GOLF Magazine‘s biennial Top 100 Courses in the World Rankings are determined by a 100-strong international panel whose members include major-championship winners, architects, journalists and a cadre of connoisseurs who have played all of the world’s top 100 courses. Panelists evaluate a ballot of 493 courses. Although there are no set-in-stone criteria they must follow, we have confidence in their sense of what constitutes “greatness” in a course.
Each course that places in the top three on a ballot earns 100 points; spots 4-10 earn 85 points, followed by 11–25 (70 pts), 26–50 (60 pts), 51–75 (50 pts), 76–100 (40 pts), 101–150 (30 pts), 151–200 (20 pts), 201–250 (10 pts) and 251+ (0 pts). Course owners can’t vote for their properties, and architects can’t vote for their original designs.
1. Pine Valley Pine Valley, N.J., U.S. George Crump/H.S. Colt, 1918
2. Cypress Point Pebble Beach, Calif., U.S. Alister MacKenzie, 1928
3. St. Andrews (Old Course) St. Andrews, Scotland Nature, 1400s
4. Augusta National Augusta, Ga., U.S. Alister MacKenzie/Bobby Jones, 1933
5. Royal County Down Newcastle, N. Ireland Old Tom Morris, 1889
6. Shinnecock Hills Southampton, N.Y., U.S. William Flynn, 1931
7. Pebble Beach Pebble Beach, Calif., U.S. Jack Neville/Douglas Grant, 1919
8. Oakmont Oakmont, Pa., U.S. Henry Fownes, 1903
9. Muirfield Gullane, Scotland Old Tom Morris, 1891/H.S. Colt, 1925
10. National Golf Links of America Southampton, N.Y., U.S. C.B. Macdonald, 1911
11. Merion (East) Ardmore, Pa., U.S. Hugh Wilson, 1912
12. Royal Melbourne (West) Melbourne, Australia Alister MacKenzie, 1926
13. Sand Hills Mullen, Neb., U.S. Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw, 1994
14. Royal Dornoch (Championship) Dornoch, Scotland Old Tom Morris, 1886
15. Royal Portrush (Dunluce) Portrush, N. Ireland H.S. Colt, 1929
16. Pinehurst (No. 2) Pinehurst, N.C., U.S. Donald Ross, 1907
17. Ballybunion (Old) Ballybunion, Ireland Lionel Hewson, 1906/Tom Simpson, 1936
18. Fishers Island Fishers Island, N.Y., U.S. Seth Raynor, 1926
19. Seminole Juno Beach, Fla., U.S. Donald Ross, 1929
20. Winged Foot (West) Mamaroneck, N.Y., U.S. A.W. Tillinghast, 1923
21. Pacific Dunes Bandon, Ore., U.S. Tom Doak, 2001
22. Crystal Downs Frankfort, Mich., U.S. Alister MacKenzie/Perry Maxwell, 1932
23. Trump Turnberry (Ailsa) Turnberry, Scotland Willie Fernie, 1902/P. Mac-kenzie Ross, 1951
24. San Francisco San Francisco, Calif., U.S. A.W. Tillinghast, 1918
25. Carnoustie (Championship) Carnoustie, Scotland A.Robertson, 1842/Old Tom Morris, 1872/James Braid, 1926
26. Chicago Wheaton, Ill., U.S. C.B. Macdonald, 1895/Seth Raynor, 1923
27. Prairie Dunes Hutchinson, Kan., U.S. Perry Maxwell, 1937/Press Maxwell, 1957
28. Kingston Heath Melbourne, Australia Dan Soutar 1925/Alister MacKenzie, 1928
29. Riviera Pacific Palisades, Calif., U.S. George C. Thomas Jr./Billy Bell Sr., 1926
30. Los Angeles (North) Los Angeles, Calif., U.S. George C. Thomas Jr., 1921
31. Friar’s Head Baiting Hollow, N.Y., U.S. Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw, 2003
32. Royal Birkdale Southport, England George Lowe Jr., 1889/Fred Hawtree, 1932
33. Royal St. George’s Sandwich, England W. Laidlaw Purves, 1887
34. The Country Club (Clyde/Squirrel) Brookline, Mass., U.S. Willie Campbell, 1895/Rees Jones, 1985
35. Sunningdale (Old) Sunningdale, England Willie Park Jr., 1901/H.S. Colt, 1922
36. Barnbougle (Dunes) Bridport, Tasmania, Australia Tom Doak/Mike Clay-ton, 2004
37. New South Wales La Perouse, Australia Alister MacKenzie, 1928/Eric Apperly, 1951
38. Diamante (Dunes) Cabo San Lucas, Mexico Davis Love III/Mark Love/Paul Cowley, 2010
39. Casa de Campo (Teeth of the Dog) La Romana, Dominican Republic, Pete Dye, 1971
40. Cape Kidnappers Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand Tom Doak, 2004
41. Lahinch (Old) Lahinch, Ireland Old Tom Morris, 1894/Alister MacKenzie, 1927
42. Hirono Kobe, Japan C.H. Alison, 1932
43. Nine Bridges Jeju Island, South Korea Ron Fream/David Dale, 2001
44. Oakland Hills (South) Bloomfield Hills, Mich., U.S. Donald Ross, 1917/Robert Trent Jones Sr., 1950
45. Morfontaine Senlis, France Tom Simpson, 1927
46. Bethpage (Black) Farmingdale, N.Y., U.S. A.W. Tillinghast, 1936
47. Shanqin Bay Bo’ao, Hainan Island, China Bill Coore/Ben Cren-shaw, 2012
48. Trump International Golf Links Aberdeen, Scotland Martin Hawtree, 2012
49. Royal Troon (Old) Troon, Scotland Willie Fernie, 1887
50. Kiawah Island (Ocean) Kiawah Island, S.C., U.S. Pete Dye, 1991
51. Garden City Golf Club Garden City, N.Y., U.S. Devereux Emmet, 1899/Walter Travis, 1906
52. Whistling Straits (Straits) Kohler, Wis., U.S. Pete Dye, 1998
53. Muirfield Village Dublin, Ohio, U.S. Jack Nicklaus/Desmond Muirhead, 1974
54. TPC Sawgrass (Stadium) Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., U.S. Pete Dye, 1980
55. Portmarnock (Old) Portmarnock, Ireland George Ross/W.C. Pickeman, 1894
56. Shoreacres Lake Bluff, Ill., U.S. Seth Raynor, 1921
57. Camargo Indian Hill, Ohio, U.S. Seth Raynor, 1921
58. Oitavos Dunes Cascais, Portugal Arthur Hills, 2001
59. Baltusrol (Lower) Springfield, N.J., U.S. A.W. Tillinghast, 1922
60. Olympic (Lake) San Francisco, Calif., U.S. Sam Whiting, 1927
61. Royal Lytham & St. Annes Lytham St. Annes, England George Lowe Jr., 1897
62. Southern Hills Tulsa, Okla., U.S. Perry Maxwell, 1936
63. North Berwick (West) North Berwick, Scotland David Strath, 1878
64. Bandon Dunes Bandon, Ore., U.S. David McLay Kidd, 1999
65. Kingsbarns St. Andrews, Scotland Kyle Phillips, 2000
66. Maidstone East Hampton, N.Y., U.S. Willie Park Jr., 1924
67. Kawana (Fuji) Kawana, Japan C.H. Alison, 1936
68. Oak Hill (East) Rochester, N.Y., U.S. Donald Ross, 1923
69. Castle Stuart Inverness, Scotland Gil Hanse/Mark Parsinen, 2009
70. Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin) Woodhall Spa, England Harry Vardon, 1905/H.S. Colt, 1912/V. Hotchkin, 1926
71. Somerset Hills Bernardsville, N.J., U.S. A.W. Tillinghast, 1918
72. The Golf Club New Albany, Ohio, U.S. Pete Dye, 1967
73. Ellerston Ellerston, Australia Greg Norman/Bob Harrison, 2001
74. Quaker Ridge Scarsdale, N.Y., U.S. A.W. Tillinghast, 1926
75. Cabot Links Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada Rod Whitman, 2012
76. Ayodhya Links Bangkok, Thailand Thom-son/Perrett/Lobb/Pitak Intrawityanunt, 2007
77. Cruden Bay Cruden Bay, Scotland Herbert Fowler/Tom Simpson, 1926
78. Ballyneal Holyoke, Colo., U.S. Tom Doak, 2006
79. Inverness Toledo, Ohio, U.S. Donald Ross, 1919
80. Ganton Ganton, England Harry Vardon, 1905
81. California Golf Club of S.F. S. San Francisco, Calif., U.S. A.V. Macan, 1926/A. MacKenzie, 1928/Kyle Phillips, 2007
82. Royal Liverpool Hoylake, England George Morris, 1869
83. Waterville Waterville, Ireland Eddie Hackett, 1973
84. Winged Foot (East) Mamaroneck, N.Y., U.S. A.W. Tillinghast, 1923
85. Barnbougle Lost Farm Bridport, Tasmania, Australia Bill Coore/Ben Cren-shaw, 2010
86. Walton Heath (Old) Tadworth, England Herbert Fowler, 1904
87. St. George’s Islington, Ontario, Canada Stanley Thompson, 1929
88. Royal Porthcawl Porthcawl, Wales H.S. Colt, 1913
89. Swinley Forest Ascot, England H.S. Colt, 1910
90. European Club Brittas Bay, Ireland Pat Ruddy, 1992
91. Harbour Town Hilton Head Island, S.C., U.S. Pete Dye/Jack Nicklaus, 1969
92. Koninklijke Haagsche Wassenaar, Netherlands H.S. Colt/C.H. Alison, 1938/Frank Pont, 2007
93. Machrihanish Machrihanish, Scotland Charles Hunter, 1876/Old Tom Morris, 1879
94. Kauri Cliffs Kerikeri, New Zealand David Harman, 2000
95. Sunningdale (New) Sunningdale, England H.S. Colt, 1922
96. Tokyo Tokyo, Japan Komyo Ohtani, 1940
97. Durban Country Club Durban, South Africa Laurie Waters/George Waterman, 1922
98. Rye Camber, England H.S. Colt, 1894/Tom Simpson, 1932/Guy Campbell, 1938
99. Valderrama Sotogrande, Spain Robert Trent Jones Sr., 1974
100. Cabo del Sol (Ocean) Cabo San Lucas, Mexico Jack Nicklaus, 1994
