Top 100 Golf Courses has ranked every course that has hosted the Walker Cup since 1922. The rankings cover three categories and provide insight into the championship venues that have shaped amateur golf's most prestigious international competition.
The research has produced three specialised rankings:
USA Walker Cup Venue Ranking - American courses that have hosted the biennial competition.
Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup Venue Ranking - Historic links courses and venues across the British Isles.
Combined Walker Cup Venue Rankings - All American and international venues ranked together.
The Walker Cup is a biennial match-play competition between 10-man amateur teams from the United States and Great Britain & Ireland. Named after George Herbert Walker, USGA president in 1920, the competition began in 1922 at the National Golf Links of America.
The tournament has maintained its status as amateur golf's premier international competition for over a century, showcasing the world's finest golf courses.
Cypress Point Club leads the combined rankings. Alister MacKenzie's Pacific coast course will host the 50th Walker Cup in September 2025. The US won 15-9 when it previously hosted in 1981.
Pine Valley Golf Club ranks second. George Crump's design is considered the ultimate penal golf course. It will host the 2044 Walker Cup and previously staged matches in 1936 (US won 9-0) and 1985 (US won 13-11).
Royal County Down Golf Club is the highest-ranked international venue at third. Located beneath the Mountains of Mourne in Northern Ireland, it's consistently rated among the world's most scenic courses.
Shinnecock Hills Golf Club was one of the USGA's five founding members. The New York course features original American design from 1891, when Scottish professional Willie Davis worked with the Shinnecock Reservation.
National Golf Links of America is the Walker Cup birthplace. Charles Blair Macdonald's 1922 course established the competition and introduced the term "golf architect."
Oakmont Country Club represents championship golf's toughest test. Originally set to host in 2033, then moved to 2032, this Pennsylvania course has hosted multiple major championships.
St Andrews Old Course has hosted nine Walker Cup matches—more than any other venue. The Home of Golf has also staged 29 Open Championships.
Muirfield is home to The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (founded 1744). This East Lothian course pioneered the two-ring, nine-hole layout design.
Turnberry Ailsa Course offers Scotland's most scenic championship golf. The course overlooks the Firth of Clyde with views of the Mull of Kintyre and Isle of Arran.
Golden Age architects dominate the rankings. Merion Golf Club (East Course) represents Hugh Wilson's success as an amateur architect.
Winged Foot Golf Club (West Course) is A.W. Tillinghast's finest work. The demanding layout has tested both amateur and professional golfers for decades.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort represents modern design. The Oregon resort has a USGA partnership through 2045 and will host the Walker Cup in 2028.
Lahinch Golf Club sits beside Liscannor Bay in Ireland. Old Tom Morris created the original layout before Dr. Alister MacKenzie redesigned it in 1926-27.
Royal St George's Golf Club is a natural links course in Sandwich, England. It maintains traditional character while hosting major championships.
Sunningdale Golf Club represents England's best inland course. The Old Course is considered Britain's most beautiful championship venue away from the coast.
Prince's Golf Club will host the 53rd Walker Cup after recent investments in facilities and course improvements.
Walker Cup matches move to even years from 2026 to avoid conflicts with World Amateur Team Championships.
Both American and international courses contribute to the Walker Cup's legacy. These rankings celebrate golf architecture's finest examples, from MacKenzie's coastal designs to Macdonald's pioneering American courses.
View the complete rankings:
Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA 2014 Our latest US Top 100 is unveiled 15 December 2013 In January 2012, we decided to abandon our US Top 250 rankings because we found it too difficult to define the positions for US courses in the ranking range of 150 to 250. Instead, we promised to develop and extend our US Best In State rankings and focus on providing the best possible list of the Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA. For 2014, we included more data from an even wider range of sources, but our final rankings offer rather less change than two years ago. However, there is still a fair level of movement as courses settle towards their plateaux. Cypress Point and Pine Valley continue to slug it out at the very top of the US national rankings. Mathematically, Cypress came incredibly close to knocking Pine Valley off the top, but Pine Valley prevailed once again. The National Golf Links of America makes a bold upward move to 5th place. The two big US tabloids (Golf Magazine & Digest) do not hold the NGLA in the same high esteem as we do, which surprises us because most golfers we know rate the National well inside their personal US Top 10. Eight new entries push eight very solid courses off the hundred and into the Best In State rankings. All of a sudden, Florida starts to punch somewhere nearer its fighting weight thanks to the Red and Blue courses at Streamsong bursting into the chart. If Streamsong could find room for a White course, there would be no need to fly the Stars and Stripes at this aspiring golf resort. The Plantation course at Kapalua (straight in at 86) suggests that resort courses really can hold their own in the top rankings alongside a majority of private facilities. Talking of which, the Upper joins the Lower at Baltusrol in our hundred for the first time and Aronimink, White Bear Yacht Club and Holston Hills also make their debut. Finally, we welcome back Galloway National, which narrowly missed out on a place in 2012 having been ranked inside our US Top 100 since 2006. Los Angeles (North) jumps eleven places to 21st as the magnitude of Gil Hanse’s restoration finally dawns and there’s a meteoric rise of forty places (to 54th) for the California Golf Club of San Francisco. According to our US Correspondent, Fergal O’Leary: “Since the outstanding restoration of the MacKenzie bunkers and routing by Kyle Philips, the ‘Cal Club’ has gone from strength to strength… The restoration has been the catalyst for the club's rising national ranking, and I can only anticipate continued future success.” Boston Golf Club leaps up thirty places to 59th and, according to one of our reviewers, “this hidden away club is back on its feet financially and continues to impress… Bay Staters often find themselves debating preference between Boston and nearby Old Sandwich. Having played them both multiple times, my feeling is that Gil Hanse’s design variety and consideration for all skill levels will tip the scales towards Boston making it the course I’d rather play every day”. There’s a rise of nineteen places for Nanea, which for some unfathomable reason has never been ranked in the national hundred by Golf Digest. Fergal O’Leary made the following comment: “I'm currently playing the Top 100 golf courses in the US and the World and am almost finished with the challenge. When I stepped onto the first tee at Nanea, I had a similar reaction to how Monty described Loch Lomond… Wherever Nanea is ranked, it should be higher.” Yeamans Hall is another of our high climbers but this club is also out of favour with Golf Digest’s panellists. The course does split opinion and one of our reviewers reckons “the club itself is off the charts amazing… A real throwback and a true delight to be there… It gets all the hype associated with Raynor designs, but man I don't understand the adulation.” A rise of twenty places for Essex County Club continues our theme of bucking the trend of the magazine ranking panels. One of our reviewers sums it up perfectly: “Essex was once home to Donald Ross and his legacy can be felt throughout the course. His old house is located by the 15th tee box, and the course is a testament to his craft. I have played a number of Ross courses, including Pinehurst #2 and many of the top Ross courses around Boston, and I always come back to Essex as my favourite.” Europeans may hold Medinah (No.3) in the highest regard and it’s an undeniably good golf course that staged the European Ryder Cup miracle of 2012, but many aficionados feel that this old classic has been injured by the “Open Doctors” and is now too much toil and not enough fun. The No.3 course drops a painful thirty-three places in our 2014 rankings. We suspect our new US Top 100 will not gain universal approval, but we’ve given these new rankings deeper consideration than ever before. If you have any comments or feedback, I’d love to hear from you. Just for the record, I’d like to remind you that Top 100 Golf Courses is truly independent and we have no association with any magazine publication. If you would like to help improve our US golf course rankings, please get in touch. Our new Best In State rankings will be published soon, so please keep an eye on the Top 100 website and our social networking channels for the latest updates. Finally a big thanks to everyone who has taken the time to post course reviews online. Please keep them coming, it’s your reviews that cut to the chase and make the Top 100 website come alive. Keith Baxter Editor-in-Chief www.top100golfcourses.com Click to see in detail our new 2014 Top 100 Golf Courses of the USA
Top 100 Golf Courses of the World 2016 Our latest World Top 100 ranking list is unveiled Our 2016 Top 100 Golf Courses of the World rankings have been compiled using a different process from previous iterations. Quite a lot has happened since our 2014 world rankings were published. Not least, in August 2015, Fergal O’Leary – one of our most respected contributors – became the youngest man in history to play the World’s Top 100 Golf Courses. Click here to read the story. Masa Nishijima, our International Consultant, completed the “holy grail” some years ago and continues to play any layouts (new or old) that might conceivably be considered World Top 100 contenders. Masa was one of the four co-authors who contributed to Tom Doak’s latest Confidential Guide series, along with respected writer and course rater Darius Oliver, and the founder of Golf Club Atlas, Ran Morrisett. Masa agreed to share his own personal rankings. Click the link to see Masa's World Top 100. Another of our contributors is well on the way to completing his goal of playing every course that has ever appeared on a World Top 100 ranking list. Paul Rudovsky is a man on a mission and is famous for his crazy golfing itineraries. His latest adventure has taken him to South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and China to play fifteen Asian courses in just a couple of weeks. Paul is a keen blogger and you can read all about his exploits at http://rudogolf.blogspot.com. We incorporated the views of these knowledgeable contributors (along with input from many others) to help shape our latest 2016 World Top 100 table. Their combined feedback has shaken up our rankings and we plan to factor in the thoughts of even more course raters who have played an extensive number of the world’s greatest courses in the future. Some of our readers will be pleased to see a change at the very top of the rankings. After ten years at No.1, Pine Valley stands aside and is replaced at the pinnacle of the table by Cypress Point. Fergal and Paul both have Cypress at the head of their personal Top 100 charts. Fergal sums CP up as follows: “So much has been written about this legendary course crafted by Mother Nature and completed by Alister MacKenzie, yet the aggregate of all that has been reported doesn’t even come close to describing its unique natural beauty and world-renowned brilliance.” Shinnecock Hills jumps up two spots to No.3 and many who have been lucky enough to experience this Hampton masterpiece think it could perhaps even go a little higher in the charts. Our International Correspondent, David Davis, has played 75 of the world hundred and after playing the course last year said: “Make no mistake, Shinnecock is a players’ course and an extremely tough test of golf, it’s also one of the few routings that exist where it would be extremely difficult to imagine improving, my only thought is that I would love to see it playing as firm as a UK links.” Royal Dornoch makes a bold four position upward move from 12th to 8th and following my visit to the Scottish Highlands a few months ago I completely understand why it has risen into the world top ten. A reviewer named Tom posted the following comments last month: “When you arrive there's already a feeling that a grand journey has been completed. An hour north of Inverness, you wind through the mountains with ever-growing anticipation that you are on the way to a special place. The course is simply mind blowing. We played on a sunny windless day in October and I couldn't have wished to be anywhere else.” Two Australian courses move upwards. Royal Melbourne (West) moves up one to 7th and Kingston Heath rises three places to 17th. The National Golf Links of America is the biggest faller in the Top 20, down four to 11th position. NGLA is a monument we fondly call “Blair’s Best”. Its fall in the rankings is purely the result of levelling as we moved it up a little too strongly last time around. On the flip side, Morfontaine leaps nineteen places to 34th due to the universal view that we had this French gem positioned way too low. 34th is the highest place Morfontaine has occupied in our rankings, although it did achieve 37th spot in our 2008 numbers. Shanqin Bay springs upwards a massive 34 places to 60th position. This recently opened Coore & Crenshaw oddity is now beginning to find its rightful position in our world table, becoming the third highest ranked course in Asia behind Japan’s venerable Hirono and Kawana’s unsung Fuji course. It’s a mixed bag of good and bad fortune for many of Britain’s courses. Some roughly hold their place while some drop down and others rise. This season’s big winners include the Balgownie course at Royal Aberdeen, up 23 to 56th. To the north of Aberdeen at Balmedie, Trump International Golf Links rockets 28 places to 65th, largely due to this controversial course finally playing like a true links. We were the first publication to rank Royal Porthcawl in a World Top 100 and it now features in most magazine rankings. This engaging old links moves up into 69th position and it remains the only Welsh course on our premier ranking table. Seven Irish courses have been listed prominently since we first published a World Top 100 in 2006 and they all largely hold firm in our latest table, with the exception of Waterville which takes a grave tumble. The jaw-droppingly scenic Waterville – routed on a promontory surrounded by the sea – divides opinion among raters. I genuinely hope it can hold its own among the stiff competition because it’s a personal Irish favourite. Cabot Links narrowly missed our 2014 rankings due to the course having only just opened. It will come as no surprise therefore to learn that it’s the highest new entry in our 2016 World Top 100. It may only be a matter of time before Cabot Links displaces St George’s from the Canadian top spot. We’ll also be keeping a watchful eye on Cabot Cliffs which sits atop a bluff overlooking the Gulf of St Lawrence. It’s even possible that Cabot Cliffs could become Nova Scotia’s future No.1. The USA’s Wade Hampton, Southern Hills and Peachtree re-enter the Top 100 after temporarily dropping out in 2014, while the exclusive “Cal Club” is a new entry at position 94 following its recent highly acclaimed Kyle Phillips restoration. Fergal reckons, “the restoration has been the catalyst for the club’s rising national and world ranking, and I can only anticipate continued future success.” We feature seven Australian courses in the 2016 rankings. We lose National (Moonah) but gain Victoria and Ellerston (straight in at 93rd and 99th respectively). Eyebrows will be raised at the inclusion of the ultra-private Ellerston, which Greg Norman and Bob Harrison designed for the late Australian media magnate Kerry Packer. We simply couldn’t ignore its existence and the fortunate few who have played Ellerston will say we’ve still not ranked it highly enough. South Cape Owners Club is a high profile South Korean new entry at position 91. It opened in late 2013 and is fashioned to take your breath away. According to Fergal it should be ranked higher: “What Kyle Philips created at South Cape makes a lot of old classics shiver in their boots. The golf world needs to brace itself, as this whole experience takes you to unimaginable levels of euphoria.” Many will be surprised, even perplexed, to note that there are only two Continental European courses in the table. Agree or not, we’re pleased to welcome a new European addition that joins the classical Morfontaine. Koninklijke Haagsche, or Royal Hague, is a Harry Colt and Charles Alison creation from 1939 and it dispels, in no uncertain terms, any thinking that Holland is flat. “Right out of the starting gate it becomes abundantly clear that a round of golf at De Haagsche is truly like a wild roller coaster ride,” said David Davis who resides in Amsterdam. “Literally, this may well be the most undulated course I’ve ever experienced.” We don’t claim that our latest World Top 100 is definitive – how could that ever be the case? What we do know is that there is a changing of the guard. We’ll always see many old classics propping up the list, but there are now numerous new kids on the block and we can see more young contenders in the pipeline. Feedback is always welcome, so please feel free to let us know what you think of our latest 2016 World Top 100. Have we omitted a course that really should be in our rankings, or have we included a course that really doesn’t deserve to be there? Maybe there’s a particular layout that’s riding too high or perhaps there’s one lying too low in the standings? Please click the “Respond to this article” link at the top and bottom of the page if you’d like to share your opinion. Over the next couple of weeks we plan to publish a World second hundred for the first time. Keep an eye out for this release as it promises a few surprises. Keith Baxter Editor-in-Chief Top 100 Golf Courses Click to see the new World Top 100 Golf Courses in detail. Breakdown of courses by country (previous number in parenthesis): USA 48 (46), Scotland 12 (13), England 11 (11), Australia 7 (6), Ireland 5 (5), Japan 3 (3), Canada 3 (2), Northern Ireland 2 (2), Mexico 2 (2), New Zealand 1 (2), China 1 (1), France 1 (1), Dominican Republic 1 (1), Netherlands 1 (1), Wales 1 (1), South Korea 1 (0) The nine courses that made way for the new entries are: Kauri Cliffs, Loch Lomond, Noordwijkse, Shadow Creek (North), PGA Catalunya (Stadium), Valderrama, Valley Club of Montecito, National (Moonah), Leopard Creek.
The United States is home to some of the world's most celebrated golf courses, from spectacular coastal layouts to historic clubs that have hosted the game's biggest championships. But playing America's best golf is not always as straightforward as booking a tee time. Many of the country's highest-ranked courses are private clubs, while some resort venues require visitors to book accommodation before they can play. So where are America's top-ranked courses concentrated, and how many can the average golfer actually play? A state-by-state breakdown of the Top100 Golf Courses USA ranking reveals a striking divide. New York and California lead the way by course count, but of the 100 courses listed, just 16 meet our criteria for playing without knowing a member or staying at a resort. The remaining 84 have some form of access restriction, whether through private membership, accommodation requirements or other visitor policies. For golfers planning a trip to the United States, that distinction matters: a state might have an impressive collection of top-ranked courses, but that doesn't necessarily mean visitors can build a holiday around playing them. New York and California Lead the Rankings New York tops the state-by-state breakdown with 14 courses, narrowly ahead of California with 13. Massachusetts follows with seven, while Ohio and Wisconsin each have six. New Jersey and South Carolina account for five courses each. The figures highlight the strength of golf in the Northeast, alongside California's long-standing reputation as one of America's premier golfing destinations. New York is home to some of the country's most exclusive golf venues, including Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, National Golf Links of America and Fishers Island Club. However, it also has one of the world's most famous public courses. Located on Long Island, Bethpage Black has hosted multiple US Opens and the 2025 Ryder Cup. Its public status makes it an important exception in a ranking where access is often far from guaranteed. Demand is high and securing a tee time requires planning, but golfers do not need a private-club membership to play it. The other 13 New York courses in the ranking do not meet our public-access criteria. California presents a different mix of courses, from celebrated coastal layouts to championship venues further inland. Pebble Beach Golf Links is perhaps the best-known example, with its dramatic Pacific Ocean setting making it one of the most recognisable courses in golf. The state offers a wide range of golfing experiences, but green fees, booking conditions and accommodation requirements can influence whether a course is a realistic option for visiting golfers. Its size is another consideration, with distances between destinations potentially shaping how many courses golfers can fit into one trip. The States Where Top-Ranked Golf Is Hardest to Access Some of the states with the most courses in the ranking are also among the hardest for visiting golfers to explore. New York has 14 ranked courses, but 13 do not meet our criteria for playing without knowing a member or staying at a resort. California has 13 courses, with 11 falling outside those criteria, while none of Massachusetts' seven entries qualify. The contrast is striking. New York and California offer plenty of choice on paper, but their highest-ranked courses are often difficult to access independently. Massachusetts presents a similar challenge, with its rich golfing heritage reflected in a list dominated by venues that aren't straightforward for visitors to book. New Jersey faces a comparable issue. Its five courses include Pine Valley Golf Club, frequently ranked among the world's finest, but its reputation as a private club makes it a difficult destination for golfers without the right connections. These figures underline why course rankings alone don't tell the whole story. For visitors, the practical question isn't just how many highly ranked courses a state has, but how many they can realistically play. The Best States for Golf You Can Actually Play Of the 100 courses in Top100 Golf Courses' USA ranking, just 16 can be played by the public without knowing a member or staying at a resort. Wisconsin and Oregon lead the way, with four qualifying courses each, followed by South Carolina, Florida and California with two apiece. Oregon is an obvious choice for a multi-course golf trip. All four qualifying layouts are at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort on the Pacific coast: Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes, Bandon Trails and Old Macdonald. Having four highly ranked courses in one destination allows golfers to experience a variety of layouts without spending their holiday travelling between different parts of the state. The rugged coastal setting is a major part of the appeal. Wisconsin offers four qualifying courses across two destinations. Whistling Straits' Straits course is one of the state's best-known golfing venues, having hosted major championships on the shores of Lake Michigan. Further inland, Lawsonia Links offers a different style of golf, while Sand Valley and Sedge Valley give visitors two more courses to explore within the same resort destination. Together, they make Wisconsin a compelling choice for golfers looking to combine several highly ranked rounds in one trip. South Carolina has two qualifying courses, each offering a different experience. Kiawah Island's Ocean Course is known for its exposed coastal setting and championship pedigree, having hosted major events including the 2021 PGA Championship. Old Barnwell provides a contrasting inland experience, adding another option for golfers planning a trip around the state's top courses. Florida's two entries are Streamsong Red and TPC Sawgrass' Stadium Course. Streamsong Red is characterised by its expansive sandy terrain, while TPC Sawgrass is home to one of golf's most recognisable holes: the island-green 17th. The two courses offer very different experiences, from Streamsong's distinctive landscape to the chance to play one of the PGA Tour's most famous venues. California completes the group with Pebble Beach Golf Links and Pasatiempo. Pebble Beach is renowned for its Pacific coastline and history of major championships, while Pasatiempo, designed by Alister MacKenzie, offers a celebrated layout with a distinctive place in American golf history.
