What are the best golf courses in the UK?
Figuring out who makes the cut when it comes to identifying the very best golf courses around the UK is no easy task. In many respects it should come down to what’s most important to the golfer, but as we know, no course is the same and everyone has their favourites. Add to that some gated exclusivity and extraordinary waits for a tee-time and you’d be forgiven for thinking that it must be pretty unusual for an individual to be able to play 18-holes at each club, and then come up with a fair ‘order of merit’.
However, there are a dedicated number of professionals who have turned their critical eyes in unison to compile an annual list of the very best golf courses around the UK & Ireland.
One of the pioneering groups responsible for modern golfing grading is the team at the appropriately named site ‘Top 100 Golf Courses’.
How a golf course is ranked
In order to take both a subjective and collective approach, they use a 1-6 scoring system across 5 key scoring criteria (Golf Course Architecture, Strategic Challenge, Variety, Consistency of Calibre and Golf Course & Land Management). Furthermore, they state that a golf club’s perceived exclusivity, clubhouse amenities, or level of service should not be considered as part of the golf course’s position in the ranking.
And that all seems very sensible, and as such forms the basis of Mapelio’s map print of the Top 100 Golf Courses across the British Isles - a reflection of accuracy as opposed to what feels fashionable on social media.
Naturally, as with any list produced by a third-party, there is always healthy debate amongst aficionados as they jostle for an authoritative position on whether the compilers compiled correctly, and which golf courses missed out by a little, or a lot…
So, without further ado…
The 2026 list of Top 100 Golf Courses in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Ireland:
1. Royal County Down (Championship), Down
2. St Andrews Links (The Old Course), Fife
3. Royal Portrush Golf Club (Dunluce), Antrim
4. Muirfield - Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, Lothians
5. Trump Turnberry Resort (Ailsa), Ayrshire & Arran
6. Royal Dornoch Golf Club (Championship), Highlands & Islands
7. Royal St George's Golf Club, Kent
8. Sunningdale Golf Club (Old), Berkshire
9. Ballybunion Golf Club (Old), Kerry
10. Lahinch Golf Club (Old), Clare
11. Carnoustie Golf Links (Championship), Angus & Dundee
12. Rosapenna Golf Resort (St Patrick's Links), Donegal
13. Sunningdale Golf Club (New), Berkshire
14. North Berwick Golf Club (West Links), Lothians
15. Kingsbarns Golf Links, Fife
16. Ardfin, Argyll & Bute
17. St Enodoc Golf Club (Church), Cornwall
18. Swinley Forest Golf Club, Berkshire
19. Cabot Highlands Castle Stuart, Highlands & Islands
20. Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lancashire
21. Royal Porthcawl Golf Club, South Wales
22. Cruden Bay Golf Club (Championship), Aberdeen & Aberdeenshire
23. Ganton Golf Club, Yorkshire
24. Portmarnock Golf Club (Championship), Dublin
25. Trump International Golf Links - Old Course, Aberdeen & Aberdeenshire
26. Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Merseyside
27. St George's Hill Golf Club (Red & Blue), Surrey
28. Royal Aberdeen Golf Club (Balgownie), Aberdeen & Aberdeenshire
29. Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club, Kent
30. Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire & Arran
31. West Sussex Golf Club, Sussex
32. Woodhall Spa Golf Club (Hotchkin), Lincolnshire
33. Rye Golf Club (Old), Sussex
34. Machrihanish Golf Club (Championship), Argyll & Bute
35. Royal West Norfolk Golf Club (Brancaster), Norfolk
36. Royal Troon Golf Club (Old), Ayrshire & Arran
37. Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Merseyside
38. Walton Heath Golf Club (Old), Surrey
39. Formby Golf Club, Merseyside
40. Waterville Golf Links, Kerry
41. Hollinwell, Nottinghamshire
42. County Louth Golf Club, Louth
43. Western Gailes Golf Club, Ayrshire
44. Alwoodley Golf Club, Yorkshire
45. Loch Lomond Golf Club, Argyll & Bute
46. Gleneagles (King's), Perth & Kinross
47. Saunton Golf Club (East), Devon
48. Nairn Golf Club (Championship), Highlands
49. The Island Golf Club, Dublin
50. Silloth on Solway Golf Club, Cumbria
51. Cabot Highlands Old Petty, Highlands
52. County Sligo Golf Club (Colt Championship), Sligo
53. The Berkshire Golf Club (Red), Berkshire
54. The Golf House Club, Elie, Fife
55. Hankley Common Golf Club, Surrey
56. Carne Golf Links (Wild Atlantic Dunes), Mayo
57. Gullane Golf Club (No.1), East Lothian
58. Trump International Golf Links - Ireland, Clare
59. Brora Golf Club, Highlands
60. Pennard Golf Club, Glamorgan
61. Burnham & Berrow Golf Club (Championship), Somerset
62. Woking Golf Club, Surrey
63. Trump International Golf Links - New Course, Aberdeenshire
64. Ballyliffin Golf Club (Glashedy Links), Donegal
65. Hunstanton Golf Club, Norfolk
66. Skibo Castle - Carnegie Links, Highlands
67. Portstewart Golf Club (Strand), Londonderry
68. Hillside Golf Club, Merseyside
69. St Andrews Links (New), Fife
70. Tralee Golf Club, Kerry
71. Wentworth Club (West), Surrey
72. Enniscrone Golf Club (Dunes), Sligo
73. West Lancashire Golf Club, Merseyside
74. The Addington Golf Club, Surrey
75. The Renaissance Club, East Lothian
76. Adare Manor, Limerick
77. Royal St David's Golf Club, Gwynedd
78. Dumbarnie Links, Fife
79. Liphook Golf Club, Hampshire
80. Another Place, The Machrie, Argyll & Bute
81. Royal Portrush Golf Club (Valley), Antrim
82. Prince’s Golf Club (Dunes & Himalayas), Kent
83. Machrihanish Dunes, Argyll & Bute
84. Parkstone Golf Club, Dorset
85. Queenwood Golf Club, Surrey
86. Worplesdon Golf Club, Surrey
87. The Berkshire Golf Club (Blue), Berkshire
88. West Hill Golf Club, Surrey
89. Broadstone Golf Club, Dorset
90. Aberdovey Golf Club, Gwynedd
91. Moortown Golf Club, Yorkshire
92. Wallasey Golf Club, Merseyside
93. Castletown Golf Links, Isle of Man
94. Walton Heath Golf Club (New), Surrey
95. Southport & Ainsdale Golf Club, Merseyside
96. Aldeburgh Golf Club (Championship), Suffolk
97. Hayling Golf Club, Hampshire
98. Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club (Old), Sussex
99. Hindhead Golf Club, Surrey
100. Beau Desert Golf Club, Staffordshire
