Top 100 Links Courses of Britain and Ireland 2020
Some of our regular readers may remember a Links news item published during the dark winter days from three years ago which generated quite a bit of feedback. Entitled Top 100 Links Courses of Britain and Ireland 2017, it featured what we considered to be the best one hundred links layouts around the shores of the British Isles.
We’ve now decided to revive the GB&I Links List and have taken it a stage further by creating a Top 100 that will be updated biennially, along with all the other listings that we revise on an ongoing basis. The latest list appears below but if you wish to see the complete chart details of the then click the link.
When comparing the current standings to those of January 2017, it must be remembered that there have been two editions of national and GB&I updates published since 2017 so the chart movements indicated below reflect two ranking revisions.
Only three courses move upwards within the Top 20 and, although they’re only small improvements, things are so tight at the top that even the slightest change is actually seen as quite significant. The Dunluce at Royal Portrush (#4) and the West links at North Berwick (#12) both rise two places to their current positions, while the Balgownie at Royal Aberdeen eases up one spot to No.15.
North Berwick Golf Club
Looking at the remaining positions in the top half of the table, half a dozen 18-hole layouts make reasonable headway.
In England, both the century-old layouts at St Enodoc (Church) in Cornwall (up seven to #21) and Royal Cinque Ports in Kent (up six to #23) have lately found favour with our raters, along with the two modern Irish links at Trump International Ireland in County Clare (up thirteen to #28) and Sandy Hills at Rosapenna in Donegal (up six to #38). The Scottish courses at Gullane No. 1 in East Lothian (up five to #44), host venue for a couple of recent national Opens, and the newly renovated Machrie on Islay (up eight to #45), also progress in the right direction.
Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club
In the bottom half of the standings, there are a handful of top tracks which make double-digit advances.
The Old course at Moray in Lossiemouth (up thirteen to #58) and the Shore and Dunes nines at Prince’s in Sandwich (up eleven to #64) also now occupy positions in our mainstream GB&I Top 100 and they’re followed by the biggest climber on our links listings, the James Braid-designed Perranporth in Cornwall, which hurtles nineteen places up to No. 73. Two Scottish links with Braid connections make their mark a little further down the list, with Murcar Links in Aberdeenshire racing ten spots up to No. 80 and Panmure in Angus streaking thirteen rungs up the ladder to No. 86.
Perranporth Golf Club
Five courses have been added to our Links Top 100.
The first of these is Elie in Fife (new at #85), which is an Old Tom Morris design, with Martin Ebert’s newly renovated King Robert the Bruce (formerly the Kintyre) course at Trump Turnberry (new at #90) also making the cut. The Corbie Hill course at Fraserburgh then concludes the contingent of Scottish newcomers at No. 91.
The Golf House Club, Elie
At the foot of the table, Tenby at No. 95 in Pembrokeshiire becomes the 7th links layout from Wales and Goswick in Northumberland completes the English complement of new entries at No. 98.
Tenby Golf Club
For those who might wonder which courses dropped out, four came from the northern side of Hadrian’s Wall: Archerfield (Direlton), Leven Links, Luffness New and Montrose (Medal), along with Royal Jersey from the Channel Islands. Courses that just missed out on a Top 100 berth this time include St Andrews (Jubilee), Rosapenna (Old Tom Morris) and West Cornwall.
Rank/
To see the complete detailed list of the Top 100 Links Courses of Britain and Ireland click the link.
Jim McCann
Editor
Top 100 Golf Courses
The 240 “Real Links” courses of Britain & Ireland Last month we published our inaugural rankings of the Top 100 Links Courses of Britain and Ireland. In that news release we promised to publish a full list of all the links courses in Britain & Ireland that we felt warranted the accolade of “Real Links”. We’ve previously mentioned publications that have listed courses which the authors felt qualified to be called “authentic links”, but we discovered some links courses within Britain & Ireland had been omitted while others had been included which we felt were not sufficiently links-like in nature. Our alphabetical list includes courses located within the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and on the Scottish islands as well as the two main islands of Britain and Ireland where the vast majority of “Real Links” courses are found. 240 courses in Britain and Ireland have made our Real Links list but we do not feature every one of them within our various ranking categories. Being a links course doesn’t automatically qualify clubs for entry into our rankings. Scotland can proudly lay claim to possessing more links courses than any other country, 100 in total. But there are 63 in Ireland (50 in the Republic and 13 in the North), 55 in England and 18 in Wales. We mustn’t ignore the trio of links gems on the Channel Islands and the mighty Castletown on the Isle of Man. We fully expect this list to stimulate debate and we’d like nothing more than to receive comments about any links courses that we have omitted or any that we’ve included which you feel are not genuine. But, before you contact us, we should explain our selection criteria. Of the 240 listed links courses (the list includes a mixture of layouts ranging from nine to eighteen holes) not every hole on every course is necessarily a real links hole. We decided that if at least 50% of the holes on any course are genuine links holes, the course made it on to our final list. There are many points of argument and debate as to what constitutes a real links course. For example, we could discuss grass types for a very long time. Purists argue that meadow grass has no place on links courses, but the reality is that poa annua is prevalent on some. Until 2016, the greens on the Old course at Ballybunion were dominated by poa annua, but no author dreamt of uttering the suggestion that Ballybunion was not a links course. Our Interpretation of "Links" After much thought and consideration we think we’ve taken a pragmatic view, which we believe is fair and reasonable. Some links courses will play homage to the ground game more enthusiastically than others, but you’ll find mostly the spirit of true links within the courses we’ve listed. Here’s our list of the 240 links courses in Britain & Ireland that we genuinely believe deserve the “Real Links” title: Course Contact us if you disagree – our aim is to get it right – and if we agree with your assertions we’ll correct our list. Treat this iteration as version one because we fully expect to refine the listing in light of feedback received. The following courses were carefully considered and debated at length but we couldn't quite find enough evidence to include them within our list:
Top 100 Links Courses of Britain and Ireland 2017 There’s no denying it – we’re obsessed with golf courses, especially links courses. We’re also rather nutty about lists. So, for the first time, we are delighted to present the inaugural rankings of the Top 100 Links Courses of Britain and Ireland. Initially we thought it would be an easy job to produce such a list, but soon into the project it quickly became apparent that we had to define exactly what is a links course. Paul Daley, in his book Links Golf The Inside Story, published in 2000, states: “There is much conjecture as to what really constitutes a links. Reduced to the bare essentials, any layout purporting to be a links should look like one. But more importantly, it must play like a links. What some people fail to acknowledge is that these two elements do not automatically co-exist. Others may propose that a links ‘links land and sea’. This advances the argument somewhat and usually they are hard by the sea; aesthetically, it is a major part of the attraction. However, to fully accept this concept is to deliver a tremendous slight to Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club [which] is surrounded by suburbia on all sides… Clearly, the definitive answer is not straightforward.” We all know a links course when we see one and when we play one don’t we? It’s obvious – surely? Very quickly we came to the conclusion that it wasn’t as easy as we first thought. We got stuck on a few courses and so we did some research, a lot of research, in fact. Our first port of call was Donald Steel, who first published Classic Golf Links of Great Britain and Ireland in 1992. This book takes the reader on a clockwise journey round Britain and Ireland taking in 75 courses. We debated only one course from his list. We quickly decided it was sufficiently a “real” links but it wasn’t going to make our Top 100 anyway, so we moved on. Next stop, David Worley, one of our long-standing contributors. David has published two epic coffee-table books: Journey Through the Links (2007) and Another Journey Through the Links (2010). His first book listed 155 courses and his follow-up title 165 courses. We then consulted George Peper and Malcolm Campbell’s True Links. “Here is our list of the 246 courses that we think qualify to be called authentic links.” 211 of the 246 listed courses are located in Britain and Ireland. After analysing all the courses referenced in the aforementioned titles and adding Trump International Golf Links, Aberdeen, to the mix, which opened after the above titles had been published, we came up with the shortlist for our 2017 Top 100 Links Courses of Britain and Ireland rankings. Lengthy debates followed, not specifically concerning the ranking order for the Top 100, but whether or not we should include or omit a handful of courses from the shortlist: Ganton, St Andrews (Castle), Old Head, Sheringham and Southerndown. David Worley included all five, while George Peper and Malcolm Campbell included only Sheringham. In fairness to David Worley, he classified Ganton as an “inland links”, and we felt it was also in the heathland mould, so we removed it from the list. St Andrews (Castle) and Old Head were more awkward propositions. “Clifftop courses were another tricky case”, wrote Peper and Campbell. “Clifftop locations typically are barren and relatively lacking in dunes and other salient land formations. The soil is usually more clay based than on low-lying linksland, since even the strongest wind can’t transport much sand up from the beach far below. Among the better-known clifftops are Pebble Beach in California, Old Head in Ireland… Ditto Southerndown in Wales (technically a down course, based on limestone cliffs) and the new Castle Course in St Andrews, perched on farmland just above the city.” We largely agreed with the True Links assertion, but we failed to understand why Peper and Campbell included the downland Sheringham, which in a similar vein to Southerndown, is also laid out on a chalk cliff. Southerndown is routed over a unique limestone heath and is rather more links-like than Sheringham in style. In the end, we omitted all five courses. The apparently simple project was to identify the Top 100 Links Golf Courses of Britain and Ireland. It turned into something rather more complicated and time-consuming. For those who are interested in reading some of our background notes, click the following two hyperlinks: Our Interpretation of “Links” Geology and geography Next month, we’ll publish our own version of Britain & Ireland’s “Real Links”. The list will contain the vast majority of courses listed in David Worley’s titles and also those featured within True Links. However, we’ve identified a number of other links courses in Britain and Ireland that we believe really do deserve to be called authentic “real” links. The following list is, we think, unique. It’s the first ever ranking of the Top 100 Links Golf Courses of Britain and Ireland. This list doesn’t follow the exact sequence of our current GB&I Top 100, because we’ve made some adjustments based on likely changes to our biennial GB&I rankings, which will be published later this year. Rank/ As always, we welcome any comments. If you’d like table any criticisms or suggestions in relation to our first ranking list for the Top 100 Links Golf Courses of Britain & Ireland 2017 then please use the “Respond to this article” link at the top or at the bottom of this page to share your thoughts. One member of the Top 100 team (who shall remain nameless) has played 92. Can anyone beat that?
Ireland holds roughly a quarter of all natural links courses in the world, and the quality runs astonishingly deep. From the towering dunes of Donegal to the Atlantic-battered coastline of County Kerry, the island offers a concentration of world-class golf that rivals anywhere on the planet. Six Irish courses currently sit in the World Top 100, and more than twenty contend for places in the GB&I Top 100 — a depth bettered only by England and Scotland. See the Island of Ireland Ranking See the Republic of Ireland Ranking See the Northern Ireland Ranking Top 100 Golf Courses has ranked Ireland's golf courses biennially since 2006, tracking two decades of evolution across the Republic's twenty-six counties and, separately, Northern Ireland's six. That ongoing process has charted the rise of new architectural masterpieces, multi-million euro renovations, and the enduring dominance of courses that have occupied the summit since rankings began. 2026 Republic of Ireland Update Ballybunion Old, Lahinch Old, Rosapenna St Patrick's Links and Portmarnock all hold their positions, reinforcing two decades of consistency at the summit. Four Republic of Ireland courses sit in the World Top 100, and sixteen feature in the GB&I Top 100 — a depth that underlines the country's status as one of the premier golf destinations on the planet. Brittas Bay Club (formerly The European Club) has been removed while its comprehensive Kyle Phillips redesign takes shape ahead of a planned 2027 reopening. Curracloe Links, a potential future game-changer for the Republic, is also flagged as one to watch but remains outside the current rankings. ⬆️ The Rising Stars Portsalon is the headline climber. Situated on a remote stretch of County Donegal coastline, Portsalon's rise further strengthens the county's extraordinary concentration of quality, with five Donegal courses now in the Republic's top twenty-five. Ballyliffin Old continues to gain recognition and climbs to seventeenth. The K Club Palmer North also rises. Carne, Tralee, Enniscrone, Narin & Portnoo, Rosapenna Old Tom Morris and Galway Bay all rise - in part due to The European Club being removed. ⬇️ Notable Adjustments Adare Manor slips three places to fourteen — a reflection of the updated criteria's emphasis on the golf itself rather than resort polish, though the Tom Fazio redesign remains Ireland's premier parkland course and 2027 Ryder Cup venue. Old Head drops four to 21, while Cork eases two places to twenty-four. 🏆 Irish Rankings - A Historical Glance The Unchanging Summit Ballybunion Old has held the number one position in the Republic of Ireland rankings since the inaugural 2006 edition — an unbroken twenty-year reign. Largely anonymous until Tom Simpson and Molly Gourlay's 1930s intervention, the course gained worldwide prominence after Tom Watson's famous visit in 1981. A major greens replacement project by Atlantic Golf Construction, overseen by architect Graeme Webster, has only strengthened its standing. Lahinch Old, Waterville, The European Club and Portmarnock have been near-permanent fixtures in the upper reaches. For fourteen consecutive years, gaining entry to the top five was, as our 2020 article noted, "a very tough nut to crack." ⬆️ The Course That Broke Through That changed dramatically in 2022 when Rosapenna St Patrick's Links crashed into the rankings at number three — the highest new entry in the history of our Ireland listings. Designed by Tom Doak of Renaissance Golf Design with lead associate Eric Everson, Clyde Johnson and Angela Moser, the course was built on 300 acres of spectacular Donegal dunescape previously occupied by two mediocre layouts. Opened in 2021, it immediately rewrote the top-five hierarchy. 🌍 Ireland's World-Class Depth The island's representation at the highest levels of world golf is remarkable. Six courses — Royal County Down, Royal Portrush Dunluce, Ballybunion Old, Lahinch, Rosapenna St Patrick's and Portmarnock — all feature in the World Top 100. The overwhelming character is links golf. Ireland's Atlantic-facing coastlines provide the ideal combination of sandy soil, undulating terrain and prevailing wind that defines the links game at its purest. Adare Manor breaks the mould as the top-ranked parkland entry, demonstrating that world-class inland golf also has its place on the island. County Kerry and County Donegal dominate the upper reaches of the rankings, but quality is genuinely distributed. Dublin's links courses — Portmarnock, The Island, Royal Dublin, and County Louth — provide accessible world-class golf close to the capital. The west coast, from County Sligo to Enniscrone to Carne, offers some of the most naturally dramatic links terrain anywhere. And the hidden gems — Cruit Island, Dunfanaghy, Strandhill — continue to climb as more golfers discover their charms. What the Rankings Tell Us Consistency at the Summit Ballybunion Old's twenty-year hold on the top position is extraordinary by any measure. The same small group of courses — Ballybunion, Lahinch, Waterville, Portmarnock, The European Club — have anchored the top tier since 2006, with only Rosapenna St Patrick's managing to break the stranglehold. This stability reflects the enduring quality of Ireland's classic links designs, many of which trace their architectural lineage through Tom Simpson, Alister MacKenzie, Old Tom Morris and Harry Colt. The Donegal Renaissance County Donegal has emerged as perhaps the most exciting golfing region in Ireland. The arrival of Rosapenna St Patrick's transformed the county's reputation, but the story is broader. Narin & Portnoo's Hanse-Wagner reimagination, the steady rise of Rosapenna's Old Tom Morris course, the cult appeal of Cruit Island, and the rediscovery of Dunfanaghy have collectively established Donegal as a destination to rival Kerry and Clare. Architecture Driving Change The biggest ranking movements have consistently been driven by architectural intervention. Tom Fazio's work at Adare Manor, Tom Doak's creation at St Patrick's Links, Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner's remodelling at Narin & Portnoo, and Mackenzie & Ebert's master plan at The Island all demonstrate that thoughtful design investment — whether building new or reimagining existing layouts — is the most reliable path to ranking advancement. The Authentic Links Resurgence Shorter, quirkier courses with genuine strategic interest have gained ground, while lavish resort courses, though still excellent places to visit, have seen their rankings adjust. As the new criteria emphasises, budget size has not been the deciding factor, but rather memorable, engaging golf is what matters. 📅 A Decade of Growth: 2010–2025 2010: Your Top 100 — The People's Rankings The 2010 "Your Top 100 Golf Courses in Ireland" was a distinctive edition — a crowd-sourced ranking based entirely on player review ratings rather than the dedicated panellist approach used in other years. Published alongside companion lists for Scotland, England and Wales, it was part of a wider "Your Britain & Ireland Top 100" exercise that number-crunched thousands of golf ball ratings submitted by the Top100 community. The European Club, Tralee, Ballybunion Old and Rosapenna Sandy Hills all featured prominently in the combined GB&I list. 2012: The Republic's Own Top 100 The dedicated Republic of Ireland Top 100 was updated with Ballybunion Old maintaining its familiar position at the summit, continuing the dominance established in 2006. The established order remained largely intact, with the same core group of links courses holding the upper tier. 2014: Stability and Steady Progress The 2014 update continued the biennial cycle with Ballybunion Old once again unchallenged at number one. The top five remained the same handful of courses that had occupied those positions since the rankings began, reinforcing the extraordinary consistency at the summit of Irish golf. 2018: The Seventh Biennial Revision The 2018 edition brought seven new entries into the Top 100. Notably, Adare Manor was absent from the table, its course closed and under complete reconstruction as the Tom Fazio redesign took shape. 2020: Adare Manor Returns and Seven Newcomers The headline story was unmistakable: Adare Manor's re-emergence at number fourteen following its multi-million euro Tom Fazio transformation. The old Robert Trent Jones Sr. course had been entirely replaced, with Atlantic Golf Construction installing new drainage, new greens and sand-capped fairways to create what is now one of the best-maintained courses in all of Ireland. The Ryder Cup 2027 announcement added further lustre. Seven new entries in total, with Hogs Head the highest newcomer at thirty-four Luttrellstown Castle climbed eight places to forty-eight, entering the national top fifty for the first time Cruit Island surged fifteen places to sixty-five, gaining cult status among visiting golfers Royal Dublin rose four places to twenty-three, with Clayton, DeVries & Pont appointed for a bunker renovation 2022: Rosapenna St Patrick's Crashes the Top Five The ninth biennial revision produced the most dramatic shake-up in the rankings' history. Tom Doak's Rosapenna St Patrick's Links entered at number three — the first course to crack the established top-five fortress since rankings began. Narin & Portnoo climbed ten places to eighteen after its Hanse-Wagner reimagination. Further down, Cruit Island continued its rise (up twelve to fifty-three), Dunfanaghy surged twenty-six places to seventy-four, and Woodenbridge climbed twelve to seventy-one. 2025: New Criteria, New Philosophy The most recent update applied revised evaluation criteria that emphasised authentic golfing experiences over resort polish. Fifteen courses moved up five or more places. Traditional links courses rose sharply; parkland resort courses adjusted downward. Rosapenna Old Tom Morris broke into the top thirty, Royal Dublin into the top twenty, and the rankings signalled a clear direction: exciting, strategic golf — regardless of budget or amenities — is what defines Ireland's best. 🔭 Looking Ahead The comprehensive 2026 GB&I ranking overhaul, currently underway, will reassess every course across Britain and Ireland under updated criteria. The Ireland results are expected later this spring and will provide the most thorough evaluation yet of the island's golfing credentials. Several developments are worth watching. Brittas Bay Club — the Kyle Phillips redesign of Pat Ruddy's European Club — is set to reopen in 2027 with improved playability, expanded sea views and restored native ecosystems. The continued maturation of Rosapenna St Patrick's Links is widely regarded as still having significant upside. And with the Ryder Cup arriving at Adare Manor in 2027, the spotlight on Irish golf has never been brighter. Ballybunion Cashen continues enhancement work, and Rosapenna's Old Tom Morris course is gaining traction with every season. The depth of talent across Ireland's 400+ golf courses means the competition for ranking places will only intensify.
