The Best Golf Courses
July 10, 2011
Here are some of the Best Golf Courses in the world:
Royal Dornoch Golf Club Championship Course
Royal Dornoch Golf Club Championship Course is considered one of the finest courses in Scotland if not the world and has a legion of fans both home and abroad. One of Tom Watson’s favourite course was actually designed by another famous Open winning Tom: Old Tom Morris who brilliantly integrated the unique links land of Sutherland to create a spectacular course. Since then Royal Dornoch has retained its spirit but been tweaked enough to move with the times and present a modern challenge that is still today regularly voted in the top 15 courses worldwide.
Cardrona Golf & Country Club
Cardrona Golf & Country Club was designed by former Ryder Cup player Dave Thomas and, although new, has settled beautifully into the surrounding countryside. The course has the Border hills as a stunning backdrop and the River Tweed is never far away. Measuring over 7000 yards from the medal tees the combination of parkland and woodland tees provides a stern for test any golfer with the large greens of championship standard. Cardrona has already hosted Euro Pro Tour and Challenge Tour events.
Muirfield, The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers
The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers can be traced back to 1744 and Muirfield is their third home following the original Leith Links and the Old Course at Musselburgh. Muirfield has hosted 15 Open Championships, the Amateur Championship, the Mid Amateur, the Ryder Cup, the Walker Cup and the Curtis Cup and is the only course that has hosted all of these prestigous events. The course is considered to be one of the world’s finest by players and course architects alike.
Fairmont St Andrews Kittocks Course
Course architect Bruce Devlin has harnessed all his experience to produce a truly memorable golfing experience on the headland to produce the Fairmount St Andrews Kittocks Course (formerly Fairmont St Andrews Devlin Course). The newness of the course means it has stayed a largely unearthed treasure but being chosen as 2010 Open Qualifying venue is proof of how well the course has matured in such a small space of time. The course clings to the typically imposing Fife coast and the beautifully maintained fairways and greens travers the man made hazards on the first four holes before rising up Kittocks Den to afford panoramic views of the sea. Fairmont St Andrews Kittocks Course is a wonderful and welcome addition to the Home of Golf.
Royal Troon Old Course
One of Scotland’s great championship link Royal Troon Golf Club Old Course is a regular host of the Open. Gorse, broom, deep rough and the ever present wind make this a true golfing challenge. The Championship tees now measure over 7000 yards but it is accurate shot making that will deliver a decent score. The front nine is the place to make a move on your card as the back nine can present an even more formiddable challenge. Royal Troon Old Course was formed in 1878 and granted its Royal title in 1978 – the last of the royal clubs to be honoured in this way.
Ballybunion Golf Club Old Course
After playing the Ballybunion Old Course for the first time, a man would think that the game of golf originated here. Located on the Shannon estuary, The Old Course is a true seaside links course, virtually treeless and a course of sharp contours throughout. There appears to be no man- made influence. It looks like the Old Course at Ballybunion Golf Club was laid out on land back in the 10th century.There is a wild look to the place the long grass covering the dunes that pitch and roll throughout the course making it very intimidating. Yet the course is eminently fair. While there would appear to be a lot of blind shots, there aren’t. Even where there are blind shots, you are given a good idea where you must hit the ball. Ballybunion Old Course doesn’t fool you altogether!
Kingsbarns Golf Links
Golf has been played at Kingsbarns Golf Links since 1793 and today the course makes full use of the natural landscape which provides a perfect stage for a golf links. The North Sea provides a backdrop to the course which features ridges and hollows as well as the Cambo Burn. A wonderful course Kingbarns Golf Links is one of the host courses of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Royal St George’s
13 Opens (with number 14 to come in 2011), the British Amateur, the Walker Cup, the PGA Championship and the Brabazon Trophy to name but a few – Royal St George’s Golf Club has hosted some of the great events since it first staged the Open in 1899. It is not difficult to see why major events are attracted to a course that Bernard Darwin, the legendary golf writer, called “as nearly my idea of heaven as is to be attained on earthly links.”
The course was designed by Dr Laidlaw Purves in 1887 and was intended as a southern equivalent of St Andrews. Since then the course, given its Royal title in 1902, has enjoyed an unwavering reputation as one of the finest in the world. The size of the challenge for a visiting player is clear: only three of St George’s Open champions have finished under par! Royal St George’s remains a course that golfer’s across the world hope to play, following in the footsteps of Open champions like Harry Vardon, Walter Hagen, Bobby Locke and Greg Norman.
Marbella Golf & Country Club
Once very private but now open to visitors, Marbella Golf Club is a difficult but enjoyable challenge. It’s a typical Robert Trent Jones design, with sweeping fairways, lots of shrewdly placed bunkers and large, undulating greens. The opening holes are especially hilly and are crossed by ravines and gullies that demand accurate and brave tee-shots. The par 3 4th is just tee and green, with nothing in between but what the locals call ‘bandit country’. A good course, but probably not one for high handicappers.
Verdura Golf Resort East
The Verdura Golf Resort is the brainchild of Rocco Forte who has spent years cultivating an idyllic stretch of the Scicillian coast to create a unique European golf resort. The Verdura East golf course is an 18 hole course designed by Kyle Phillips, the architect who was so acclaimed for his work on Fife’s Kingsbarns links, and incorporates stunning coastal views with the very best of links golf. Holes from Verdura East can also be combined with holes from the neighbouring Verdura West golf course to create a world class championship layout.