Best Golf Courses in the United Kingdom
56 ranked courses in United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has 56 courses in this guide: 24 in England, 23 in Scotland, five in Wales and four in Northern Ireland. Links dominate, with 41 of the 56, followed by 12 heathland courses, two parkland courses and one coastal course. The Old Course at St Andrews, played since 1552, ranks highest; Royal County Down in Newcastle is second, Royal Dornoch third and Royal Portrush fourth, followed by Carnoustie, Trump Turnberry and Muirfield. Access is wider than the reputation suggests. Of the 34 private clubs, 33 accept visitors: 28 on set days or under conditions, such as Tuesdays and Thursdays at Muirfield, and five by booking, at Gullane, Prestwick, Saunton, Conwy and Pennard. Only Loch Lomond is for members and their guests alone. Fourteen courses are semi-private, and nine of them take online bookings without restriction. Three are public, the Old Course, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, and five are resort courses. Turnberry is open to all but priced accordingly, at GBP 1,000 for a peak-season round before 1pm, and Ardfin on Jura is tied to staying on the estate.
— Top 10 Rankings
Top 10 Best Golf Courses in United Kingdom
Updated
About Golf Courses in United Kingdom
Plan by area. In Scotland, St Andrews, Kingsbarns, Elie and Carnoustie share one trip, as do Gullane and North Berwick, and Troon, Prestwick, Irvine and Turnberry. In England, Southport, Formby, Hoylake and Lytham St Annes form one links trip, and Sandwich, Deal and Camber another. Porthcawl and Swansea cover south Wales, and Newcastle, Portrush and Portstewart cover Northern Ireland.
- Ranked courses
- 56
- Course styles
- links 41 · heathland 12 · parkland 2
- Access
- private 34 · semi-private 14 · resort 5
- Opened
- 1552–2012
- Playable without membership
- 22 of 56
— By Region