Producing a Top 100 chart for Europe isn’t easy as there aren’t many golfers with a broad enough range of playing experience across all the countries. Still, we’ve managed to find a select group of well-travelled panellists who have assisted with this chart and we’re grateful for their input.
Normally, we produce these continental listings at the start of a ranking cycle then work our way through the constituent countries. This time, we began with the Nordic countries last year then – after something of a hiatus in the second half of 2022 – we eventually worked through the remaining nations until all were refreshed.
Doing things that way made it a good bit trickier to assemble the top-level chart now (as recently revised country positions must remain intact within the pan-national framework) but we think we’ve produced a cohesive ranking list that stands up well against those that have gone before in previous iterations.
So, in our new-look European Top 100, twelve courses remain in the same position, twenty-nine move up, forty-two drop down and seventeen make their first appearance in the standings. We’ll now concentrate our overview on most of the big upward movers, along with our highest new entry which arrives comfortably inside the Top 10.
Morfontaine
But first, we introduce the course which has held the coveted European #1 slot since 2012, the Grand Parcours 18-hole layout at Golf de Morfontaine in France. Golf was first played here in 1913 but it was Tom Simpson’s late 1920s remodelling of the layout that brought the course to prominence. Relatively recent Kyle Phillips improvements have ensured the course keeps pace with modern technology, at the same time retaining much of the original design intent.
This 5.5-ball review was posted a few months ago: “Played this course last year around September. Amazing course. Every hole is beautiful. We were all alone with our 4-ball and a caddy. They were blowing away the leaves in front of us, just as if it was just for us. Perfect conditions. We played the championship course in the morning and the [9-hole] Vallière in the afternoon. An amazing experience.”
Lofoten Links
The remote course at Lofoten Links in Norway was listed just inside the top half of the table last time around in 2020 but it now makes a prodigious 43-place leap up the listings to the #4 position – which is not that surprising when you consider it was a new entry in our World Top 100 when it was refreshed last year. Designed by Jeremy Turner, this 18-hole layout in the Arctic Circle enjoys one of the most stunning locations imaginable.
Les Bordes
Entering the standings for the first time, the New course at Les Bordes Golf Club in France is our highest new entry at #6. Laid out by Gil Hanse on the site of a former 36-hole set-up close to Robert von Hagge’s Old course, the New is a heathland-style track featuring expansive waste areas, formidable bunkers and captivating green complexes, with great emphasis placed on the ground game in a firm and fast playing environment.
Visby
A few folk probably raised an eyebrow when we published our Swedish Top 100 last year as the 18-hole layout (called “The One”) at Visby Golfklubb on the island of Gotland took over the #1 position from the Stadium course at Bro Hof Slott. It now rises twenty-nine places to #17 in our continental standings, improving on the #25 position it held in 2014. Pierre Fulke and Adam Mednick deserve great credit for the remodelling work caried out at the club.
Royal Antwerp
The Tom Simpson course at Royal Antwerp Golf Club in Belgium climbs nineteen spots to #22 in the new chart. It’s hard to imagine this place fell from our European Top 100 in 2014 and only reappeared when we last reappraised the standings three years ago – all credit to the club for its willingness to restore the layout to its original design objectives, removing a vast number of trees to greatly improve the overall agronomy on the property.
Palmares
The Praia and Lagos nines at Palmares Ocean Living & Golf Resort in Portugal found favour with our Portuguese panel a few months back (rising two to #3 in the national chart) and it now makes substantial progress in the continental listings, moving up eleven places to #27. Situated on the Atlantic coast in the eastern half of The Algarve, the original 18-hole course was revamped into a 27-hole complex in 2010 by Robert Trent Jr. and the club has never looked back since.
Les Aisses
The 18-hole Les Aisses course at Les Aisses Golf in the Sologne region of France jumps twenty-five places up to #31 in the chart. Hawtree Limited was engaged in 2010 to reimagine the original Olivier Brizon design, recreating an old-style layout in the spirit of the heathland tracks found in England around London. Woodland management, heather regeneration and remodelling of bunkers have all contributed to the new look here.
Real Moraleja
Real Club La Moraleja in Madrid owns the largest private golf facility in Europe, with four Jack Nicklaus-designed 18-hole golf courses operating across three locations around the Spanish capital. The club’s #3 course now advances fourteen places to #40 in our chart, with sand-capped fairways routed around four large lakes on a rather flat site where a fair amount of soil was shifted to create contouring during construction.
Royal Limburg
The course at Royal Limburg is another Belgian track that has dramatically turned its ranking fortunes around. Positioned at #33 in 2018, it plummeted inexplicably to #88 in 2020 but it’s now back with a bang, soaring 47 places up to #41. Designed by Fred Hawtree in the mid-1960s then subsequently altered by his son Martin, the course underwent a complete bunker renovation by architect (and club member) Bruno Steensels in 2018 – so it’s taken a full five-year period for that work to be fully appreciated now!
Real Puerta de Hierro
The Abajo course at Real Club de la Puerto de Hierro in Madrid (up fifteen to #48) has benefitted from the design talents of several top architects since 1912, starting out with Harry Colt and Tom Simpson in its formative years, followed by John Harris and Kyle Phillips in more modern times. Frank Pont consults currently as the club continues to revise and refine both the Abajo and its sister layout, the Arriba, at a wonderful 36-hole facility close to the city centre.
Pärnu Bay
The 18-hole layout at Pärnu Bay Golf Links in Estonia (up twenty-three to #52) is a Lassi Pekka Tilander design, shaped by Mick McShane, that first opened for play in 2015. Situated on a sandy coastal strip of land where the forest meets the sea at Pärnu Bay, the raised fairways weave around expansive sandy waste areas and small lagoons, leading to multi-tiered, sand-protected greens. Drought-tolerant fescue ensures firm and fast playing conditions all-year-round.
Linna
The top track in Finland is the course at Linna Golf (up fourteen to #65) which Tim Lobb designed when he worked with European Golf Design in the early years of the new millennium. Located halfway between Tampere and Helsinki, the course is routed through a pine and birch forest next to the famous Vanajan Linna Hotel, with views across Lake Katuma to the west of the property.
Royal Bled
The 18-hole King’s course at Royal Bled in Slovenia (up sixteen to #79) dates back to the late 1930s but it was largely abandoned until Donald Harradine redesigned the layout in 1972. Fast forward almost forty-five years and the club commissioned Swan Golf Designs to reconstruct tees, green and bunkers, install new irrigation and introduce new water features on the back nine. It’s pleasing now to see this extensive upgrade receive the recognition it fully deserves.
Olgiata
Located half an hour’s drive northwest of Rome city centre, the 18-hole West course at Olgiata Golf Club in Italy (up eleven to #87) is a 1960s Cotton & Pennink parkland track that Jim Fazio renovated in 2010. The club has hosted the World Cup twice (in 1968 and 1984) and staged three Italian Opens, the last of which was in 2019 when Austrian Bernd Wiesberger won the event by one stroke from Matt Fitzpatrick.
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Jim McCann
Editor
Top 100 Golf Courses
