In strict geographical terms, Continental Europe excludes the Mediterranean islands of Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Cyprus and the Balearics but we include all of these golfing hot spots in our Continental Europe grouping. For good measure, we also include a number of other islands: out in the Atlantic, we have the Azores and the Canaries, whilst up at the top of the world, we take in Iceland and Greenland. Turkey and Russia are sometimes listed within the Asian continent but we take the more conventional approach of including them in our mainland Europe ranking charts.

We cover more than a hundred courses in Central Europe, maintaining a Top 5 chart for Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia, a Top 10 for Poland, a Top 20 for Switzerland and the Czech Republic and a Top 30 for Austria. With more than one hundred and fifty layouts showcased from the Nordic region of Europe, we feature a Top 30 for Norway and Finland, a Top 40 for Denmark and a Top 60 for Sweden. We also profile over two hundred courses in the environs of the Mediterranean and beyond, supporting the following major ranking charts: a Portuguese Top 40, an Italian Top 50, plus French and Spanish Top 100s. We've also recently doubled our coverage of Germany with a Top 100 chart.

The current Continental European Top 100 (displayed lower down this page) lists only the very best courses from the near five hundred that we promote in mainland Europe. Within the upper echelons of this chart, France rules supreme as four of its top tracks appear in the Top 10, led by the wonderful old Tom Simpson design of Morfontaine at number 1. Some might be surprised at the prominent positions held by Dutch courses – where a couple of Dutch courses (Koninklijke Haagsche at number 2 and Utrecht de Pan at number 3) – occupy Top 10 spots; nonetheless, we think this largely undiscovered golfing nation might just be one of Europe’s best kept golfing secrets.

The R&A report entitled “Golf around the World 2015” identified an interesting new golfing trend in Europe, where new development appears to be based on short, compact public courses comprising of six, nine or twelve holes. The second edition of the report, "Golf around the World 2017," lists Germany (747 facilities) as the world's 6th largest golfing nation with France (637) in 7th position, Sweden (485) in 9th place and Spain (418) ranked as 13th. To see the full reports, click this R&A link then download the appropriate free publication.

Our Continental European Top 100 rankings were last updated in December 2017. Click the link to read the story.