Few games have the power to take you places, literally and figuratively, the way golf does. Fall for it hard enough, and you’ll find yourself crossing borders, oceans, time zones, and eras, all in pursuit of a good walk spoiled.
From the ‘royal and ancient’ fairways of St. Andrews to the modern masterpieces emerging in New Zealand, these are the best international golf courses that belong on every golfer’s bucket list.
Best International Golf Courses
1. Royal County Down Golf Club (Championship Course)
Newcastle, Northern Ireland
A rare number of layouts marry natural grandeur and strategic bite quite like the Championship Course at Royal County Down. It’s not just “in the conversation” of the best international golf courses. Depending on the list, it’s No. 1 in the world, or trading punches with Cypress Point, Pine Valley, and Augusta National for the top spot. Not bad company to keep.
The routing winds through the purple heather and golden gorse of the Murlough Nature Reserve, zigzagging along Dundrum Bay beneath the Mourne Mountains. It’s the pinnacle of links golf.
2. The Royal Melbourne Golf Club (West Course)
Black Rock, Australia
For students of architecture and players alike, Royal Melbourne’s West Course is arguably the most celebrated layout in the Southern Hemisphere. This Dr. Alister MacKenzie design is defined by its firm Sandbelt terrain, where the ground game thrives, and rugged bunkering with vertical edges a foot or more tall. As visually arresting as the course is, it’s the beautifully contoured and impeccably maintained greens that steal the show.
3. Muirfield
East Lothian, Scotland
There are ten courses in the Open Championship rota, including Muirfield—a venue that has hosted the game’s oldest major 16 times, trailing only St. Andrews and Prestwick in total Opens staged. What sets Muirfield apart is its distinctive routing: rather than the traditional out-and-back, the course unfolds in two loops of nine that rotate in opposite directions. The result is a constant recalibration, with the wind coming from every conceivable angle and no stretch of holes offering much reprieve.
4. St. Andrews Links (Old Course)
St. Andrews, Scotland
The “Home of Golf” really needs no introduction. From the Swilcan Bridge, the sport’s most famous photo-op, to the nerve-wracking Road Hole, the Old Course is as iconic as golf gets. The game has been played here since the early 1400s, and somehow, centuries later, it still feels more alive than ever.
5. Royal Dornoch (Championship Course)
Dornoch, Scotland
Royal Dornoch is less like a golf course you happen upon and more like one you seek out… with a bit of planning… and a bit of a drive north. All that to say, it’s a bit isolated, but that is absolutely part of its enduring mystique. Golf has been played over this rumpled stretch of linksland for more than four centuries. And that depth of history is palpable on the first tee of the Championship Course to the final putt.
6. Royal Portrush Golf Club (Dunluce)
Portrush, Northern Ireland
Royal Portrush is the only club outside mainland Britain to host the Open Championship. The Dunluce Links, the more famous of the two courses on site, is named after the medieval Dunluce Castle, whose ruins still overlook the course to this day. The Harry Colt‑designed links sit atop limestone cliff edges where Atlantic winds prevail and waves crash below.
7. Kingston Heath Golf Club
Cheltenham, Australia
The Melbourne Sandbelt is home to some of Australia’s most incredible golf courses. But few come close to Kingston Heath. The course weaves beautifully into the natural landscape and is largely considered a masterpiece of golf design. Built on deceptively simple terrain, this compact 18‑hole layout proves that pure strategic design beats sheer size.
The course’s architectural pedigree reads like a who’s‑who of golf history. Scotsman Dan Soutar routed the original layout in the 1920s, and Dr. Alister MacKenzie, the genius mind behind Augusta National, refined its bunkers and revamped the famous uphill 15th—now considered one of golf’s finest short holes.
8. Tara Iti Golf Club
Te Arai, New Zealand
Named after the endangered New Zealand fairy tern that once nested along its shores, Tara Iti is a course like no other. Designed by Tom Doak, the layout winds through rolling sand hills along 11 km of pristine Pacific coastline, with firm fescue fairways and sandy waste areas that give the course its unique appearance. In just a decade since its debut in 2015, Tara Iti has gone from golf newcomer to one of the best international golf courses.
9. Ballybunion Golf Club (Old Course)
Ballybunion, Ireland
Legendary figures in golf like Tom Watson have called Ballybunion one of the best courses in the world, and many guides consistently rank it near the very top of international lists. While the club is a double delight with two courses, it’s the Old Course that steals the spotlight, delivering pure links golf across some of Ireland’s wildest dunes.
10. Sunningdale Golf Club (Old Course)
Sunningdale, England
Unlike many historic courses shaped by seaside winds, Sunningdale takes golfers inland, deep into classic English heathland. Opened in 1901 and designed by Willie Park Jr., one of golf’s early architectural pioneers, the course was built on sandy soil that many deemed unsuitable for golf. Park’s visionary work not only proved the skeptics wrong but also set a blueprint for inland heathland courses that architects would emulate for decades to come.
11. The Royal St. George’s Golf Club
Sandwich, England
The fairways and greens at Royal St. George’s Golf Club are shaped as much by the English Channel winds as by the architects who routed the holes. It was the first course in England to host The Open Championship in 1894, a groundbreaking moment that shifted the championship beyond its Scottish roots and established Royal St. George’s as a permanent fixture in major championship history.
12. North Berwick Golf Club (The West Links)
North Berwick, Scotland
There aren’t many courses in the world that occupy land as captivating as the West Links at North Berwick Golf Club. Widely regarded as one of the best international golf courses in Scotland, it stretches along the edge of the Firth of Forth, where sweeping sea views and a steady coastal breeze create the kind of conditions that define true links golf.
13. Lahinch Golf Club (Old)
Lahinch, Ireland
The Old Course at Lahinch Golf Club carries the fingerprints of some of golf’s most influential architects. Old Tom Morris originally shaped the layout, while later work by Alister MacKenzie and modern refinements by Martin Hawtree helped preserve its character while elevating its challenge.
Wild dunes, blind tee shots, and rumpled fairways define the experience here. Holes like the par-5 “Klondyke” and the famous par-3 “Dell” give Lahinch a uniquely unforgettable personality.
14. Trump Turnberry (Ailsa)
Turnberry, Scotland
The outward nine on the Ailsa Course builds anticipation, but the stretch around the lighthouse is where it separates itself from every other links in Scotland. Four Open Championships have been played at Trump Turnberry, including the iconic 1977 “Duel in the Sun” between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus.
15. Hirono Golf Club
Miki-Chi, Japan
Japan might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of world-class golf, but Hirono Golf Club proves otherwise. Opened in 1932, the course faced near destruction during World War II when the Imperial Air Force turned it into a runway. After the war, designers painstakingly restored it using Charles Alison’s original plans, though some of the wild character of the original layout never fully returned. Even so, Hirono endures as Asia’s crown jewel.
16. Barnbougle Dunes
Bridport, Australia
Opened in 2004, Barnbougle Dunes is a relative newcomer to the international golf courses scene, yet it has quickly earned a reputation as one of Tasmania’s premier courses. Perched on the island’s northeast coast, it embraces the rugged natural landscape while drawing inspiration from the classic Scottish and Irish links. Windswept dunes and stunning views over Bass Strait make every round a true test of golf—and a feast for the eyes.
17. Carnoustie Golf Links (Championship)
Carnoustie, Scotland
Carnoustie Golf Links, or “Car-nasty” as it’s affectionately referred to, strikes fear and admiration in equal measure. The Championship Course, one of three tracks on-site, is a storied layout that has tested the world’s best through eight Open Championships, two Women’s British Opens, and three Senior Opens. Heather-lined fairways, deep, punishing bunkers, and deceptively tricky greens make every hole a mental and physical battle.
18. Morfontaine
Mortefontaine, France
Just north of Paris, Golf de Morfontaine feels like a hidden world unto itself, nestled deep within ancient woodland and heather‑strewn heath. Founded in 1913 by the Duc de Guiche and shaped by legendary architect Tom Simpson, its timeless “Grand Parcours” and the classic nine‑hole Vallière reflect a design philosophy rooted in nature and strategic play.
19. Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Southport, England
Royal Birkdale Golf Club is one of England’s most iconic golf venues and a cornerstone of the Open Championship rota. Founded in 1889 and granted Royal status in 1951, it has since hosted The Open ten times, beginning in 1954, and will host again in 2026. Over the decades, winners here have included legends like Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer, Jordan Spieth, and Ian Baker‑Finch, and the course has also hosted Ryder Cups, Women’s Opens, and Senior Opens.
20. Royal Troon Golf Club (Old Course)
Troon, Scotland
Royal Troon’s Old Course is one of golf’s most revered links. Founded in 1878 and part of The Open Championship rotation since 1923, it has hosted the Major ten times, most recently in 2024. Set along the windswept Ayrshire coast beside the Firth of Clyde, the course masterfully blends natural seaside terrain with strategic design. Its Par‑3 “Postage Stamp” may be the shortest hole in Open history, but when the wind roars, it becomes one of the game’s greatest tests.
21. Cape Kidnappers Golf Course
Te Awanga, New Zealand
Don’t let the name fool you—the only thing “kidnapped” at Cape Kidnappers is the occasional wild tee shot! Perched on towering oceanfront cliffs along New Zealand’s North Island, this dramatic Tom Doak–designed course (built in 2004) offers breathtaking views of the Pacific on nearly every hole. Bold risk-reward holes and expansive, windswept fairways make it as thrilling as it is beautiful—a modern links-style masterpiece on a cliffside canvas.
22. Portmarnock Golf Club (Old Course)
Portmarnock, Ireland
Just minutes from Dublin and set on a windswept peninsula extending into the Irish Sea, Portmarnock Golf Club’s classic links course is one of Ireland’s most cherished golfing landmarks. Founded in 1894, it has hosted an impressive list of elite events including 19 Irish Opens, the Walker Cup, the Amateur Championship, and the Canada Cup.
23. Cabot Cape Breton
Inverness, Nova Scotia
Cabot Cape Breton boasts two of the world’s most celebrated golf courses: Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs. They tumble along the edge of the Atlantic, where cliffs, dunes, wind, and waves create a stage for pure golf theater. Entirely at the mercy of the elements, it’s golf played the way it was meant to be.
24. Casa De Campo (Teeth of the Dog)
Dominican Republic
The Pete Dye-designed Teeth of the Dog® Golf Course is regarded as the best in the Caribbean. Seven holes cling to craggy coral cliffs that tumble dramatically into turquoise waters (holes Dye humbly credits to the divine) while the remaining eleven proudly bear his unmistakable touch.
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