Mission Hills (Faldo)

The Greater China golf landscape represents one of Asia's most diverse and rapidly evolving golf markets, combining world-class championship venues with exclusive private clubs and innovative modern designs. The 2026 rankings recognise 50 courses across the region through three separate national rankings: China's Top 30, Hong Kong's Top 5, and Taiwan's Top 15. These rankings reflect the assessments of dedicated regional panellists with extensive playing experience across each market. The region's golf scene continues to evolve despite distinct challenges in each territory. China's golf industry navigates ongoing government regulations while maintaining world-class facilities. Hong Kong's limited space creates intense competition for ranking positions among its handful of courses, and Taiwan's vibrant private club culture showcases some of Asia's most exclusive golf experiences. Together, these three markets demonstrate the breadth of golf course excellence across the Greater China region. 2026 Rankings: A Diverse Regional Landscape The combined rankings recognise three courses reaching Asia's Top 100, led by Shanqin Bay Golf Club, maintaining its position as China's premier championship venue at World #35. The rankings span from internationally recognised championship courses to exclusive private clubs that define each market's character. Additional courses across all three territories demonstrate championship-calibre quality while remaining outside the current ranking thresholds, suggesting depth throughout the region's golf infrastructure. Explore the complete China Rankings Explore the complete Hong Kong Rankings Explore the complete Taiwan Rankings China Top 30 At A Glance The Elite Pair 1. Shanqin Bay Golf Club - World #35 2. PGA Golf Club An Ying - Yangtze Dunes - World #99 The Rising Forces Topwin - Beijing - Up 35 positions to #7 (from #42) Wind Valley (Member) - Up 24 positions to #11 (from #35) Nicklaus Club Beijing - Up 20 positions to #10 (from #30) Shadow Creek - Beijing - Up 9 positions to #12 (from #21) Dongzhuang Beach (Linksland) - Up 4 positions to #8 (from #12) Notable Movements Mission Hills (Blackstone) - Down to #6 (from #3) Spring City (Mountain) - Down to #13 (from #7) Dunes at Shenzhou Peninsula (West) - Down to #14 (from #8) National Golf Country Club (Taiwan) - Down to #10 (from #5) Hong Kong Top 5 At A Glance Complete Stability 1. Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau (North) 2. Clearwater Bay 3. Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau (East) 4. Hong Kong (New) 5. Hong Kong (Eden) Hong Kong's ranking demonstrates remarkable consistency, with all five courses maintaining their positions from the previous ranking. This stability reflects the territory's limited golf infrastructure and the established quality of its existing venues. Taiwan Top 15 At A Glance The Unchanged Elite 1. Ta Shee (Kingfisher & Egret) 2. Taiwan Golf & Country Club The Rising Clubs North Bay - Up 4 positions to #9 (from #13) Tong Hwa - Up 3 positions to #8 (from #11) Chia Nan - Up 3 positions to #11 (from #14) Hsin Chu (East & West) - Up 3 positions to #12 (from #15) Sunrise - Up 2 positions to #7 (from #9) The New Entry 15. Miramar (South & East) - Debut in Top 15 Notable Movement National Golf Country Club - Down to #10 (from #5) Oriental Sunstar - Down to #14 (from #10) Explore the complete China Rankings Explore the complete Hong Kong Rankings Explore the complete Taiwan Rankings What the Rankings Tell Us Shanqin Bay's Continued Supremacy Shanqin Bay Golf Club maintains its position as China's premier golf destination and the highest-ranked course in the Greater China region. The Coore & Crenshaw design on Hainan Island has established itself among the world's elite courses since opening, combining natural coastal terrain with sophisticated strategic routing. Its ranking at World #35 represents the pinnacle of what China's golf industry can achieve when design excellence meets exceptional natural terrain. Beijing's Architectural Renaissance The capital region's dramatic rise in the rankings tells the story of China's golf evolution. Topwin - Beijing's 35-position leap to #7, Nicklaus Club Beijing's 20-position climb to #10, and Wind Valley's 24-position surge to #11 demonstrate how Beijing has emerged as China's most important golf destination beyond coastal resort markets. Shadow Creek - Beijing's 9-position rise to #12 further reinforces the capital's concentration of championship-quality courses. Hong Kong's Established Order Hong Kong's complete ranking stability reflects the territory's unique golf landscape, where limited supply creates minimal opportunity for change. The Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau complex holds two of the five ranked positions, demonstrating the importance of this public facility in providing Hong Kong with accessible championship golf. Clearwater Bay and the Hong Kong Golf Club courses maintain their historical positions, preserving the hierarchy that has defined Hong Kong golf for generations. Taiwan's Private Club Excellence Taiwan's ranking movements showcase the vitality of the island's private club scene. North Bay's 4-position climb to #9, combined with strong rises from Tong Hwa, Chia Nan, and Hsin Chu. Looking Ahead The Greater China golf landscape continues to evolve despite each territory's distinct challenges. China's government policies toward golf remain restrictive, limiting new course development while existing facilities navigate complex regulatory environments. Several courses have faced closures or ownership changes in recent years, making the sustained quality of ranked courses particularly impressive. The market appears to be stabilising around a core group of established championship venues rather than pursuing continued expansion. Taiwan's geographic constraints limit new development, but ongoing course renovations and refinements could drive future ranking movements. Hong Kong's golf infrastructure remains essentially static, with no realistic prospects for new course development given land scarcity and regulatory hurdles. The territory's golf future likely centres on maintaining and upgrading existing facilities rather than expansion. Explore the complete China Rankings Explore the complete Hong Kong Rankings Explore the complete Taiwan Rankings

Top 100 Golf Courses of Asia 2020 This is the first revision of the Top 100 rankings for Asia, a chart that we introduced two years ago. We’ve spent the last few months updating individual national listings in that part of the world, producing three regional reports – for East, South and Southeast Asia – during that process. Now that we’ve collated all the data, it’s time to reveal what we believe to be the best hundred golfing layouts within the largest and most populous continent on the planet. In terms of statistics, there are sixteen countries represented in these standings, with courses in Japan (25), South Korea (16) and China (13) comprising more than half the chart. Another third of the entries originate in Vietnam (10), Thailand (7), Indonesia (7), Philippines (5) and Malaysia (4). In quite a turbulent new table, there are twenty new courses and only eight non-movers, with thirty-three courses moving up and thirty-nine dropping down. Once again, we have to thank our panel of journalists who are spread out over a vast area for their valuable input. In particular, we’re grateful to our Asia correspondent Kimi Hoshiyama for his unstinting efforts. He’s now played 91 of the courses featured in these listings so it shouldn’t be too long until he becomes the first person to play the Top 100 in Asia. The top three positions remain exactly as they were when we last carried out this biennial exercise which means the course at Hirono Golf Club is still the No. 1 course in Asia. Designed by C. H. Alison back in the early 1930s, the course recently underwent an extensive restoration by Martin Ebert, using Alison’s plans, club photographs and old aerial photographs from the 1940s and 1960s to recreate the original design intent of Harry Colt’s partner. Hirono Golf Club Our US Consultant Fergal O’Leary has seen the outcome of this upgrade and posted recently about the widespread tree clearance, the introduction of sizeable waste areas on a number of holes, the resurfacing of the greens and the refurbishment of all the bunkers. “The renovations are sublime,” he said, before adding: “It’s absolutely the top dog in Japan and Asia”. The course is also currently #33 in the world, having risen three places when our global rankings were refreshed six months ago. Yangtze Dunes at Lanhai International Country Club in China is the first of our twenty new entries, crashing into the continental Top 100 at #5. The course was first set out by Jack Nicklaus almost a decade ago but a subsequent change in ownership brought about dramatic changes with a radical renovation by Australian firm Ogilvy, Clayton, Cocking and Mead leading to the rebuilding of greens, the introduction of sandy waste areas and blow-out bunkers. Yangtze Dunes at Lanhai International Country Club Our man Fergal was also here last year and he felt Yangtze Dunes was one of the best courses he played in 2019: “it’s completely different to anything you’ll find in Asia, especially given how firm the course is kept… the course has a magnificent sandy base that provided the catalyst for the designers to take the linksy route with their plans, and the results are sensational… this course has a more impressive mix of holes and topography than many of the courses that sadly linger on ranking lists.” Just a little further behind this front running debutant we have a couple of Vietnamese newcomers, Hoiana Shores (at #12) and KN Golf Links Cam Ranh (at #16), both of which reside on the South Central Coast in that country. The former course is a Robert Trent Jones Jr. design that was just unveiled last year and the latter is Greg Norman’s third project to open in Vietnam. Occupying substantial sandy sites overlooking the South China Sea, each of these new tracks plays firm and fast, exhibiting many of the playing characteristics found on links layouts in Great Britain & Ireland, with a tropical twist. Hoiana Shores Golf Club Quite a few courses make significant double-digit moves up the new Asian standings, most notably a trio of 18-hole layouts from South Korea, led by Anyang Country Club (up thirty-two to #23) which Robert Trent Jones Jr. redesigned in the late 1990s. Also making a massive climb up the table, we have the Griffin and Wyvern nines at Wellington Country Club in Incheon (up twenty-three to #47) and Haesley Nine Bridges (up twenty to #69), where David Dale and Kevin Ramsey of Golfplan set out the course a decade ago now. Anyang Country Club Three Indonesian layouts also make outstanding chart progress. The first two are mid-1990s Jack Nicklaus designs at Taman Dayu Golf Club & Resort (up fifteen to #30), billed as “a heavenly escape in the lush green foothills of Mount Welirang,” and the Bumi Serpong Dama – known as “the spirit of the hills” – at the 36-hole Damai Indah Golf complex outside Jakarta (up fourteen to #42). The third track from Indonesia to make a big impact is Royale Jakarta (West & South), a JMP Design production from Bob Moore that rises thirteen places to No. 52. Taman Daya Golf Club & Resort The #1 course in the Philippines, The Country Club in Canlubang, advances eleven rungs up the ladder to No. 46. Designed by Tom Weiskopf, the layout has recently been lengthened, enabling it to host major national events like the Philippine Open which has been held here since 2017. It’s a tough track, described by one reviewer as “by far the hardest course I have ever played from the tips” so that’s fair warning for anybody fortunate enough to get a rare invite here to choose their tees very carefully. The Country Club In the bottom half of the new listings, the largest leap upwards is made by the course at Amata Spring Country Club, soaring twenty-five spots to No.63. Located midway between Bangkok and Pattaya in Thailand, this Schmidt & Curley design was the venue for four editions of the now defunct Royal Trophy, played between 8-man professional teams from Europe and Asia – and who can ever forget television images of this event and the ferryboat carrying golfers to and from the floating green at the par three 17th? Amata Spring Country Club Another couple of new entries are worth comment. Himalayan in Nepal (new at #55) is one of the most remarkable courses in the world, framed by the towering Annapurna Massif and with fairways laid out inside the walls of a deep canyon formed over many thousands of years by the snowmelt waters of the Bijayapur River. Architect Ron Fream first brought this place to the attention of the golfing world many years ago but it’s only now, with Tom Doak picking up on it, that it’s getting the wider recognition it deserves. Tom reckons “you have to see this course sometime in your life” which is high praise indeed for a course built entirely by hand with local manual labour. Himalayan Golf Course Myotha National in Myanmar (new at #86) is a Schmidt-Curley design that’s laid out within a large industrial and residential development an hour’s drive southwest of Mandalay. The course is boldly bunkered, in keeping with the scale of the property, and the greens are also large, featuring strong slopes and backstops. Importantly, it’s conditioned to play firm and fast, which is a playing characteristic that now appears to be finding favour with quite a few of the new courses that have opened for business in Asia over the last year or so. Myotha National Golf Club To view the complete detailed list of the Top 100 Golf Courses of Asia click the link. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses

Top 100 Golf Courses updates its East Asia rankings In recent years we’ve published quite a number of individual reports when revising the rankings for Asian countries. This time, we plan to rationalise things by grouping nations into regional releases. This is the first of three such news items, looking at China, Japan and South Korea under the banner of East Asia. We’ll produce further articles for Southeast Asia and South Asia but for now we’re concentrating on the three major golf markets in the eastern part of the continent. China We’ve extended our coverage in China to a Top 60, even though the overall golf provision in the country has contracted in the last few years. In our new listings, only four courses remain in the same position with fourteen others moving up, thirty-one dropping down, one falling out altogether (Tiger Beach, due to closure), and eleven layouts entering for the first time. With those numbers in mind, you might well be entitled to think there’s been something of a golfing shake-up in the People’s Republic. Our new national #1 is Yangtze Dunes at Lanhai International Country Club on Chongming Island, at the mouth of the mighty Yangtze River. It rises an incredible sixteen spots from its previous chart position following a fantastic renovation of the former Jack Nicklaus-designed layout by the Australian design company Ogilvy, Clayton, Cocking and Mead. This course upgrade also propelled it into our World 100 at #92 a few months ago. Yangtze Dunes at Lanhai International Country Club Our US Consultant Fergal O’Leary posted this after visiting last year: “The introduction of mouth-watering sand dunes, waste areas, sprawling rugged bunkers using Bermuda fairways and Bent greens makes this place rise above its peers across the continent. It’s completely different to anything you’ll find in Asia; especially given how firm the course is kept… this course has a more impressive mix of holes and topography than many of the courses that sadly linger on ranking lists” The highest new entry appears at an impressive #12 and it’s the Linksland course at Dongzhuang Beach Golf Club next to Shanghai Pudong International Airport which was designed by Mark Hollinger of the JMP Golf Design Group. The club presents its members with two contrasting 18-hole layouts; the Parkland course features tree-lined fairways and a variety of water features while the Linksland course offers a links-like experience with firm and fast playing conditions. Dongzhuang Beach Golf Club - Linksland course Our China and Southern Asia correspondent Kimi Hoshiyama was here just over a year ago and reported as follows: “Dongzhuang Beach Golf Club has thirty-six holes built on tidal flats and marshes on the coastline… The Linksland course is a classic links-style seaside course with artificially created dunes, long rough to knee height and pot bunkers… Some ponds come into play and many bunkers are strategically placed. When the sea winds are strong, the course becomes really tough.” A couple of courses make double digit advances in the new chart for China. Lakeview Golf Club Kunming, on the northern shores of Dianchi Lake in Yunnan Province, is an early new millennium project from Nick Faldo that now climbs ten spots to #29. The club is a member of the IMG Prestige network of high-end golf facilities (one of only six in China) and the course is a typical Faldo track; strategic but fun to play, with well-positioned bunkers, rolling fairways and beautifully contoured greens. Lakeview Golf Club Kunming Soaring an incredible seventeen slots to #32, the 18-hole layout at Beijing CBD International is a Brit Stenson design situated less than 15 kilometres east of downtown Beijing. Occupying a rather flat 135-acre property where a number of little lakes were built to provide fill for contouring, the course hosted two consecutive editions of the Volvo China Open (in 2008 and 2009) soon after it first opened for play. Rank/ To view the complete detailed list of the Top 60 Golf Courses of China click the link. Japan Thanks to the efforts of Kimi Hoshiyama and our extended team of raters, we’re expanding our rankings quite dramatically for Japan from a Top 50 to a Top 80. The new listings can be broken down numerically as follows: just four courses retain the same position as last time, fifteen move up, thirty-one drop down and thirty newcomers make their debut. As with the new Chinese table above, you might be forgiven if you think we’ve given the golf tree a good shake in the Land of the Rising Sun. Having stated that, there’s no change at the top of the standings, with the world-class course at Hirono Golf Club still commanding the #1 berth in our Japanese chart. Laid out by Harry Colt’s design partner Hugh Alison back in 1932, it’s been altered by a number of architects down the years but the very recent modifications by Martin Ebert have elevated it to another level altogether. Hirono Golf Club Our well-travelled correspondent Fergal O’Leary visited six months ago and had this to say: “Every bunker has a handsome new look with aggressive edging and sharp-looking lines… Large dramatic waste areas between tees and the start of fairways have been introduced… All the greens have been resurfaced and mirror previous undulations… It’s absolutely the top dog in Japan and Asia.” Fergal, with his tongue firmly in his cheek, then ended the review with his own little snippet of ancient Taoist philosophy: “Faces get older, swings get shorter, but as time goes by at Hirono, smiles get wider and horizons stronger”. The accolade of “highest-placed newcomer” in our chart belongs to the course at Fujizakura Country Club as it enters at #14. Lying in the shadow of Mount Fuji, which peaks ten kilometres to the south, it’s a mid-1970s design from Noriyuki Miyoshi that has hosted the Fujisankei Classic event on the Japan Golf Tour since the 33rd edition of the annual professional tournament was moved to the club in 2005. Fujizakura Country Club Three courses make impressive positional gains in the new listings. One of the first Japanese courses not to employ the dual green system, the course at Golden Valley Golf Club (up sixteen to #27) is a late 1980s Robert Trent Jones Jr. layout located deep in the hills to the north of Kobe. Here, the architect carved narrow playing corridors through three thickly forested valleys, with fairways laid out alongside a series of rock-lined creeks, making this one of the toughest tracks in the country. Golden Valley Golf Club Unveiled in 1992, the 18-hole layout at Passage Kinkai Island Golf Club (up thirteen to #35) isn’t actually set out set on an island at all as it’s situated on a peninsula on the west side of Omura Bay, directly opposite Nagasaki airport, with tree-lined fairways routed close to the water’s edge. Interestingly, visiting golfers can take a 20-minute ferry ride from the club’s marina across the bay to catch a plane home, as our man Kimi Hoshiyama did when he played here a while back. Passage Kinkai Island Golf Club The Royal Golf Club’s course (up twelve to #37) lies a 1.5-hour drive northeast of downtown Tokyo. Opened in 2016, it was designed by Nagato Yoichi, former Advisor to the Japan Tour Golf Association, who was brutally frank when describing this monster 8,143-yard layout: “There’s no course in the world that is tough on pro golfers and kind to amateurs. The Royal Golf Club course is equally difficult for both pro golfers and amateurs... I call holes that force players to swing with all their strength as ‘Yin holes’ and holes that let them think ‘Yang holes.’ When designing this course, I spent lots of time to strike a balance between Yin and Yang.” To view the complete detailed list of the Top 80 Golf Courses of Japan click the link. South Korea Our leading Korean correspondent Hwa-Young Nam has been of invaluable assistance with enlarging our table to a Top 50 and we’re grateful for the input he’s provided for this revision. With 798 courses in play at 440 facilities (according to a recent R&A report), the Republic of Korea is the eighth largest golfing nation in the world by number of courses so it’s only right that we give it due prominence. Statistically, in this latest chart edition, six courses stay as they were, twelve make upward moves, twenty-two slide downwards and ten make their first appearance. One of the non-movers is our national #1, South Cape Owners Club, which took over from Nine Bridges as the best course in Korea when we re-ranked the country in 2016. South Cape Owners Club Set out on a spectacular site along the coastline of Namhae Island, just off the Korean mainland, this modern design lies at the heart of a luxury resort which was developed by businessman Jae Bong Chung, opening for business in 2013. Since 2016, the club has hosted the Descente Korea Munsingwear Matchplay tournament on the men’s Korean Tour. Fergal O’Leary thinks that “what Kyle Phillips created at South Cape makes a lot of old classics shiver in the boots” while David Davis wonders “if, in the long run, it’s recognized as Kyle Phillips’ best gift to the golf world”. There’s no doubt this is one of the best pay and play golf facilities in the world, with off course amenities matching the fabulous playing experience out on the fairways. A significant 5-place climb to #3 is made by Anyang Country Club, whose course was established by the founder of the Samsung Group back in the late 1960s to compete against any of the top golfing layouts located elsewhere in the world. It’s been renovated a couple of times since then, most notably by Robert Trent Jones Jr. in the late 1990s, to keep the “Korean Home of Golf” as playable and up to date with new trends, especially with regard to its putting surfaces. Anyang Country Club The biggest leap up the ladder is made by the Dream and Vision nines at Sagewood Country Club (up seven to #18) which form the leading 18-hole layout at a well-regarded 27-hole golf complex from Nicklaus Design in the mountainous district of Hongcheon in Gangwon Province. Opening its doors to golfers as Blue Mountain Country Club in 2013, this renamed golf club lies 765 metres above sea level, with golf played out in a harmonious environment where ‘the blue sky meets the mountains’ according to the club’s publicity material. Sagewood Country Club The highest of ten newcomers shows up at #31 and it’s the course at NamChon Golf Club, which was renovated by Kyle Phillips in 2016, the year after it had hosted two editions of the KB Financial Star Championship on the LPGA of Korea Tour. With Zoysia fairways and Creeping Bent greens, the playing surfaces of the East and West nines at Namchon are second to none on a layout that can now be stretched to just over 7,000 yards for tournament play. NamChon Golf Club To view the complete detailed list of the Top 50 Golf Courses of South Korea click the link. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses