England is home to some of the best golf courses in the world, and its five highest-ranked layouts can be played without being a member.
From a 15-time Open venue on the Kent coast to some of the finest heathland golf in Surrey and Berkshire, plus a spectacular links course in Cornwall, these are the five highest-ranked courses in England that welcome visiting golfers.
Royal St George’s offers the chance to play one of England’s most historic and challenging links courses. Founded in 1887, it was the first English course to host the Open and has staged the championship 15 times, including the most recent edition in 2021.
Routed through towering dunes in a loose figure of eight, Royal St George’s has undulating fairways, uneven lies and plenty of elevation changes that can make even seemingly straightforward shots difficult. The fourth hole is particularly memorable, with a huge bunker carved into a towering dune guarding the fairway.
Despite its reputation as a demanding championship test, the course is as enjoyable to explore as it is difficult to score on. Wildflowers and dune grasses line the fairways, while views stretch across Pegwell Bay towards the white cliffs beyond. Add in distinctive features such as the thatched shelters and St George’s flags, and there is plenty to keep you entertained between the inevitable moments of frustration.
The Old course at Sunningdale is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful inland courses in the British Isles. Opened in 1901 by Willie Park Jr, it was one of the first great courses to emerge from the Surrey and Berkshire sand-belt, with Harry Colt later reshaping the layout and giving it the intimate, tree-lined character it has today.
Pine, birch, oak and heather frame the fairways, while the firm heathland turf makes Sunningdale a joy to walk and play. The course has hosted plenty of memorable golf, too, including Bobby Jones’ remarkable 66 in Open qualifying in 1926 and Nick Faldo’s 62 at the 1986 European Open.
The 10th is a particular highlight, with its elevated tee offering a spectacular view before the halfway hut provides one of golf’s more welcome rewards. The 15th, a 226-yard par three, is another standout.
For golfers visiting England, Sunningdale Old offers a classic heathland experience in one of the country's finest golfing regions.
The New course at Sunningdale provides a rather different experience to its famous older sibling. Opened in 1923 and designed by Harry Colt, it is more open and rugged than the Old, with elevated tees, heathery terrain and long carries placing a greater emphasis on driving.
At 6,700 yards and par 70, the New is no pushover, with narrow fairways and plenty of undulation making it a particularly demanding test from the back tees. Even the professionals have struggled to make it look easy: Jack Nicklaus once held the course record with a 67 before Graeme Storm carded a remarkable 62 during Open qualifying in 2009.
The course has also benefited from an ongoing tree-management programme, allowing more heather to return and restoring views across Chobham Common. The fifth, a picturesque par three played across the heath, is one of the highlights.
The result is a course that rewards good driving without becoming a purely distance-based test, with the heathland setting providing plenty of visual interest along the way.
St Enodoc is unlike almost any other links course in England. Overlooking the Camel Estuary in Rock, with views across to Padstow, the Church Course takes its name from the 13th-century church that sits beside the 10th green. Remarkably, the building was completely buried by sand in the 19th century before being excavated in 1863.
Founded in 1891 and redesigned by James Braid in 1907, St Enodoc is defined by its towering dunes and constantly changing terrain, where no two holes feel quite the same.
The sixth is the course's signature hole, demanding two blind shots over the towering 'Himalayas' dune to reach the hidden green. The 10th, played across a natural valley to a narrow fairway below, is another memorable challenge. If your ball strays towards the churchyard, you'll also find the grave of Poet Laureate John Betjeman, whose poem Seaside Golf was inspired by the course.
The combination of huge dunes, unusual holes and views across the Camel Estuary makes St Enodoc a particularly distinctive addition to any English golf trip.
Swinley Forest offers a quieter, more understated version of heathland golf on the Surrey and Berkshire sand-belt. Set among mature pines and heather, it has a wonderfully quiet atmosphere and an old-fashioned character that is increasingly difficult to find. The firm, fast-running fairways and purple heather in summer give it all the hallmarks of classic heathland golf.
Designed by Harry Colt and opened in 1909, Swinley measures around 6,400 yards and plays to a par of 69. The short holes are particularly strong, with a varied collection of one-shotters that require careful club selection. Around the greens, false fronts, run-offs and subtle slopes provide plenty of opportunities for a good round to unravel.
For much of its history, Swinley was an intensely private club where visitors were few and far between. It now welcomes green-fee golfers, although the club retains much of its distinctive character.
The result is a course that feels removed from the modern world, with little of the glamour associated with some of its better-known neighbours. For golfers who enjoy traditional heathland golf, that simplicity is a large part of Swinley's appeal.
Green fees quoted are summer 2027 rates where available.
South East England - Top 50 Golf Courses 2017 This release for England’s South East is the seventh and final update that will inform our upcoming English Top 100 rankings. The South East region is where you’ll find the nation’s largest swathe of heathland, where there is seemingly an infinite number of classic heathery courses from which to choose. There’s also a trio of Open Championship venues in this region (one current and two former), and it’s the venerable Royal St George’s that heads our inaugural South East Top 50 table. England’s South East region incorporates the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Sussex. It’s the most densely populated of England’s nine “official” regions where more than eight and a half million people reside. Their golfing needs are served by approximately 475 golf clubs in this region. Selecting the best 10% for our inaugural Top 50 was surprisingly easy because the vast majority are already ranked nationally in our England Top 100. Our new South East regional Top 50 features six World Top 100 ranked courses, twenty-four layouts that are currently ranked in our GB&I hundred, and forty-four that are listed in our current English Top 100. The South East is undeniably the strongest golfing region in England – whichever way you care to analyse it. Underpinning Royal St George’s (#1), the Old course at Sunningdale Golf Club (#2) and its younger sibling the New (#3) are the two premier heathland courses in the country. Many well-travelled golfers believe that Sunningdale is the best 36-hole golf club in the world. Richard Smith, one of our respected reviewers, played here in July: “A day at Sunningdale is a treat to treasure. This is great golf in a beautiful setting on courses oozing with history. This was one of the great golfing days in my life to play the Old and New together.” Swinley Forest (#4) is Harry Colt’s “least bad course” and it’s enjoying a renaissance following the addition of new back tees, which now stretch the layout to around 6,400 yards from the tips. Richard Smith commented as follows: “My first impression after finishing was that this was the hardest 6,400- yard course I had ever played… Swinley is a course that absolutely demands precision and the ability to work the ball in all directions. Every shot needs to be thought and played with a purpose. I think the thing that elevates Swinley to the highest level is a combination of the strategic options available on each shot and the testing greens and approaches.” St George’s Hill (#5) is another outstanding Harry Colt layout which is still vastly underrated by some publications. It has featured in our World Top 100 for a number of years now and its place in that esteemed list is really well deserved. Walton Heath’s Old course (#6) does tend to divide opinion somewhat and its detractors tend to complain about the holes around the turn – which had to be altered to accommodate London’s M25 orbital motorway – but the Old is perhaps the most authentic heathland layout in the South East, where the tangly heather is at its most tenacious. West Sussex (#7) at Pulborough is one of my personal heathland favourites and Bernard Darwin described it as “a little sandy jewel set in the Sussex clay”. It’s considered to be too short by modern standards and maybe it’s one par five away from magnificence, however, along with Rye, it’s one of the toughest par 68s I’ve ever played and holding a score together on the back nine is easier said than done. Talking of brutal homeward nines, few come much tougher than the backside at Royal Cinque Ports (#8) in Deal. Despite its Open pedigree, the rumpled and crumpled links at Sandwich overshadows Deal, but the greensites at Royal Cinque Ports are every bit as good as its more illustrious regal near neighbour. The West course at Wentworth (#9) has been through some tough times in the last decade or so. We did wonder whether lost love would ever return to Virginia Water’s West course – The rise and fall of the troubled Burma Road. We teed it up on the West a couple of weeks ago and the improvements are stark. There is no doubt that the recent multi-million pound revamp, which included creeping bent re-seeding and installation of sub-air greens, has made a marked difference. Retuning the course back to the old Harry Colt design has not only pleased us, but also many of the Tour players – and the work is not yet finished. Further improvements will be undertaken over this coming winter in readiness for next spring’s BMW PGA Championship. Shhh naysayers. Nobody could possibly accuse the Berkshire’s Red course (#10) of being dull. Its exciting 6-6-6 routing keeps you on your toes and there’s only one consecutive pair of holes with the same par values at the back-to-back short par fours (11 and 12) and both these holes are set magnificently on the higher ground. The Old course at Rye (#11) was Harry Colt’s inaugural design where the routing has been altered and improved down the years by several architects, including Tom Simpson and Sir Guy Campbell. Many wonder why Rye is not a permanent feature in the World Top 100, others think – rather like West Sussex – that it’s missing a strong enough mix of holes. Queenwood (#12) is the course that David McLay Kidd built for the club’s small but perfectly formed membership and their very fortunate friends. With probably the best tee to green grooming in England, Queenwood is where many top players hone their game. In the words of Fergal O’Leary: “Expect to feel like a king off the course, and then be challenged like a PGA Tour professional the minute you step on the first tee.” According to Tom Doak, Hankley Common (#13) “provokes mixed emotions; if the strategy ever matched the setting, you could have a world beater.” Undeniably a most enjoyable element of the course is the majesty of the situation, which is quiet and genteel in the classical English mould. Woking (#14) for some is already a world beater and it was here where a few golf mad barristers, with the help of Tom Dunn, created the first experimental heathland layout in 1893. Worplesdon (#15) is perhaps the prettiest of Surrey’s trinity of “Ws” and it was John Abercromby’s inaugural design that dates back to 1908 with the greens and bunkers constructed by Willie Park Junior. Little has changed here after more than 100 years. The East course at Wentworth (#16) was the first course Harry Colt built at Virginia Water. It has remained largely untouched since it was laid out two years before the second unofficial matches between American and British professionals were staged here in 1926, one year prior to the inauguration of the Ryder Cup. Hindhead (#17) has come on in leaps and bounds in the last decade and it’s now one of the premier courses in Surrey thanks to a plethora of subtle modifications and a step change in greenkeeping standards. It’s one of the most memorable courses in the county. West Hill (#18) is the third member of the trio of W’s and it too has improved markedly in the last few years. A massive tree-clearing programme has now completed, creating more width and enabling an already heathery layout to flourish. The Addington (#19) has been underrated for a while now, largely due to tree encroachment which is gradually being addressed. However, there’s no denying the course’s dramatic, tumbling topography that takes golfers on a wild and exciting ride under the watchful gaze of the London city skyline. The Blue course at The Berkshire (#20) is the Red’s understudy. Ed Battye, the founder of Golf Empire, reckons that “the run of holes from the 11th onwards are really what define the Blue… They are all energetic holes and there is more going on over this closing stretch than what has gone before it.” Our first South East Top 50 features courses in the 21-50 range that we’d happily play every week. The undeniable quality and quantity of golf on offer in this region is second to none in the British Isles. It doesn’t make sense to mention every layout here, but we feature each one prominently within our Top 100 web pages. However, we’ll mention a few South East courses that have pleasantly surprised us recently. These have flown under the radar and we think they are worthy of highlighting. Knole Park (#42) has yet to appear within our English Top 100, but that will change very soon. This 1924 John Abercromby design is laid out within an enormous 1,000-acre estate and it’s a thrilling layout which plays firm and fast over an old deer park where fallow deer still roam freely today. We should perhaps pay closer attention to the writings of Bernard Darwin who, in 1925, wrote the following passage in The Golf Courses of Great Britain: [Knole Park] “is still very new, but I think, when it is a little older, few, if any, park courses will be better. Certainly none will be prettier. There are the loveliest holes down winding forest glades, full of romantic possibilities…” Royal Wimbledon (#43) is another club that has perennially missed out on a national ranking position, although in 2008 it did make a brief appearance in our English Top 100. The club really couldn’t care less whether or not their course is ranked, such is their indifference to ratings, however, anyone can play here by following simple protocol. Those that have teed it up at this Harry Colt-touched heathland cum parkland track delight at Colt’s signature par threes. Piltdown (#47) is yet another club in this region that is investing heavily in its primary asset, the golf course. We were very impressed when we played here on two separate occasions recently. Just like its neighbour on the other side of Ashdown Forest, Piltdown is bunkerless, and the absence of sand traps somehow play trickery with distances. It’s a charming course that doesn’t have strong architectural provenance but it’s a solid layout nonetheless. Brokenhurst Manor (#49) is set in the heart of the New Forest and it’s another unsung Harry Colt design which is unusually configured in three returning 6-hole loops. As is often the case with Colt layouts, the stars of the show are the one-shotters which look longer than they actually play, but there are plenty of other solid holes throughout the card. There’s undeniably a heathland look and feel to the entire layout but with a distinct lack of heather which the club is trying to introduce in places. Despite a tree-clearing programme, there’s an opportunity to open the site up further. Farnham (#50) has languished for too long in the lower reaches of our Surrey Best In County rankings. A recent visit to the club proved how important it is to regularly re-play courses. Located in a charming village called The Sands, Farnham is half parkland and half heathland. The course starts and ends on the flatter, parkland ground, and the holes in between are routed across the heathery ground where the land movement is more stirring. Some of these sandy holes would grace any Top 100 heathland course. We played the new and ultra-exclusive David McLay Kidd and Tom Watson co-design at Beaverbrook Golf Club earlier this year and felt it has great potential, but we decided not to list it in our Surrey Best In County rankings this time, largely due to insufficient votes. Finally for those eagle-eyed observers, we’ve extended our Kent Best In County rankings from a Top 25 to a Top 30. We decided there were a number of solid courses in this golf rich county deserving credit. South East England - Top 50 Golf Courses 2017 Rank/ Click the following links to see in detail our latest Best In County rankings for the eight South East England counties: Berkshire Top 15 Golf Courses 2017 Buckinghamshire Top 10 Golf Courses 2017 Hampshire Top 20 Golf Courses 2017 Kent Top 30 Golf Courses 2017 Middlesex Top 10 Golf Courses 2017 Oxfordshire Top 10 Golf Courses 2017 Surrey Top 40 Golf Courses 2017 Sussex Top 20 Golf Courses 2017 Keith Baxter Top 100 Golf Courses
Top 40 Golf Courses in Surrey 2015 Surrey Best in County rankings updated One of seven Home Counties surrounding London, Surrey is estimated to have the best economic rating (highest GDP per capita) of any county in England. Armed with that impressive statistic, it’ll come as no surprise to learn that Surrey is reckoned to have the highest proportion of millionaires in the UK living within its boundaries. In such an affluent region, it seems only appropriate that Surrey should also be home to a significantly high percentage of prestigious, world class golfing establishments and this is certainly the case when you closely examine the Top 40 chart that we maintain for the county. Each and every one of the county’s top twenty courses currently reside within the Top 100 for England, with thirteen of those layouts also occupying positions in our Great Britain & Ireland Top 100. Indeed, at the very top of the tree, the four highest ranked tracks in Surrey all sit inside our World Top 100 rankings, indicating the level of golfing excellence in this region. At number 1 and 2 in the listings, we have the Old course and New course at Sunningdale where, as a combination, these layouts represent the finest 36 holes of golf on a single property in all of the British Isles. As one recent reviewer advises, “If you haven’t played here yet then do yourself a favour and treat yourself to a day here, fairly pricey but you won’t regret it.” Rising one position to number 3, the Red and Blue nines at St George’s Hill constitute what can only be described as a Harry Colt masterpiece. The fairways on both 9-hole circuits are laid out on the canvas of a heaving heathland landscape, with each nine returning to an imposing clubhouse that looms benevolently over the property. Swapping places with St George’s Hill, the Old course at Walton Heath drops down one place to number 4. A classic Herbert Fowler design, the heather-flanked fairways of the Old course invariably play firm and fast, allowing golfers to enjoy its links-like conditioning all year round. It’d hard to believe that James Braid was the club’s professional for almost half a century, a feat that will take some beating. The only other significant upward movement in the top half of the revised Surrey rankings involves Woking (up three to 8) which Bernard Darwin, a member for more than sixty years, spoke about as one of London’s “stars of sand and heather” and Hindhead (up two to 12), where the club has recently completed an impressive bunker upgrading programme. In the bottom half of the chart, a handful of courses make noteworthy moves in the right direction: the Willie Park-designed Old course at Burhill (up eleven to 23), the 18-hole Longcross layout at Foxhills (up nine to 24), the fabulous 9-holer at Reigate Heath (up thirteen to 27), the old J.H. Taylor track at Addington Palace (up eight to 29), and the Old course at the Royal Automobile Club (up six to 32). Half a dozen tracks make their debut in the lower reaches of the revised county listings: the Outer course at Royal Mid-Surrey (number 33), the old Tom Dunn-designed 18-holes at Richmond (number 34), Cuthbert Butchart’s West Byfleet (number 35), the James Braid redesign of Barnstead Downs (number 36), Simon Gidman’s New course at Burhill (number 37), and Bramley, another Braid redesign from 1935 (number 38). We’re grateful to everybody in the county who helped with our re-ranking process for Surrey. To view details of all the courses in our Surrey Top 40 rankings click the link. If you have extensive experience of playing across the south east region of England and would like to contribute to our next re-ranking exercise then please email Editor-in-Chief Keith Baxter at keith@top100golfcourses.com. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses
Top 100 Golf Courses of England 2012 Top 100 Golf Courses reverts back to a Top 100 for England A little more than twelve months ago we announced the extension of our England top golf course rankings to 200 courses. Having listened to feedback during 2011, we have now decided to revert back to a national English Top 100. The reason we are changing back is simple. Very few people have played the England Top 100, let alone the England Top 200. We found it virtually impossible to define the positions for English courses in the ranking range of 101 to 200. During 2011 we launched and completed a project to identify the best courses in every English county. This has proved to be a successful way to showcase the best English courses on a regional basis. Our future plans are to further develop and refine our English Best In County rankings by continuing to use local help and expertise to accurately assess the golf courses across the individual English counties. Andy Newmarch (our Marketing Director) and I have played eighty-five of England’s Top 100 Golf Courses between us and we’ve decided to challenge each other to see who can complete the entire England Top 100 first. We each have around thirty more courses to play, so it may take a year or two to establish the winner, but we’ll keep you posted. If you’ve already played the English Top 100, or a significant proportion, I’d love to hear from you. Please send an email to: info@top100golfcourses.com. So what has actually changed since we last looked at England twelve months or so ago? For the first time since we launched our individual country rankings back in 2006, we have a new English No.1. Following a successful 2011 Open Championship, Royal St George’s moves into pole position and upstages our long-standing numero uno (now No.2), Royal Birkdale. Swinley Forest jumps back into the Top 10 for the first time since 2008 and Sunningdale (New) continues its progression up the table to No.7. Luffenham Heath moves back into the hundred after its centenary in 2011 and Tandridge makes a return too as it begins to showcase the quality of the renovation work. The Manor House in Wiltshire and the underrated Edinburgh course at Wentworth also rejoin the Top 100. From the Golden Age, Blackwell and Stoneham move into the hundred for the first time, but it’s a modern course that is our only brand new entry and it doffs its cap to the Golden Age of golf course architecture. Set in glorious Northumberland countryside, with an elegant 18th century mansion at its heart, the Colt course at Close House was one of only a handful of European courses to open in 2011. Designed by Scott Macpherson of Turner Macpherson Golf Design, the Colt course is fashioned in the spirit of Harry Colt, featuring many of the great architect’s trademarks. I do hope you enjoy our condensed England Top 100 and if you have any comments or feedback, I’d love to hear from you. And, just for the record, I’d like to remind you that Top 100 Golf Courses is truly independent, having no association with any magazine publications. Finally a big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to post course reviews online. Please keep them coming, it’s your reviews that make the Top 100 website come alive. Keith Baxter Editor-in-Chief www.top100golfcourses.com To see in detail our new 2012 Top 100 Golf Courses of England click here.
