The Best Links Golf Courses in the World
Links golf is the original golf — courses built on the narrow strips of coastal land that link (hence the name) farmland to the sea. The terrain is sandy, naturally drained, exposure to wind is total, and the ground game is as important as the aerial game. Modern resort golf has largely moved away from these conditions in favor of lush, controlled parkland settings. The links courses that remain are among the most irreplaceable things in sport.
The Scottish Originals
St Andrews Old Course — St Andrews, Fife
The Old Course at St Andrews is golf's cathedral. It has been played continuously since the 15th century, hosted more Open Championships than any other venue, and given the game several of its foundational concepts — the 18-hole round, the double greens, the Road Hole bunker. It is not always rated the best links course in the world, but it is always the most important.
Turnberry Ailsa Course — South Ayrshire
The Ailsa Course at Turnberry hosts its history well. The lighthouse at the 9th tee, the volcanic rock of Ailsa Craig visible from the course on clear days, the coastline that stretches toward Northern Ireland — and the memory of 1977, when Watson and Nicklaus played the greatest 36 holes of golf in major championship history on these fairways.
Royal Dornoch — Dornoch, Sutherland
The most remote of the great Scottish links, Royal Dornoch sits in the Highlands north of Inverness. It is regularly cited as the best course in Scotland by architects who have studied the game's design history. Tom Watson called it his favorite course in the world. Getting there requires commitment; the experience rewards it completely.
Muirfield — Gullane, East Lothian
The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers' home course has hosted more Open Championships than any other venue in Scotland. Its design — two concentric loops that prevent the wind from ever consistently favoring or penalizing — is considered architecturally perfect by many course designers. It is private and one of the most exclusive clubs in the world.
The Great Irish Links
Royal County Down — Newcastle, County Down
Royal County Down on the Mourne Peninsula in Northern Ireland is the course most frequently ranked number one in the world. The Mountains of Mourne provide the visual backdrop; the blind tee shots and deep natural bunkers provide the strategic interest. It has never hosted the Open Championship, which adds to its mystique rather than diminishing it.
Old Head Golf Links — Kinsale, County Cork
Old Head's clifftop setting — a 300-foot peninsula above the Atlantic — is unlike anything else in links golf. The drama is unequaled. The course is more about the experience than the architecture, and for most golfers who play it, the experience is enough.
Ballybunion Old Course — County Kerry
Tom Watson's favorite. The natural dune landscape of Ballybunion's Old Course has never been convincingly replicated. It plays on terrain that was simply there, waiting to be a golf course.
England's Best
Royal Birkdale — Southport, Lancashire
Royal Birkdale has hosted ten Open Championships, including Tom Watson's fifth in 1983 and Henrik Stenson's stunning performance in 2016. The course plays between massive sandhills with fairways that tend to be relatively flat while the rough is severe. It is considered among the most fair of the great links venues in terms of rewarding the best golf.
Royal St George's — Sandwich, Kent
Royal St George's has hosted 15 Open Championships, including Darren Clarke's emotional victory in 2011 and Shane Lowry — no wait, Collin Morikawa's precision performance in 2021. The most exposed and wind-affected of the Kent links courses, it rewards creativity and punishes straight thinking.
America's Finest Links
Bandon Dunes — Bandon, Oregon
No links experiment in American golf has succeeded as completely as Bandon Dunes. Six courses on the Oregon coast, all walking-only, all occupying dramatic terrain above the Pacific. Pacific Dunes (Tom Doak) is the best single course; the experience of the full resort is unmatched in the United States.
Sand Hills Golf Club — Mullen, Nebraska
The most links-like course in America that isn't actually on a coast. Sand Hills plays on the Nebraska Sandhills — a landscape of grass-covered dunes uniquely suited to the style of golf that evolved on the Scottish coastline. Private and exclusive, it remains the benchmark for American links design.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best links golf course in the world?
Royal County Down in Northern Ireland is most frequently cited as the world's best links course, though St Andrews Old Course, Royal Dornoch, and Ballybunion all appear regularly at the top of expert rankings. The answer depends on whether you weight history, architectural quality, or experience most heavily.
What makes a golf course a "links"?
A true links course is built on coastal linksland — the sandy, naturally drained terrain that links farmland to the sea. Links courses have firm, fast-running fairways, minimal trees, exposure to wind, and natural ground contours that were used rather than created. Most historic links courses are in Scotland, Ireland, and England.