Each new year is another opportunity to get your atlas out and plan your golfing itinerary for the next 12 months.
At NCG, we’ve taken on a fair few odysseys of our own, documented in our new ’48 Hours In’ series. You can watch these here, and maybe gather ideas of where you’d like to visit in 2026.
We are a group of golf course lovers at NCG. Like you, we enjoy playing at new places and returning to our favourite courses, too.
We’ve played hundreds of golf courses between us, but there are still corners of Great Britain and Ireland that we haven’t visited, as well as across the globe.
While you read through each entry from our team, why don’t you tell us which golf courses you want to visit in 2026 in the comments section below?
NCG’s golf course bucket list in 2026
Steve Carroll: Muirfield is always on my wish list – but I’ve not managed to get there yet – and there is a similar desire to tick off Royal St George’s.
But given I’m unlikely to scrape together the considerable green fees required anytime soon, a trip to Silloth – a course that people I know can’t stop talk about – feels a bit more achievable.
Mike Robertson: Now we are talking…
If we mean courses that I have never played before: West Sussex, Hankley Common and Portmarnock.
Matt Chivers: I’m going for courses I haven’t played yet that I am dying to. I don’t how, why or when it would happen, but I am desperate to play at Sunningdale.
North Berwick, too. Don’t know how or when, but I want to go there.
Next in my priority list is a toss-up between Formby and Brancaster, particularly the latter, as it just looks other-worldly.
Matt Coles: There are so many venues that I would love to play golf, but if I had to pick three, it would be the following:
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Trump International (New) – the Old Course at the Aberdeen venue is impeccable, and the site of the only hole-in-one in my golfing career… If the New Course is anywhere near as good as the Old, then it will be absolutely fantastic!
Moortown – Amazingly, despite having lived in Leeds for almost a decade now, I still haven’t enjoyed an afternoon at Moortown. To make it worse, I have been there with the NCG Top 100s Tour for the last two years, but still haven’t managed to get out for a round. Maybe 2026 is my year to do so…
Ile Aux Cerfs – Now this one is definitely out of left field… In fact, it is so out of left field that the course sits on its own island in the Indian Ocean. There is talk amongst my golfing group that we might be taking the trip to Mauritius at some point in 2026, and Ile Aux Cerfs is certainly high on my list. Just take a look at the aerial shots of the place, how could you say no to that?
Darren Tear: Ganton, Close House, and Alwoodley in the Spring or Summer.
Dan Murphy: As the chairman of NCG Top 100s course rankings, this is a subject close to my heart. We are working on updates to our Wales and Ireland lists in 2026. North Wales is right at the top of my list, as is Clyne, which, according to our own list, is the best course in Wales I have yet to play. Across the sea, I have to my shame never visited Alister MacKenzie’s Cork, while Carlow is another that intrigues me.
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What is on your golf course bucket list in 2026? Have you visited these bucket list golf courses yet? Tell us on X!
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