Welcome to the NCG Top 100s list of the very best golf courses in Great Britain & Ireland.

The game of golf originated on these shores, dating back to the 15th Century on the eastern part of Scotland. St Andrews is known as the 'Home of Golf' of course.

St Andrews was the home of the first 18-hole golf course, with the Old Course opening in 1764. It was another 56 years before the first golf club was opened outside of Great Britain & Ireland.

1860 then saw the inaugural Open Championship held at Prestwick. It remains the oldest tournament in golf, and one of the four majors in golf today.

Great Britain & Ireland has the richest of histories when it comes to golf, and the NCG Top 100 list of courses in Great Britain & Ireland was several years in the making. The list was published in 2019 and it is an amalgamation of our four lists of the home nations: England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

It is not just the history of the game that is unique to Great Britain & Ireland, but it is the nature of the courses that are on offer.

Links golf is synonymous with Great Britain & Ireland. It is the only part of the world where you can find true links golf courses, many of which have hosted the Open Championship.

Our list of the best golf courses in Great Britain & Ireland features a mix of both links and heathland venues. On this side of the Atlantic at least, this list is the gold standard.

Starring the likes of St Andrews, Trump Turnberry, Royal St George's, Royal Portrush, Royal Porthcawl and many, many more, it is a list that is sure to stimulate debate and inspire future golf trips in equal measure.

How did we get our top 100?
We compiled a shortlist of 200 courses from across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We sought to include all courses that we felt had a realistic chance of making the final top 100.

Queenswood, the Royal Autombile Club, Royal Wimbledon and The Wisley were all shortlisted for the Top 100 Great Britain & Ireland list. However, these four courses did not wish be considered for this particular ranking.

We are entirely respectful of their decision and list them here only because you might otherwise have wondered why they do not appear in the list.

Townley Hall Golf Club

Nearby Courses

County Louth

Seapoint

Killeen Castle