GOLF released its latest ranking of the Top 100 Courses in the World (2023-24), and while Pine Valley again took the top spot, there were eight newcomers that found their way into the ranking. Here, we’ll introduce you to them.
Newcomer spotlight: Lofoten Links / Rank: 88th
Location: Gimsøysand, Norway
Play: Resort
Architect: Jeremy Turner, 2015
Why it made our list, according to a rater:
As much as if not more than any course I’ve seen, Lofoten represents a spectacular connection of man with nature. The routing does a great job of exploring the property, which kisses up against the Norwegian sea. After an exhilarating opening stretch along the water, the course moves inland, brushing up back and forth in the shadow of Mt. Hoven, before returning to the coast. I played it in May, and had the single most thrilling day I’ve ever had on a course. I was told to come back in August, under the Northern Lights. My mind bends trying to imagine how beautiful that must be. — Ran Morrissett
You can view Lofoten Links’ Top 100 Course page here.
More about Lofoten Links
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, except when it comes to Lofoten where superlatives never cease. If you like playing along the shoreline, the first three holes are as rousing a start as can be found in the game. The par-3 2nd, which plays to a green on a rock formation that juts into the Norwegian Sea, is the most photographed hole. But the par-4s that bookend it both offer fantastic risk/reward tee shots over the sea and are just as noteworthy. If mountains are more your thing, Lofoten has you covered there too with holes, including the dogleg-right, uphill par-5 5th and the par-4 14th, playing toward Hove Mountain. Heather? Yep, Lofoten even has that. Who knew that golf inside the Artic Circle could be so intoxicating? Owner Frode Hov and British architect Jeremy Turner deserve huge credit for how they slowly evolved what started as a six-holer in 1998 into a world Top 100 course. — Ran Morrissett