wilson constructed the Blue and Red 18-hole courses for the membership.
",202,"2018-09-01 05:23:17",Canada,"Canada’s mix of French and British traditions makes you wonder why the French and English can’t get along a little better, but this cosmopolitan mix makes Canada excitingly diverse just like its landscape.
According to Golf Canada, the national governing body, there are more than 310,000 registered golfers in the country. With so many golf facilities to choose from, Canada has some serious quality and many courses have heaps of drama and excitement too.
With 2,363 golf facilities, 921 of which are 9-hole courses, Canada is the third largest golfing nation in the world. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec, home to around 60% of the nation’s population, contain just under half of all the golf facilities. Mirroring the welcoming nature of most Canadians, almost 90% of all courses in the country are open to the general golfing public.
We first established a Canadian Top 50 in 2006, which doubled in size to a Top 100 by 2010. Since then, the chart has been updated several times and we’ve expanded the provincial standings so that we now list more than 260 courses in total. The smaller golfing provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador and Saskatchewan all now feature at least five courses whilst Ontario, the largest province, glories in its own Top 100.
A recent R&A report entitled “Golf around the World 2015” confirmed that golf development had stagnated somewhat in Canada. At the end of 2014, there were 37 projects in various stages of development, including 20 that were actually under construction. Around 75% of all the new facilities were located in Alberta, British Columbia or Ontario, with most of them tied in to a resort or real estate project. To see the full report, click this R&A link then download the appropriate free publication.
Our Canadian golf course rankings were last updated in March 2017, click the link to read more.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 157,"2018-09-01 05:11:35",Saskatchewan,"Bordered by Alberta, Northern Territories and Manitoba on the Canadian side of the International Boundary, Saskatchewan is bounded to the south by the states of Montana and North Dakota. Most of its one million residents live in the southern third of the province, many of them in the largest city, Saskatoon (founded in 1892) or the capital, Regina (named after Queen Victoria in 1882).
The Saskatchewan Golf Association was founded in 1913 to govern the game in the province and the Saskatchewan Branch of the Canadian Ladies Golf Union followed it thirteen years later. Both authorities amalgamated in 1999, forming an organisation that was rebranded as Golf Saskatchewan in 2011. There are now over 100 clubs affiliated to the provincial governing body and, interestingly, a couple of them – Robertdale and Bengough Regional Park – play on 9-hole courses that still operate with sand greens.
A couple of courses stand head and shoulders above the others in Saskatchewan and they’re both located on the south side of Saskatoon: Dakota Dunes is a new millennium offering from the design duo of Graham Cooke and Wayne Carlton whilst Riverside is a century old Bill Kinnear-designed layout.
",202,"2018-09-01 05:23:17",Canada,"Canada’s mix of French and British traditions makes you wonder why the French and English can’t get along a little better, but this cosmopolitan mix makes Canada excitingly diverse just like its landscape.
According to Golf Canada, the national governing body, there are more than 310,000 registered golfers in the country. With so many golf facilities to choose from, Canada has some serious quality and many courses have heaps of drama and excitement too.
With 2,363 golf facilities, 921 of which are 9-hole courses, Canada is the third largest golfing nation in the world. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec, home to around 60% of the nation’s population, contain just under half of all the golf facilities. Mirroring the welcoming nature of most Canadians, almost 90% of all courses in the country are open to the general golfing public.
We first established a Canadian Top 50 in 2006, which doubled in size to a Top 100 by 2010. Since then, the chart has been updated several times and we’ve expanded the provincial standings so that we now list more than 260 courses in total. The smaller golfing provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador and Saskatchewan all now feature at least five courses whilst Ontario, the largest province, glories in its own Top 100.
A recent R&A report entitled “Golf around the World 2015” confirmed that golf development had stagnated somewhat in Canada. At the end of 2014, there were 37 projects in various stages of development, including 20 that were actually under construction. Around 75% of all the new facilities were located in Alberta, British Columbia or Ontario, with most of them tied in to a resort or real estate project. To see the full report, click this R&A link then download the appropriate free publication.
Our Canadian golf course rankings were last updated in March 2017, click the link to read more.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 158,"2018-09-01 05:11:39",Yukon,"Yukon is the most westerly of Canada’s three federal territories and it shares a border extending to over 750 miles with the US state of Alaska. As much of it lies within or close to the Arctic Circle, Yukon endures long cold winters and its population of just over 30,000 hardy souls enjoy only a short summer season.
Golf is just one of a wide range of outdoor activities available to residents and visitors in the “Larger than Life” territory, vying for popularity with those who like to hunt, fish or ski. And for mountaineers who get their kicks from scaling the tallest of peaks, they have the formidable challenge of Mount Logan, the tallest mountain in the country at just under 20,000 feet high.
There are only a handful of golf courses to be found in Yukon, two 9-holers at Watson Lake and Faro and three layouts in Whitehorse: Annie Lake (built by the US Army during World War II), 9-hole Meadow Lakes and the 18-hole Mountain View Golf Club, which opened for play in 1987.
",202,"2018-09-01 05:23:17",Canada,"Canada’s mix of French and British traditions makes you wonder why the French and English can’t get along a little better, but this cosmopolitan mix makes Canada excitingly diverse just like its landscape.
According to Golf Canada, the national governing body, there are more than 310,000 registered golfers in the country. With so many golf facilities to choose from, Canada has some serious quality and many courses have heaps of drama and excitement too.
With 2,363 golf facilities, 921 of which are 9-hole courses, Canada is the third largest golfing nation in the world. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec, home to around 60% of the nation’s population, contain just under half of all the golf facilities. Mirroring the welcoming nature of most Canadians, almost 90% of all courses in the country are open to the general golfing public.
We first established a Canadian Top 50 in 2006, which doubled in size to a Top 100 by 2010. Since then, the chart has been updated several times and we’ve expanded the provincial standings so that we now list more than 260 courses in total. The smaller golfing provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador and Saskatchewan all now feature at least five courses whilst Ontario, the largest province, glories in its own Top 100.
A recent R&A report entitled “Golf around the World 2015” confirmed that golf development had stagnated somewhat in Canada. At the end of 2014, there were 37 projects in various stages of development, including 20 that were actually under construction. Around 75% of all the new facilities were located in Alberta, British Columbia or Ontario, with most of them tied in to a resort or real estate project. To see the full report, click this R&A link then download the appropriate free publication.
Our Canadian golf course rankings were last updated in March 2017, click the link to read more.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 159,"2018-09-01 05:11:51",Alabama,"Alabama, “The Heart of Dixie”, reflects the pivotal role Alabama played in defining the history of the South. Montgomery was where the Constitution of the Confederacy was drawn up and it’s the capital of Alabama, but Birmingham – 75 miles further north – is Alabama’s largest city and this was where golf began in the Cotton State.
The golfing elder statesman of Alabama is the Country Club of Birmingham, which was formed in 1898. Donald Ross laid out both courses at the Country Club and the East dates back to 1903, but it’s the West course, overhauled by RTJ, that receives the accolades. Robert Trent Jones designed around 500 US golf courses and the architect has left a trail in Alabama. In fact, Alabama's Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is the largest golf course construction project ever attempted. It’s a collection of 468 golf holes on 11 different sites across the state and according to the New York Times, the Trail represents “some of the best public golf on earth.”
Our Alabama Best In State Rankings were last updated in May 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 160,"2018-09-01 05:15:50",Alaska,"The Last Frontier State of Alaska is the largest in the United States by land area and it’s also the least densely populated in the nation. Unlike most American states which are divided into counties, Alaska is made up of boroughs with most of its hardy half million inhabitants living in and around Anchorage, the largest city. It’s a land of glacier ice, permafrost and snow covered peaks where temperatures away from the west coast remain well below zero for large parts of the year.
The Alaska Golf Association was established in 1950 and it currently oversees the golfing activities of members in fourteen affiliated clubs; from Sea Mountain on Baranof Island in the south to North Star in Fairbanks, the most northerly course in America. Some Alaskan layouts, like Fairbanks Golf & Country Club, are open 24 hours a day during June and July, which is a great relief for insomniac golfers.
The top two 18-hole layouts in Alaska are all situated in Anchorage: Bill Newcomb designed the Anchorage Golf Course and its rolling, tree-lined fairways were first unveiled in 1987. Robin Nelson added the 18-hole Creek layout to the existing 18-hole Hill course at Moose Run in 2000. Unfortunately the once highly rated Eagleglen course, a 1971 Robert Trent Jones Jnr design that lies next to the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson military base, closed in 2014,
Our Alaska Best In State Rankings were last updated in April 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 161,"2018-09-01 05:15:58",Arizona,"Arizona, the Grand Canyon or Copper State, is synonymous with desert landscapes and its mild winter climate is golfing heaven. There are few Golden Age designs here in Arizona, largely due to the fact that tough hybrid grasses had not yet appeared on the scene. However, some courses did appear in the early part of the 20th century and the oldest course in the southwest (1919) is still in play at the Phoenix Country Club.
The first golf course build of serious note in the Grand Canyon State is Desert Forest Golf Club, located at altitude in Carefree. It was designed in 1962 by Robert “Red” Lawrence, an associate of Walter Travis, on an incredibly tight budget. Red Lawrence went on to fashion numerous other courses in the American Southwest, becoming known as “The Desert Fox” of golf course architecture.
Since the early 1960s, more than 300 golf courses have been laid out and the cities of Scottsdale and Phoenix are Arizona’s equivalents of Scotland’s St Andrews. Many courses are fashioned in a target golf style with narrow, ribbon-like fairways. Some golf courses are also eponymously named after the region’s various cacti, which flank many emerald fairways in this hot and arid US state.
Our Arizona Best In State Rankings were last updated in April 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 162,"2018-09-01 05:17:14",Arkansas,"The Natural State of Arkansas is situated in the Southern Region of the US, extending to over 53,000 square miles. The Ozark and Quachita Mountains lie within its boundaries and these impressive landforms contrast dramatically with the flat landscape of the Arkansas Delta where cotton is still grown as the major cash crop. Founded in 1722, Little Rock is both the capital and largest city in the state and it was from the steps of the Old State House that Bill Clinton made his election night acceptance speech when he became President in 1992.
The Arkansas State Golf Association, established in 1915 by seven country clubs, now represents around 14,000 male golfers in 125 member clubs, divided into five regions. Lady golfers have their own governing body, the Arkansas Women’s Golf Association, which was founded in 1924. On the professional front, the Arkansas PGA Chapter promotes the game and contributes to its growth in the South Central Section which covers Arkansas, Oklahoma and southern Kansas.
A couple of tracks that were unveiled in 2004 steal the golfing headlines in Arkansas; Tom Fazio’s Alotian in Roland and the Robert Trent Jones Jnr-designed Blessings in Johnson are testing but supremely engaging modern layouts that fully deserve their high rankings within the state. The private Diamante is the star of the show at the massive Hot Springs Village golf complex but don’t overlook the other six 18-hole courses plus a 27-hole layout that’s available for daily fee play at this fantastic golfing mecca.
Our Arkansas Best In State Rankings were last updated in May 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 163,"2018-09-01 05:18:23",California,"The Golden State of California covers a vast area on the west coast of the USA, ranging from the Pacific Coast in the west to the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the east. The forested state of Oregon bounds the state to the north and the border with Mexico forms a line of demarcation to the south.
Golf plays a significant part in the sporting life of Californians and the game has been played here for over a century. To be exact, the oldest club in the state was established at Mare Island Golf Club in 1892 and architect Robin Nelson has recently remodelled this historic course.
Many of the most enduring courses in the Golden State were constructed during a 15-year period between 1915 and 1929 when prolific Golden Age architects like Alister MacKenzie (Cypress Point and Pasatiempo) and George Thomas (Riviera and Los Angeles) were at the height of their architectural powers.
Four Californian clubs have hosted the US Open down the years. Riviera (1948) and Torrey Pines (2008) have both held the event once, while Pebble Beach was the venue in 1972, 1982, 1992, 2000 and 2010. When the Open returned to Olympic Club in 2012, it matched Pebble Beach’s haul of hosting five Opens.
Our California Best In State Rankings were last updated in April 2018. Click the link to read the story.
",204,"2018-09-01 05:23:47",USA,"The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 164,"2018-09-01 05:18:33",Colorado,"The Centennial State of Colorado is one of only three American states with no natural borders. It’s a geographically diverse territory that encompasses the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado Eastern Plains and the desert areas surrounding the Uncompahgre Plateau, all of which are contained within a landmass extending to more than 100,000 square miles.
Amateur golf has been administered in the state since 1915 when the Colorado Golf Association was established. This body has been organising competitive play for almost 100 years – Hale Irwin won the state matchplay title in 1966 whilst a student in Boulder – and it looks after the interests of more than 45,000 male golfers in over 200 golf clubs. Colorado’s equivalent female golfing body was founded a year after its male counterpart and it has the modern day responsibility of governing around 19,000 lady members.
Tucked away in the north east corner of the state, close to the border with Nebraska and Kansas, Tom Doak’s widely-acclaimed Ballyneal course burst onto the world golfing stage in 2007 and his fabulous links-like layout has further enhanced his reputation as one of the best architects in the business. Other layouts of national note in the state include the old William Flynn layout at Cherry Hills and the recent Coore & Crenshaw creation at Colorado Golf Club.
Our Colorado Best In State Rankings were last updated in April 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 165,"2018-09-01 05:18:49",Connecticut,"The New England state of Connecticut is often referred to as the Constitution or Nutmeg State and originally took its name from the Connecticut River which cuts through the state. The Dutch were the first Europeans to settle in the present day state capital, Hartford, but it was the English that colonised Connecticut in the early 17th century.
Unlike the neighbouring states of New York and Massachusetts, Connecticut does not possess the same high quality golfing strength and depth, but the Nutmeg State does have its standard bearer in the shape of the world’s premier collegiate golf course. The golf course at Yale University has experienced ups and downs since it debuted in the 1920s. Routed across dramatic terrain by Charles Blair Macdonald and Seth Raynor, Yale is the jewel of Connecticut that was once neglected but now cherished.
According to the author and sportswriter, Dan Jenkins, The Country Club of Fairfield is Seth Raynor’s finest creation, stating, “it's short but covered up with charm.” The Stanwich Club at Greenwich competes a trio of top-drawer golf courses for the Constitution State. Apparently, the name chosen for the club had been part of the local lexicon for nearly 250 years.
Our Connecticut Best In State Rankings were last updated in August 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 166,"2018-09-01 05:18:57",Delaware,"The second smallest of the fifty US states, Delaware is known as “The First State” (and several other monikers) because it was the first of the thirteen original states to agree to the US Constitution way back in 1787.
Despite its northern location and diminutive size, Delaware has some capital golf courses, most of which centre around its largest city, Wilmington, where the roots of DuPont Country Club can be traced back to the late 19th century (although the club was not officially founded until 1920). The Delaware State Golf Association currently consists of 52 member clubs, but only 33 are located within the First State.
Two layouts from two of the most notable golf course architects of the modern era (Robert Trent Jones and Dick Wilson) are on offer at Wilmington Country Club, The longer South course is universally considered the premier layout here, but the North is by no means a relief course. Dick Wilson also designed the Bidermann golf course which vies for the top sport in The First State.
Our Delaware Best In State Rankings were last updated in June 2018. Click the link to read the story.
",204,"2018-09-01 05:23:47",USA,"The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 167,"2018-09-01 05:19:05",Florida,"Florida “The Sunshine State” needs little introduction. The famous peninsula panhandle is where many Americans escape for the winter and it’s also the State that is most commonly visited by foreign golfers in search of tropical conditions and lush fairways.
There are more than 1,250 Floridian golf courses, more than any other State, and many are open to the green fee paying public, however if you want to play the very best golf courses in Florida it will require effort and skilful networking.
The best course in Florida is Seminole and it’s likely to remain the top golf course in Florida for the foreseeable future. You’ll need to befriend a Seminole member to play there, but for most golfers, catching a glimpse of the notorious and infamous 17th island green on the Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass will set the pulse racing and the memory will remain permanently etched no matter how many balls plop into the water.
In June 2013, after a research period that extended to almost five years, we became the first publication to list Florida’s Top 100 Golf Courses. It was a significant effort with more than 200 Floridian courses on our shortlist. We can’t claim our inaugural Florida Top 100 was perfect (nor can we claim our current list is faultless), so if you have played many of Florida’s greatest golf courses and would like to help us shape and improve our rankings in the future, please contact us. Our editors will be thrilled to hear from you and we guarantee we'll respond.
Our Florida Best In State Rankings were last updated in June 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 168,"2018-09-01 05:19:18",Georgia,"Named after King George II of Britain, Georgia is the largest state to the east of the Mississippi in terms of land area. Known as the Peach State due to the high quality fruit grown in the region, the state officially adopted the juicy peach in 1995. Georgia is also an industrial and economic powerhouse earning the moniker: Empire State of the South.
Mention Georgia and virtually every golfer in the world will think of Augusta National. Home of the Masters, Augusta is undoubtedly the official golf course of Georgia, even though getting a game there is harder than cracking a peach stone between clenched buttocks.
Now administering around 350 golf clubs, the Georgia State Golf Association was originally formed in 1916 with the primary purpose of holding a state amateur championship, the first of which was poignantly won by a 14-year-old Bobby Jones, who went on to become the only player in history to win The Grand Slam: The Open, US Open, The Amateur and US Amateur. Bobby Jones is quite rightly a golfing legend and his achievements will likely never be repeated but should never be forgotten.
Our Georgia Best In State Rankings were last updated in June 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 169,"2018-09-01 05:19:30",Hawaii,"The Aloha State of Hawaii comprises of hundreds of volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean situated around 2,000 miles to the southwest of the North American continent. The 50th state to be admitted to the Union in 1959, Hawaii has since capitalised on its diverse natural scenery and tropical climate by promoting itself as a popular tourist destination for visitors.
Two authorities, one for men and one for women, administer amateur golf in Hawaii. The Hawaii State Golf Association was formed in 1984 and it caters for male golfers in approximately 275 clubs who play out of around 100 courses. Ladies come under the stewardship of the Hawaii State Women’s Golf Association, founded in 2005.
Hawaii is also a starting point for the PGA Tour in January of every year when an exclusive field of tournament winners from the previous season tee it up at the Kapalua (Plantation) course. That event is followed a week later when a regular sized field competes for the Sony Open in Hawaii trophy at Waialae Country Club.
A Hawaiian course that only a select number of amateur or professional golfers ever manage to play is the very private David McLay Kidd layout at Nanea. Opened in 2003, it’s a world class design that would feature far higher in the world and national rankings if more raters were able to get a game there.
Our Hawaii Best In State Rankings were last updated in April 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 170,"2018-09-01 05:19:42",Idaho,"The Gem State of Idaho is located in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States, sharing boundaries with six other American states and, to the north, the Canadian province of British Columbia. It’s an area of outstanding beauty where forested mountains, canyons and river gorges contribute to a rugged landscape that’s ideally suited to outside sporting activity.
The Idaho Golf Association is the state governing body for around 18,000 amateur golfers attached to 90 clubs that are divided into three districts. The IGA organises a wide range of competitions throughout the golf season and a look at its records show that the first men’s championship was held in 1929 with the first women’s event taking place five years later.
Visiting golfers will find that there are a plenty of very good—and easily accessible—courses in Idaho, including Tamarack’s Osprey Meadows, the Coeur d’Alene course and Trail Creek at the Sun Valley Resort. The very best tracks in the state are, however, acknowledged to be the private trio of Gozzer Ranch (a 2007 Tom Fazio design), Jim Engh’s Black Rock (which debuted in 2003) and David McLay Kidd’s rustic Huntsman Springs layout.
Our Idaho Best In State Rankings were last updated in April 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 171,"2018-09-01 05:20:20",Illinois,"The Prairie State of Illinois lies in the Great Lakes Region of the United States and Chicago, its largest city with almost three million inhabitants, is the third largest by population in the country. Golfers of a slightly older vintage might remember with a degree of fondness the old Untouchables TV series when Special Agent Eliot Ness battled almost single-handedly against Chicago’s crime gangs during the 1930s.
Organised golf at an amateur level in Illinois is taken care of by The Chicago District Golf Association, which was formed in 1914. It administers almost 400 clubs in the state though there are two other smaller organisations – Southern Illinois Golf Association and Northern Illinois Mens Amateur Golf Association – that look after golfers in outlying areas.
Illinois’s two world class golf courses, the CB Macdonald-designed Chicago and Seth Raynor’s Shoreacres, both lie close to the Windy City as do the nationally acclaimed layouts of Medinah (No.3) and Olympia Fields (North). All of these 18-hole layouts are private, but you can play Cog Hill (No.4), one of the nation’s best public facilities.
Our Illinois Best In State Rankings were last updated in July 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 172,"2018-09-01 05:21:27",Indiana,"Occupying an area of around 36,000 square miles, the Hoosier State of Indiana lies in the Midwest region of the United States with Indianapolis designated as both its capital and largest city.
The Indiana Golf Association was founded in 1900, followed twenty one years later by the Indiana Women’s Golf Association, and both governing bodies look after the interests of male and female golfers in 285 clubs, from Knollwood Country Club in the north to The Rustic in the south of the state. Rather unusually, the Indiana Section PGA joined forces with the Indiana Golf Association in 1972 to become IGA-PGA, one of the few joint amateur and professional golf organisations in the United States.
Victoria National and Crooked Stick are nationally ranked top tracks within the state of Indiana. The former was laid out within an abandoned coal mine by Tom Fazio in 1998 whilst the latter, a Pete Dye design from 1967, has hosted a number of major competitions including the 1991 USPGA Championship, the 1993 US Women’s Open, the 2005 Solheim Cup and the 2009 US Senior Open. The old Donald Ross and new Pete Dye courses at the French Lick Resort are also worthy of mention. Opened ninety years apart, they offer engaging games of golf at a fabulous 45-hole facility.
Our Indiana Best In State Rankings were last updated in July 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 173,"2018-09-01 05:21:41",Iowa,"The Hawkeye State of Iowa sits in the Midwest Region of the United States and Des Moines is both its capital and largest city. The Mississippi River delineates Iowa’s eastern border with Nebraska and the Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers forms the boundary with Wisconsin and Illinois on its western flank. Back in 1846, Iowa was the 29th state to be admitted to the Union and since then – barring the odd Civil War, Depression and World War – it has never looked back.
The Iowa Golf Association has been serving male golfers in the state since 1900 and it currently provides governance to registered members in 170 clubs. The ladies equivalent, the Iowa Women’s Golf Association, was formed in 1927 though, interestingly, female golfers had been playing tournaments in conjunction with the men’s state events since 1902.
Two Golden Age layouts deserve special mention and they are William Langford’s Wakonda Club in Des Moines and C.H. Alison’s Davenport Country Club in Pleasant Valley. Completed in 1922 and 1924 respectively, they’ve not been immune to alteration down the years but they’re still well worth trying to befriend a member in order to get a game. Of a more recent vintage, Pete Dye’s North and South layouts at Des Moines Country Club and the Tom Fazio-designed course at Glen Oaks Country Club are excellent modern courses whilst Keith Foster’s new millennium creation at Harvester is widely recognised as the best in state – what’s more, it’s a public access track that allows daily fee play.
Our Iowa Best In State Rankings were last updated in July 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 174,"2018-09-01 05:21:47",Kansas,"Kansas is situated in the Midwest Region of the United States – bounded by Nebraska to the north, Missouri to the east, Oklahoma to the south and Colorado to the west – and it’s reckoned that Lebanon in Smith County is the geographical centre of the 48 contiguous American states. Kansas isn’t called the Wheat State for nothing, as it’s one of the most productive agricultural regions in the country.
According to the USGA, there are eight golf associations in the state of Kansas affiliated to the national body. The most important of these is the Kansas Golf Association, established in 1908, and it governs over 11,000 golfers in 131 clubs, conducting 17 annual state championships for these members.
The course at Prairie Dunes Country Club forms the only world-class golfing layout in the state. Established as a 9-holer by Perry Maxwell in 1937 then extended by his son Press to a full 18-hole layout twenty years later, it’s laid out among links-like sand hills near Hutchison, in the middle of the state.
Our Kansas Best In State Rankings were last updated in July 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 175,"2018-09-01 05:21:56",Kentucky,"Officially titled the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the Bluegrass State is located in the east central area of the United States. Bordered by seven other states, Kentucky’s famous for livestock breeding, horseracing, bourbon distilleries and tobacco production – hell, it’s the state that all good gamblin’, drinkin’ and smokin’ golfers should be heading for, pronto!
The Kentucky Golf Association was formed in 1911 and it looks after the interests of amateur golfers in over 200 member clubs. The association works closely with the Kentucky Section of the PGA which, since 1925, has overseen the activities of hundreds of professionals and apprentices across the Commonwealth.
A pair of Arthur Hills courses – Olde Stone in Alvaton and Champion Trace in Nicholasville – figure prominently in Kentucky state rankings, as do a couple of recently renovated 1920s layouts: Big Spring (reworked by Rees Jones) and Idle Hour (upgraded by Ron Pritchard). Most well known, however, is Jack Nicklaus’s 1986 design at Valhalla, host to the USPGA Championship in 1996 and 2000 as well as the venue for the 37th Ryder Cup series of matches in 2008, when the USA beat Europe 16½ to 11½.
Our Kentucky Best In State Rankings were last updated in May 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 176,"2018-09-01 05:22:10",Louisiana,"The Pelican State of Louisiana sits in the Southern Region of the United States and, uniquely, it subdivides itself into parishes, instead of counties. With a strong French and Spanish heritage, plus an infusion of Creole and Cajun culture, Louisiana, especially New Orleans, its largest city, is a very happening place in terms of music and the performing arts in general.
Six Louisiana golf associations are affiliated to the USGA, the largest of which is the Louisiana Golf Association, formed in 1920, and currently the governing body for men in around 100 clubs throughout the state. The Louisiana Women’s Golf Association (founded five years after its male counterpart in 1925) caters for lady golfers and they compete in a number of annual competitions under the auspices of the LWGA.
Two courses that were unveiled in the late 1980s close to the state capital of Baton Rouge are regarded amongst the best in state. The first of these is the private Nicklaus layout at the Country Club of Louisiana and the second is Arnold Palmer’s public track at The Bluffs Golf Resort. Usurping both courses at the top of the state rankings is the Squire Creek Country Club layout in Choudrant, a new millennium offering from Tom Fazio.
Our Louisiana Best In State Rankings were last updated in May 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 177,"2018-09-01 05:22:16",Maine,"The Pine Tree State of Maine lies in the northeast corner of United States and, as the vast majority of its landscape is heavily forested, it’s one of the least densely populated states in the country. Tourism and outdoor pursuits play a large part in Maine’s economy and it promotes itself as a major destination for those who want to get away from it all – hunting, fishing, skiing and camping are all popular activities along the rugged Atlantic coastline or within the state’s wooded interior.
On the golfing front, eight clubs founded the Maine State Golf Association back in 1917 and it’s grown down the years to a position where it now oversees the golfing activities of amateur golfers in 130 clubs throughout the state. There are also a couple of women’s associations that provide a corresponding service for female golfers in Maine.
Founded in 1895, Portland Country Club is one of the oldest clubs in the country and its seaside course is an attractive, if rather short, Donald Ross layout that dates back to 1923. A couple of spectacular Robert Trent Jones Jnr courses – Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley and Sunday River in Newry – are recognised as two of the best public access courses in New England. Don’t expect an easy game at either location though because both resort courses are demanding layouts.
Our Maine Best In State Rankings were last updated in August 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 178,"2018-09-01 05:22:22",Maryland,"Maryland, the Free State, is considered by some to be a microcosm of America and earns its nickname of “America in Miniature” due to its climatic extremes and its topographical variety.
One of the smallest states in the Union, Maryland has a long golfing history, which some reckon dates back to the mid-18th century, but the Maryland State Golf Association was definitely formed in 1921 and now looks after the interests of around 160 golf clubs across the length and breadth of the Free State.
For the golfing aficionado, Maryland offers a little bit of everything, from the classic Baltimore Country Club, which was founded in 1898 and hosted the US Open one year later, to the perennially top rated Blue course at the Congressional Country Club, to modern layouts from Pete Dye at Bulle Rock and Tom Fazio at Caves Valley.
Our Maryland Best In State Rankings were last updated in June 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 179,"2018-09-01 05:22:26",Massachusetts,"Immortalised by the Bee Gees song, Massachusetts, the Bay State, or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to be precise, is the most populous state of New England with Boston, the state capital, at its heart. Golf was adopted early on in historical proceedings, thanks in no small part to the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth on the Mayflower.
The Country Club at Brookline was formed in 1860 and was America’s inaugural Country Club, but members had to wait until 1893 before a rudimentary 6-hole golf course was ready for play. However, Myopia Hunt Club was the golf course that really got things going in Massachusetts, playing host to four early US Open Championships, most recently in 1908.
Since those early beginnings, Bay Staters have taken the Royal & Ancient game to heart and there are now more than 400 golf courses in Massachusetts, seven of which feature regularly in our US Top 100 rankings. Boston and the surrounding area is where you’ll find many classics from the Golden Age, but do not dismiss the new as there are numerous top-drawer modern golf courses in the state, with Old Sandwich as the perennial headliner.
Our Massachusetts Best In State Rankings were last updated in August 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 180,"2018-09-01 05:22:33",Michigan,"The Wolverine State of Michigan consists of two enormous, mainly forested peninsulas situated in the Great Lakes Region of the United States. The state’s proximity to Canada is such that it has nine international crossing points with the province of Ontario across the International Boundary. Lansing may be the state capital of Michigan but the Motor City of Detroit is its largest and most famous city, best known around the world for its automobile production and, of course, its very own brand of soul music known as The Motown Sound.
On the sporting front, The Golf Association of Michigan, formed in 1919, is the governing body for amateur golf in the state and it looks after a membership of over 60,000 golfers who play on more than 400 courses, ranging from Keweenaw Mountain Lodge in the northwest to Bedford Hills in the southeast.
Michigan boasts a couple of truly exceptional courses, Crystal Downs in Frankfort and Oakland Hills (South) in Bloomfield Hills, both of which feature prominently whenever World Top 100 charts are published. Modern courses like Kingsley Club, Lost Dunes, The Dunes Club and Arcadia Bluffs complete a handful of top ranked tracks in the state though there are plenty of great Golden Age layouts to be found in and around Detroit.
Our Michigan Best In State Rankings were last updated in July 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 181,"2018-09-01 05:22:44",Minnesota,"The North Star state of Minnesota lies in America’s Midwest Region and it’s the only one of the forty-eight contiguous states in America to have part of its land mass sit north of the 49th Parallel at Lake of the Woods. It also adopts the moniker of “Land of 10,000 Lakes” which is understandable when you consider there are almost twelve hundred bodies of water that are at least 10 acres in size within its borders.
The Minnesota Golf Association was founded in 1901 and it has upheld and promoted the game of golf throughout the state for over a hundred years, providing administration nowadays to male golfers in almost 400 clubs. The Minnesota Women’s Golf Association was formed in 1915 and it looks after the golfing interests of ladies in around 100 clubs throughout the state.
Hazletine National is probably the best known course in Minnesota as it has hosted many of the top national tournaments since it opened in 1962, including the US Women’s Open (1966 and 1977), US Open (1970 and 1991), US Senior Open (1983), US Amateur (2006) and the USPGA Championship (2002 and 2009). It’s also scheduled to hold the Ryder Cup series of matches in 2016.
Of an older vintage, the century-old Willie Watson designs at Interlachen and Minikhada are rightly regarded as national golfing treasures whilst the two 18-hole layouts at White Bear Yacht Club and Northland are fine examples of Donald Ross’s architectural talents.
Our Minnesota Best In State Rankings were last updated in July 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 182,"2018-09-01 05:22:58",Mississippi,"The Magnolia State of Mississippi lies in the American South, with Jackson doubling up as both its capital and largest city. With around three million people living inside its borders, Mississippi is said to be the poorest state in the country with the lowest per capita income, even though it enjoys the lowest cost of living in the nation – unfortunately, the boom days when cotton was king are long gone for many in Mississippi.
The Mississippi Golf Association was established in 1925 and it offers member services to male golfers in around 150 clubs. Its female equivalent, the Mississippi Women’s Golf Association, has provided governance to lady golfers since it was formed in 1930 whilst the Mississippi Chapter of the Gulf States Section of the PGA oversees the activities of professionals and apprentices in the state.
Mississippi has no golf course history to speak of so all its top tracks are modern affairs. Tom Fazio and Jerry Pate laid out the Azeleas and the Oaks courses at the Dancing Rabbit Golf Club at Pearl River Resort in the late 1990s and they comprise the best 36-hole facility in the area. Fazio’s solo design at Fallen Oak was acknowledged as the best 18-hole layout in the state. Like Shadow Creek, its Las Vegas counterpart, the course is open to resort guests only. However, since the arrival of Gil Hanse's Mossy Oak in 2016 all bets are off.
Our Mississippi Best In State Rankings were last updated in May 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 183,"2018-09-01 05:23:19",Missouri,"The state of Missouri is found in the Midwest region of the United States and it was the 24th to be admitted into the Union in 1821. Starting point for both the Pony Express Trail and the Oregon Trail in the 19th century, Missouri is certainly one of the trail-blazing states that helped shape the modern nation that’s now called the United States of America.
Founded in 1905, the Missouri Golf Association organises competitive golf for members of 170 clubs within the state. Interestingly, a glance at the association’s Hall of Fame shows entries as state Amateur Champion for Tom Watson (four times between 1967 and 1971) and Payne Stewart in 1979. The Gateway Section of the PGA covers professional golf matters in east/central Missouri as well as southern Illinois.
A couple of Robert Trent Jones Snr layouts to the west of St Louis are amongst the best offerings in the state: Old Warson debuted in 1954, hosting the 1971 Ryder Cup and Bellerive first opened for play in 1960, holding the US Open in 1965 and the USPGA Championship in 1992. C.B. Macdonald’s seminal St Louis Country Club course is a fine example of Golden Age architecture from before the First World War and fully deserves its position towards the top of the Missouri rankings.
Our Missouri Best In State Rankings were last updated in July 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 184,"2018-09-01 05:23:58",Montana,"Situated in the north west of the United States, the Treasure State of Montana is one of the largest by area in the country but with a population of less than one million people, it’s also one of the least densely populated states. Montana is home to seven American Indian reservations and it was here – near Little Bighorn River – that George Armstrong Custer and seven hundred men from the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the US Army were defeated in a famous battle known as “Custer’s Last Stand” by the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians in 1876.
Montana’s modern day golfers (attached to the 100 or so clubs within the state) are governed by the Montana State Golf Association which was formed in 1917. Lady golfers are looked after by a corresponding organisation, the Montana State Women’s Golf Association.
A couple of demanding Tom Fazio designs from the late 1990s – Iron Horse in Whitefish and Stock Farm in Hamilton – are amongst the top tracks in the state but they’ve been overshadowed in the last few years by Tom Doak’s Rock Creek Cattle Company course at Deer Lodge which has emerged as the premier 18-hole layout in Montana.
Our Montana Best In State Rankings were last updated in April 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 185,"2018-09-01 05:24:07",Nebraska,"Nebraska lies in the Midwest Region of the United States and it’s a triple landlocked state, situated far from either the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean and it occupies two major landforms – the Dissected Till Plains and the Great Plains – that stretch out far and wide as rich, fertile prairies. For a supposed golfing backwater, you might be surprised to know that there are almost 200 affordable courses available for play in the Cornhusker State.
The Nebraska Golf Association was founded in 1966 and it conducts five men’s state competitions annually. The Nebraska Women’s Amateur Golf Association was formed in 1973 and it too organises state-wide events for members in 66 affiliated clubs every year. On the professional front, there’s a thriving Nebraska Section of the PGA that also covers a number of clubs in Iowa and South Dakota.
A couple of modern courses – Wild Horse, close to Gothenburg and Prairie Club (Dunes) near Valentine – have elevated the quality of golf in Nebraska to new heights in recent times but even these wonderful layouts are totally eclipsed by Coore and Crenshaw’s remote Sand Hills layout in Mullen, Hooker County. Opened in 1995, it’s a truly world class track that lies fourteen miles from Jack Nicklaus’s solid 2006 creation at Dismal River (White) and Tom Doak's acclaimed Red course at the same facility.
Our Nebraska Best In State Rankings were last updated in July 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 186,"2018-09-01 05:24:47",Nevada,"The Silver State of Nevada is located in the Western Region of the United States and as much of its territory is classed as semi-arid or desert in nature, it’s no surprise to learn that Nevada’s the driest state in the country. Las Vegas is the largest city in the state and its world-famous gambling operation accounts for a sizeable proportion of Nevada’s economic activity with millions flocking to the dazzling lights of “The Strip” every year.
There are two main golf associations in Nevada, divided on geographic lines. The Southern Nevada Golf Association was first to form in 1967 and it currently looks after 10,000 members in 65 clubs whilst the Northern Nevada Golf Association was established five years later with a current membership of 45 clubs. Three women’s associations complete the amateur golfing scene in Nevada.
Resort golf leads the way in Nevada and access for many of the top courses is often only available to golfers residing at designated accommodations. The three main golfing regions in the state are Las Vegas/Henderson, Mesquite and Lake Tahoe and many of the courses built within these locations have been constructed at enormous cost to their developers.
One of these mega-budget layouts is Shadow Creek, Tom Fazio’s extravagant creation which has been wowing Las Vegas golfers for more than two decades. Another spectacular track, Wolf Creek, occupies a rocky landscape above Mesquite Airport and it’s been impressing visitors ever since it debuted in 2000. A newcomer to the best in state listings is yet another “Creek” course, Clear Creek, which Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw laid out in 2009 on the eastern foothills of the Sierras, close to Lake Tahoe.
Our Nevada Best In State Rankings were last updated in April 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 187,"2018-09-01 05:24:56","New Hampshire","New Hampshire is known as the Granite State due to its geology and the historical importance of quarrying in the region. The second most northerly state in New England, New Hampshire is not a hot bed for top ranked golf courses but there are enough quality tracks worthy of closer attention from a crop that extends to around one hundred golf clubs.
New Hampshirites swap their golf clubs for skis between November and March so pack your clubs during the summer season and enjoy one of the more undiscovered golfing states in the USA.
Our coverage of New Hampshire’s Best In State golf courses now extends to a Top 20. If you are an aficionado of the best golf layouts in this region and would like to help develop and shape our New Hampshire rankings, we’d love to hear from you, so please email us at: [email protected]
Our New Hampshire Best In State Rankings were last updated in August 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 188,"2018-09-01 05:25:08","New Jersey","New Jersey may be one of the smallest US states but it’s one of the country’s wealthiest and most populous. First claimed by the Dutch and then commandeered by the English, New Jersey, or The Garden State, lives up to its “Liberty and Prosperity” motto these days.
Essex County Country Club was inaugurated way back in 1887 but it took almost thirty years before A.W. Tillinghast laid out a golf course for the members’ enjoyment. Golf in the Garden State dates back to the late 19th century and the New Jersey State Golf Association was founded in 1900 (only nine years after Ireland formed the world’s oldest golf union) and now the association serves more than 275 clubs across New Jersey.
Golden Age designs can be found right across the state, fashioned by the likes of Donald Ross, Seth Raynor and the prolific “Tilly”, but the jewel in New Jersey’s crown is the course that rates not only as the state number one, but also one of the best in the world. Let’s hear it for Pine Valley Golf Club.
US Women's Open marks golf's stature in the Garden State
Our New Jersey Best In State Rankings were last updated in August 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 189,"2018-09-01 05:25:28","New Mexico","New Mexico is the fifth largest US state and shares its southern border with its namesake, Mexico. With a strong Native American influence and the more recent relationship with Hispania, New Mexico fits the Tourism Department’s slogan “Land of Enchantment” to a tee.
That brings us nicely on to the golf, which is administered by the Sun County Amateur Golf Association and this organisation handles the growth and development of the game of golf for more than 18,000 golfers throughout the New Mexico and West Texas region.
With more than 100 golf courses across the state of New Mexico, there is a fair amount of choice for the visiting golfer because the vast majority of golf courses in the Land of Enchantment are open for daily fee paying golfers. At the top of the rankings is the 27-hole facility at Paa-Ko Ridge Golf Club which can be played for around fifty bucks at certain times of the year.
Our New Mexico Best In State Rankings were last updated in April 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 190,"2018-09-01 05:25:41","New York","New York State, with the Big Apple at its heart, requires no introduction. Everybody knows about the shopping, Broadway and a host of other world famous sights that can be found in and around the USA’s most populous city.
Some golfers may therefore be surprised to hear that New York State offers more world-class golf courses than any other urban area in the world.
Downstate, Long Island to the east is a veritable hotbed and it’s not only home to numerous world ranked golf courses, it also has its own golf association (formed in 1922) that currently comprises of 81 affiliated golf clubs, including Shinnecock Hills, National Golf Links of America and Bethpage State Park.
Upstate, the quantity thins out, but you’ll still find Golden Age greats from Donald Ross at Whippoorwill and Oak Hill. Further west in New York State you’ll find another classic from Dornoch’s most famous son at the Country Club of Buffalo.
With close to 1,000 golf courses across the State, make sure you have your clubs in the car and enjoy the Big Apple’s golfing extravaganza.
Our New York Best In State Rankings were last updated in August 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 191,"2018-09-01 05:25:53","North Carolina","The intrepid Spanish first settled in North Carolina way back in the 16th century but golf arrived two centuries later in South Carolina. The Country Club of Asheville is one of North Carolina’s oldest golf clubs (inaugurated in 1894) and it has a rather intriguing story that involved a course swap in the 1970s. Linville (1892) is however considered the Tar Heel state’s oldest golf club.
For most, Pinehurst (1895) is the synonym for golf in North Carolina. Pinehurst was home to Donald Ross for nearly fifty years and the Resort occupies a vast 2,000-acre tract of Carolinian sandhills. You’ll need to schedule a little more time than usual to play the entire set of Pinehurst’s courses, but save enough time to play Ross’s Pine Needles and Mid Pines, which are located a couple of miles from the main resort. In fact, there are more than fifty Donald Ross courses in North Carolina, which means around 10% of the state's 600 golf courses (Scotland has a similar number of courses) were touched by the prolific Scotsman.
Of course there's more to North Carolina than just Pinehurst and Donald Ross. There’s George Cobb’s Quail Hollow, a PGA Tour regular stop at historic Charlotte, and there are also a trio of Tom Fazio’s finest designs at Wade Hampton, Eagle Point and Mountaintop but, naturally, Fazio also left a legacy at Pinehurst.
Our North Carolina Best In State Rankings were last updated in June 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 192,"2018-09-01 05:26:02","North Dakota","Located in America’s Midwest Region, with the International Boundary defining its Canadian border to the north, less than a million people live within the Roughrider state’s territory so it’s one of the least populated of all fifty American states. They might be few in number but North Dakotans are said - at least by their own tourist authority – to be the friendliest people in the whole country.
The North Dakota Golf Association has been organising amateur golf tournaments for men since 1915 and it currently acts as the governing body to just over 100 clubs in the state, ranging from Bois de Sioux Public Golf Club in the east to Williston Municipal golf course in the west. The North Dakota Women’s Golf Association performs a similar function for lady members whilst the Minnesota Section of the PGA looks after 17 clubs staffed by PGA professionals.
The Links of North Dakota course lies on the north shore of Lake Sakakawea and this layout, along with the Jim Engh-designed Hawktree course, near Bismarck, are regarded as North Dakota’s best two in state offerings. Other top tracks designed by high profile architects include Bully Pulpit (Michael Hurdzan), Oxbow (RTJ2) and King’s Walk (Arnold Palmer).
Our North Dakota Best In State Rankings were last updated in July 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 193,"2018-09-01 05:26:12",Ohio,"The Buckeye State of Ohio lies in the Midwest Region of the United States with Lake Erie and the Ohio River defining its northern and southern boundaries. Columbus, with just over three quarters of a million people, is the state capital and the largest city in terms of population.
The Ohio Golf Association was founded in 1904 so it has been looking after the interests of male golfers in the state for over a century now. Today’s organisation administers to over 800 clubs from, alphabetically, Acacia Country Club in Lyndhurst all the way through to Zoar Village in Dover. Another governing body, the Northern Ohio Golf Association, promotes interclub competition between 14,000 members who belong to around 50 private clubs.
Ohio is home to two of the finest golf courses in the world, Jack Nicklaus’s Muirfield Village and Pete Dye’s Golf Club. These two modern layouts are standouts though a further trio of classic old courses are often listed in national Top 100 rankings: Seth Raynor’s 1925 offering at Camargo and a pair of 1916 Donald Ross layouts: Inverness Club and Scioto.
Our Ohio Best In State Rankings were last updated in July 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 194,"2018-09-01 05:26:36",Oklahoma,"Situated in the South Central Region of the United States, the Sooner State of Oklahoma covers an area of around 70,000 square miles and its panhandle of three counties in the north west of the state is one of ten such land border anomalies to be found throughout the country. One of the last states to join the Union, Oklahoma was officially admitted in 1907.
Oklahoma Golf Association was formed in 1910 and it currently organises ten different annual competitions for members of the 200 clubs that operate within the state. The Women’s Oklahoma Golf Association is the largest of three associations that represent lady golfers. Established in 1915, it now runs six annual tournaments for female golfers in Oklahoma.
Tom Fazio designed a couple of the more significant golfing destinations within the state – Golf Club of Oklahoma (which debuted in 1982) and Karsten Creek (unveiled in 1994) – and these are more than matched in quality by Pete Dye layouts at the neighbouring Oak Tree National and Oak Tree Country Club (East) courses.
Southern Hills, close to downtown Tulsa, is a formidable Perry Maxwell layout from 1936 and it’s the state number one course by a distance – as a haul of hosting seven major tournaments (four US Opens and three USPGA Championships) might indicate.
Our Oklahoma Best In State Rankings were last updated in May 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 195,"2018-09-01 05:26:49",Oregon,"The famous quote: “Go West, Young Man!” dates back to the 1850s and promoted the expansion westward at an exciting time in US history. Today “Go West” is used by Oregon Tourism to tempt would-be adventurers to the Beaver State in the Pacific Northwest.
Oregon is a magnet that drags golfers from all over the world to the seaside resort of Bandon Dunes where there are four world-class golf courses. As for the rest of Oregon, it’s pretty much unknown as a golfing destination. The Beaver State could do itself a favour by promoting its non-Bandon based golf courses a little more effectively because there are some excellent courses to be savoured within this magnificent vacation State.
Apart from the excellent private golf courses at Waverley, Eugene and Pronghorn, there’s Crosswater at Sunriver, Running Y Ranch and Pumpkin Ridge, all of which are worth singling out from Oregon’s directory of more than 200 golf courses.
Our Oregon Best In State Rankings were last updated in April 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 196,"2018-09-01 05:26:54",Pennsylvania,"Officially titled the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Keystone State lies far enough to the north east of the United States that it shares a 50-mile long Lake Erie boundary with Canada. Philadelphia, the largest city in the state, played a very important historical role in establishing the American Nation as it was here that The Founding Fathers convened in 1776 to sign the Declaration of Independence, signalling the end of British rule in the country.
According to USGA records, there are 20 different golf associations registered in the state and the Pennsylvania Golf Association is regarded as the leading authority with over 300 affiliated clubs on its books. Interestingly, a look at the players who contested the Final of the first Amateur Championship organized by the PAGA in 1909, the year of its formation, shows the runner up (defeated 8&6) to be none other than A.W. Tillinghast of Philadelphia Cricket Club.
Two of the most revered old courses in Pennsylvania – the Henry Fownes-designed Oakmont and Hugh Wilson’s Merion (East) – sit comfortably close to the summit of our World Top 100 rankings and they’re far and away the best 18-hole layouts in the state. That’s not to say the likes of Aronimink and Laurel Valley are not worth playing, they are… it’s just tricky to get a game at these highly rated private clubs.
Our Pennsylvania Best In State Rankings were last updated in August 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 197,"2018-09-01 05:27:19","Rhode Island","Rhode Island, the Ocean State, or Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, as the state is formally known, has the city of Providence as the state capital. Providence was so named by religious exile Roger Williams because he considered the area a heavenly place to settle way back in the early 17th century. Rhode Island is not only New England’s smallest state but also the most diminutive of the USA’s fifty states.
But, considering its modest size and cold climate, Rhode Island packs a powerful golfing punch. With nearly fifty clubs affiliated to the Rhode Island Golf Association and numerous Golden Age classics – many designed by Donald Ross – the travelling golf course aficionado should overlook Rhode Island at their peril.
In Rumford you’ll find one of Donald Ross’s favourite New England designs at Wannamoisett Country Club. Routed across a compact site with only one par five on the card, Wannamoisett is the quintessential classic. Arguably the best golf course Rhode Island can offer was inaugurated in 1894 at Newport. Newport Country Club was one of the original five founding member clubs of the United States Golf Association, but the modern upstart at Westerly, Shelter Harbor, takes our top honors.
Our Rhode Island Best In State Rankings were last updated in August 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 198,"2018-09-01 05:27:30","South Carolina","South Carolina, the Palmetto State, is set in the Deep South and was first settled by the English and named Carolina (“Land of Charles” in Latin) after King Charles I gave eight loyal supporters the royal charter to settle here in the 17th century. The museums of the state capital, Columbia, are where South Carolina’s historical past can be researched, but Palmetto’s golf beginnings may be attributed to a group of Scottish merchants who founded the South Carolina Golf Club at Charleston in 1786.
Charleston is where you’ll find the best of South Carolina’s Golden Age golf course designs, headlined by Seth Rayor’s Yeamans Hall which Tom Doak restored in the late 1990s. But the Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken can reasonably claim to have the USA’s second oldest golf course. However, the vast majority of South Carolina’s most famous golf courses are thoroughly modern affairs, headlined by the 1991 Ryder Cup course, Kiawah Island (Ocean) and Long Cove and Harbour Town at Hilton Head.
Each year millions head to the golfing playground of Myrtle Beach where there are more than 120 courses to choose from. It is therefore no surprise that the state tourist board flaunts South Carolina as the No.1 golfing state in America.
Our South Carolina Best In State Rankings were last updated in June 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 199,"2018-09-01 05:27:39","South Dakota","The Mount Rushmore State of South Dakota is situated in the Midwestern region of the United States. With a population of less than one million people living within its 77,000 square mile territory, it’s one of the least densely populated states in the country. South Dakota is probably most famous for the Mount Rushmore National Memorial that was carved out of the granite rock of the Black Hills near Keystone between 1927 and 1941, hence its adoption as the state nickname.
The South Dakota Golf Association has been organising competitions for golfers in the state since 1921. In the modern era, it’s now responsible for overseeing the golfing activities of over 100 clubs, from Lemon Country Club in the northwest to Dakota Dunes in the southeast of the state.
For a decade, Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay’s 1991 design at Dakota Dunes was undoubtedly the top track in the state then along came a couple of new courses in 2003 to shake things up a little at the top of the rankings. Both the Ron Farris-designed Red Rock course in Rapid City and Graham Marsh’s Sutton Bay layout near Agar are fine recent additions to the golfing landscape in South Dakota with the latter, in particular, now gaining deserved national recognition.
Our South Dakota Best In State Rankings were last updated in July 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America" 200,"2018-09-01 05:27:48",Tennessee,"The Volunteer State of Tennessee is situated in the South Eastern Region of the US and it celebrated its bicentennial in 1996. As state capital Nashville is synonymous with country and western music and Memphis, the largest city in the state, is regarded by many as the birthplace of the blues, Tennessee has certainly played a prominent part in shaping contemporary musical tastes in the United States and beyond.
Five private clubs founded the Tennessee Golf Association in 1914 and it now looks after the golfing interests of around 37,000 amateur men and women (even though there are four ladies associations in the state) playing in 220 clubs across Tennessee. In 1991, the TGA joined forces with the Tennessee Section of the PGA to form the Tennessee Golf Foundation which promotes the game at amateur and professional levels.
A couple of new millennium layouts have raised the state’s golfing profile and they are Brian Silva’s Black Creek course in Chattanooga and the Jack Nicklaus-designed Spring Creek Ranch in Collierville. Two Donald Ross tracks from the 1920s are also highly regarded within Tennessee: Belle Meade in Nashville has, unfortunately, undergone a number of revisions down the years but the 18 holes at Holston Hills in Knoxville have remained largely unaltered since they were first set out. Pete Dye’s nationally acclaimed Honors Course – venue for the US Amateur in 1991 and the Curtis Cup in 1994 – occupies the number one position in the state rankings.
Our Tennessee Best In State Rankings were last updated in May 2018. Click the link to read the story.
The fourth largest country in the world by area and the third most populous, the United States of America comprises the forty-eight contiguous states between Canada and Mexico, along with Alaska in the north west corner of the continent and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, which became the 50th and most recent state to join the federal republic in 1959.
It’s thought that golf may have been played in several states along the eastern seaboard soon after the American Revolution but another hundred years would pass before the first organised golf clubs were formed. Scotsman John Reid is generally given credit for introducing golf to America around 1888, when he and several friends laid out a very primitive 3-hole course near his home in Yonkers, New York.
In 1895, the year after the United States Golf Association was formed, it’s said that there were 76 golf clubs in the United States, a total that would increase ten-fold within the following three years. Looking at today’s figures, an R&A report entitled “Golf around the world 2015” believes there are now 15,372 golf facilities nationwide, a figure that represents approximately 45% of the total number throughout the world.
We currently showcase more than 1,650 American layouts in our various charts, with just under half of the courses in our US Top 100 rankings (as detailed lower down this page) also appearing in our World Top 100 standings. We maintain comprehensive Best in State charts for every state, headed by Florida, where we first introduced a Top 100 table for the Sunshine State in 2013. We've since introduced Best In State Top 100 ranking lists for both California and Texas.
We also promote a (minimum) Top 50 table for ten golfing states, with South Carolina currently boasting a Top 75. Of the remaining thirty-seven states, twenty-one list (at least) a Top 20 chart (Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia actually have Top 40s) and another twelve states feature a (minimum) Top 15 listing. Alaska, the nation's largest state with the smallest population, is the only one to maintain a Top 5 chart.
We last updated our biennial rankings for the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.
",8,"2018-03-21 04:56:38","North America"