Welcome to our list of the very finest creations on Planet Earth NCG’s Top 10: Best golf courses in the world 10. Pebble Beach California, USA The most spectacular course on the planet was originally the work of Jack Neville and Douglas Grant and will celebrate its centenary in 2019. The stretch around the turn, beginning with the cute par-3 7th, is jaw-dropping. 9. Kingston Heath Victoria, Australia Best golf courses Des Soutar and Alister Mackenzie are responsible for this Melbourne sand-belt classic. It’s short and plays even more so because it is fast-running. Bring your brain and your best ball-striking. It’s also pure. 8. Merion Pennsylvania, USABest golf courses Designed by Hugh Wilson and returned to the US Open rota in 2013, when Justin Rose won. It’s a tiny parcel of land for a golf class of its stature. It’s also incredibly rich in character with its lobster pot flags and a disused quarry on the 16th. 7. Royal Melbourne (West) Victoria, Australia Another classic MacKenzie. The bunkering has to be seen to be believed and when it gets firm and dusty round here it can be evil. Takes subtlety to new levels. 6. Muirfield Best golf courses East Lothian, Scotland Old Tom Morris was the first man to shape the land here but really the course we play today is the work of Harry Colt. It’s a brilliant piece of design on what is not necessarily the most thrilling piece of linksland. Constant changes of direction are one of its greatest features. 5. Augusta Georgia, USA Arguably the most famous course on Planet Earth – even more than the Old Course somehow – Augusta National is lauded every year for its astonishing beauty and presentation. What can be lost is the genius of the MacKenzie and Bobby Jones’s design which encapsulates the concept of risk and reward better than just about any other course that’s ever been designed. 4. Cypress Point California, USA Best golf courses If neighbouring Pebble Beach has its clifftops, Cypress Point is arguably even more dramatic. MacKenzie made full use of its potential and the cloak of exclusivity that has surrounded it ever since 3. Royal County Down Co Down, Northern Ireland Old Tom Morris’s original design dates back to 1889 and while it has periodically evolved since the course still plays true to its roots. Achingly beautiful, subtle and with fast, firm greens that always nudge your ball away from their centre, it is the greatest test of links golf in the world. 2. Pine Valley New Jersey, USA Best golf courses Hotelier George Crump and Harry Colt can take the bulk of the credit – though many more great architects were involved to a lesser degree –for what is commonly acknowledged as America’s finest layout. It’s about to celebrate its centenary in 2018. Pine Valley is uniquely bunkered and it sometimes seems there is more sand than grass. Every last hole is a masterpiece, separate and distinct from the one that precedes and follows it. 1. St Andrews (Old Course) Fife, Scotland In a list like this, the Old Course is either No 1 or doesn’t feature. Its design philosophies, courtesy of Mother Nature, can be found in every single other course in this list – and there are many examples of where the concepts have been refined. It can be a confusing place to play for the first-time visitor (and second- and third- for that matter) with its wide, apparently featureless expanses. All are swept away by the sheer romance of the closing stretch though – it’s like history in real life as you play back towards the Auld Grey Toun. Subscribe to the NCG YouTube channel here: http://bit.ly/1x9klFP Read the new digital magazine for FREE! http://digital.nationalclubgolfer.com/ Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1CdFEG0 Twitter: http://bit.ly/1CdnUbh Vine: http://bit.ly/1zGNEzA Get the National Club Golfer app on your mobile: iTunes: http://bit.ly/1A910a1 Google Play: http://bit.ly/1CdoSEp Amazon Kindle: http://amzn.to/1Fu9hnA

• published: 27 Nov 2017
• views: 23161