01 / 100
Pine Valley
George Crump's sandy New Jersey labyrinth makes every hole feel like its own island of turf. Its uncompromising hazards have kept Pine Valley at the top of course debates for generations.
Read the full story →THE COURSE ARCHIVE / 2025–26100 courses.
100 courses.
A world of stories.
A journey through the designs and landscapes that shaped the game. The order follows GOLF’s 2025–26 world ranking; the stories are written for Stroke of History.
100 courses
02 / 100
Cypress Point
At Cypress Point, Alister MacKenzie led golfers from coastal forest to the Pacific's edge. The famous 16th asks for a breathtaking carry over ocean water.
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03 / 100
St. Andrews (Old Course)
The Old Course's shared fairways, vast double greens and Road Hole grew through centuries of play. Golf's most influential design still rewards imagination more than any prescribed shot.
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04 / 100
Royal County Down
Blind drives and dunes make the opening stretch at Royal County Down unforgettable. The Mourne Mountains provide the backdrop, but its strategic uncertainty is the real drama.
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05 / 100
Shinnecock Hills
William Flynn's expansive Shinnecock has repeatedly hosted the U.S. Open. Wind, firm turf and exposed greens can make a seemingly simple approach anything but.
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06 / 100
National Golf Links of America
C.B. Macdonald drew on famous British holes to create an American design vocabulary here. Seth Raynor helped turn those templates into an enduring architectural landmark.
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07 / 100
Royal Melbourne (West)
Royal Melbourne's West Course shows what Alister MacKenzie could do with sandy ground and bold bunkering. The angles into its greens change with every tee shot.
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08 / 100
Augusta National
Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie envisioned a course full of choices. The Masters turned those sloping greens and risk-reward shots into annual theater.
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09 / 100
Oakmont
Oakmont's severe greens and dense bunkering have tested U.S. Open fields for more than a century. A player can hit the fairway and still face an exacting next shot.
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10 / 100
Sand Hills
Coore and Crenshaw found golf holes in Nebraska's natural dunes with remarkably little earthmoving. The land's ripples and wind do much of the design work.
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11 / 100
Muirfield
Muirfield's two loops change the wind's angle throughout a round. Jack Nicklaus admired the links enough to name his own Ohio club Muirfield Village.
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12 / 100
Royal Dornoch
Donald Ross grew up around Dornoch's raised greens and firm turf. The remote Highland links later influenced the way he designed courses in America.
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13 / 100
Merion (East)
Merion packs enormous variety into compact ground near Philadelphia. Bobby Jones completed his 1930 Grand Slam here, and Ben Hogan's 1950 comeback became another part of its lore.
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14 / 100
Royal Portrush (Dunluce)
The Dunluce Links carries H.S. Colt's routing across Northern Ireland's dunes. Its return to The Open in 2019 introduced a new generation to Portrush.
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15 / 100
Pebble Beach
Pebble Beach repeatedly brings golfers back to the edge of the Pacific. Its small greens and exposed coastline have framed some of the U.S. Open's greatest finishes.
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16 / 100
Fishers Island
Seth Raynor placed familiar template ideas on an island landscape overlooking Long Island Sound. Water views and bold green shapes give Fishers Island a singular identity.
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17 / 100
Chicago
A USGA founding club, Chicago helped establish 18-hole golf in the United States. Its Macdonald and Raynor heritage still runs through the design.
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18 / 100
Trump Turnberry (Ailsa)
Turnberry's Ailsa Course has survived wartime use and repeated reinvention. The Duel in the Sun between Watson and Nicklaus in 1977 fixed its coastal holes in golf memory.
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19 / 100
Tara Iti
On New Zealand's Pacific dunes, Tara Iti pairs wide fairways with exacting approaches. The wind can make the same route feel entirely different the next day.
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20 / 100
Pinehurst No. 2
Donald Ross's crowned greens make Pinehurst No. 2 a demanding place to miss. Its restored sandy edges brought native ground back into championship golf.
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21 / 100
Los Angeles (North)
George Thomas used a natural barranca and strategic bunkers on Los Angeles Country Club's North Course. A restoration reopened its playing angles before the 2023 U.S. Open.
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22 / 100
Sunningdale (Old)
One of England's pioneering inland courses, Sunningdale Old translated links ideas into heathland. Heather, pines and sandy ground create a very different kind of classic.
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23 / 100
Friar’s Head
Coore and Crenshaw carried Friar's Head through meadows and dunes toward Long Island Sound. The changing terrain gives its holes a restless rhythm.
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24 / 100
Kingston Heath
Kingston Heath makes a compact site feel expansive through its green placement and bunkers. Alister MacKenzie's contributions strengthened an Australian Sandbelt classic.
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25 / 100
North Berwick (West)
North Berwick's Redan green became one of golf architecture's most copied ideas. Its old links celebrates blind shots, walls and playful unpredictability.
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26 / 100
Riviera
George Thomas transformed a narrow canyon into Riviera's intricate test. The par-4 10th still invites golfers to attack, then punishes the wrong miss.
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27 / 100
Prairie Dunes
Perry Maxwell saw an abundance of potential holes in Kansas sandhills. Prairie Dunes brings links-like movement to a landscape far from the sea.
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28 / 100
Hirono
C.H. Alison introduced dramatic bunkering to Hirono in the 1930s. His work helped shape generations of Japanese course design.
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29 / 100
Ballybunion (Old)
The Atlantic and giant dunes hem in Ballybunion's Old Course. Players must trust the ground game as fairways twist between the sandhills.
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30 / 100
Royal St. George’s
The Open at Sandwich is a study in awkward lies and restless dunes. Royal St George's asks golfers to adapt rather than expect a perfectly level stance.
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31 / 100
Crystal Downs
Alister MacKenzie and Perry Maxwell used Lake Michigan's breezes and uneven land to shape Crystal Downs. Its remote setting adds to the sense of discovery.
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32 / 100
Seminole
Donald Ross threaded Seminole's holes between dune ridges beside the Atlantic. The diagonal lines of play keep golfers thinking in the wind.
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33 / 100
Winged Foot (West)
Winged Foot West earned its severe reputation in U.S. Opens, including the 1974 “Massacre.” A.W. Tillinghast's greens make precision count on every approach.
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34 / 100
Lahinch (Old)
Old Tom Morris began Lahinch; Alister MacKenzie later reshaped its character. The Klondyke and Dell holes keep the links' eccentric spirit alive.
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35 / 100
Pacific Dunes
Tom Doak made Pacific Dunes a restless walk above the Oregon coast. Unusual hole sequences and wind challenge expectations of a conventional round.
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36 / 100
Oakland Hills (South)
Ben Hogan called Oakland Hills a monster after winning the 1951 U.S. Open. Later restorations revived more of Donald Ross's width and strategy.
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37 / 100
The Country Club (Clyde/Squirrel)
Francis Ouimet's 1913 U.S. Open victory gave The Country Club an enduring place in American golf. The Brookline course still rewards patience and placement.
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38 / 100
Morfontaine
Hidden in forest north of Paris, Morfontaine offers a quieter kind of heathland golf. Its modest scale conceals intricate green complexes.
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39 / 100
Carnoustie (Championship)
Carnoustie's Barry Burn, bunkers and relentless finish have undone countless Open hopes. Its difficulty is inseparable from the links' reputation.
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40 / 100
San Francisco
A.W. Tillinghast used bunkers with a painter's eye at San Francisco Golf Club. The private course remains a discreet Bay Area architectural landmark.
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41 / 100
Barnbougle Dunes
Barnbougle's dunes and Bass Strait winds created a modern Australian links destination. Its seaside holes play differently as weather shifts.
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42 / 100
Royal Birkdale
Royal Birkdale threads fairways through valleys between dunes. The Open venue has staged historic wins without relying heavily on blind shots.
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43 / 100
Southern Hills
Perry Maxwell shaped Southern Hills across rolling Oklahoma ground. Its succession of major championships has shown how demanding those subtle contours can be.
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44 / 100
St. Patrick’s Links
Tom Doak's St Patrick's Links uses Donegal's vast dunes for modern links golf. The terrain supplies movement and scale before a bunker is even added.
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45 / 100
California Golf Club of San Francisco
A restoration gave California Golf Club wider fairways and new strategic choices. The result brought an overlooked San Francisco design back into the conversation.
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46 / 100
New South Wales
New South Wales Golf Club places ocean and coastal rock beside its fairways. The dramatic setting only sharpens the demands of its greens and bunkers.
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47 / 100
Shoreacres
Seth Raynor placed Shoreacres' celebrated holes beside steep ravines. One wrong angle can turn an inviting approach into a recovery problem.
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48 / 100
Sand Valley (The Lido)
The Lido recreates a lost Macdonald and Raynor design on Wisconsin sand. Its revival lets golfers encounter architectural ideas once erased from Long Island.
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49 / 100
Maidstone
A coastal restoration reopened Maidstone's Atlantic views and dunes. The Long Island course feels connected to the sea again.
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50 / 100
Swinley Forest
Harry Colt made Swinley Forest proof that a shorter course can possess enormous depth. Its heathland holes reward thoughtful positioning over raw distance.
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51 / 100
Somerset Hills
A.W. Tillinghast's Somerset Hills presents different questions on its front and back nines. Restoration has sharpened the character of its greens and bunkers.
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52 / 100
Garden City
Walter Travis left a lasting mark on Garden City's strategy. Its broad Long Island ground and changing breezes make the old design continually fresh.
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53 / 100
Royal Troon (Old)
The Postage Stamp is only one of Royal Troon's small targets. The Ailsa's outward and inward journeys ask very different questions when the wind rises.
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54 / 100
Portmarnock (Old)
Portmarnock occupies a narrow sandy peninsula outside Dublin. Its firm fairways and changing sea wind have long made it a stern links test.
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55 / 100
Sunningdale (New)
Harry Colt built Sunningdale New beside the Old, giving visitors two distinct heathland rounds. Its stronger contours make the sibling comparison a lively one.
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56 / 100
Bethpage (Black)
Bethpage Black's warning sign is famous, but the course's demanding length explains it. Tiger Woods won a U.S. Open here in 2002 before the public galleries.
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57 / 100
St. George’s Hill (A & B)
Harry Colt used Surrey's heathland slopes to make St George's Hill endlessly varied. The elevation changes give this inland course its visual character.
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58 / 100
Prestwick
Prestwick hosted the first Open in 1860 and its first 12 editions. Tight ground and eccentric holes preserve a feel for championship golf's beginnings.
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59 / 100
Camargo
Seth Raynor filled Camargo with bold bunkers and geometric greens. Its template holes reward players who recognize the right angle of approach.
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60 / 100
Oak Hill (East)
Donald Ross's Oak Hill East became a regular major stage. Renovation brought back design features obscured by decades of championship preparation.
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61 / 100
Cruden Bay
Cruden Bay pairs towering dunes with surprising blind shots. The Scottish links turns a round into a sequence of small discoveries.
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62 / 100
Kawana (Fuji)
The Fuji Course at Kawana turns Japan's coastline and elevation into a dramatic routing. Its views are memorable, but the connections between holes matter just as much.
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63 / 100
Ballyneal
Tom Doak's Ballyneal draws golfers through Colorado's rolling dunes without formal tee markers. Wind and ground contours invite a different route each round.
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64 / 100
Shanqin Bay
Shanqin Bay takes seaside golf to tropical Hainan Island. Its steep landforms and coastal wind create a setting unlike traditional northern links.
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65 / 100
Cape Kidnappers
Cape Kidnappers stretches over finger-like ridges high above the Pacific. The ground-level strategy is as compelling as its aerial photographs.
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66 / 100
Lofoten Links
Lofoten Links brings golf to Norway's Arctic shoreline. Sea, mountains and changing northern light frame a startlingly remote round.
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67 / 100
Inverness
Donald Ross's Inverness has held major championships across generations. Thoughtful renovation restored the character of its greens and two-shot holes.
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68 / 100
Royal Lytham & St. Annes
Royal Lytham's many bunkers make positional play essential. Adam Scott's collapse at the 2012 Open showed how quickly its closing stretch can change a championship.
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69 / 100
Cabot Saint Lucia (Point Hardy Golf Club)
Coore and Crenshaw routed Point Hardy over St Lucia's rocky coastline. The ocean crossings turn tropical scenery into strategic decisions.
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70 / 100
Baltusrol (Lower)
A.W. Tillinghast's Baltusrol Lower has repeatedly tested major fields. Restored bunkers and central hazards revive choices lost over time.
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71 / 100
Kiawah Island (Ocean)
Pete Dye placed Kiawah's Ocean Course beside marsh and Atlantic wind. The 1991 Ryder Cup gave this exposed design an unforgettable debut on the world stage.
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72 / 100
Ardfin
Ardfin crosses rugged ground on Scotland's Isle of Jura. Its scarcity of bunkers leaves the coastline and slopes to dictate much of the challenge.
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73 / 100
Childress Hall (Upper)
Childress Hall's Upper Course winds through wild Texas Panhandle sandhills. The windswept land makes a striking new canvas for golf architecture.
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74 / 100
Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin)
Deep, often punishing bunkers are Woodhall Spa's signature. The Hotchkin Course proves that inland English golf can be as exacting as a seaside links.
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75 / 100
Peachtree
Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed Peachtree early in his career. Its generous scale and strategic questions show a different side of his work.
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76 / 100
Bandon Trails
Bandon Trails begins in coastal dunes, slips through forest and returns to open ground. Coore and Crenshaw made the landscape change part of the story.
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77 / 100
Sleepy Hollow
Sleepy Hollow overlooks the Hudson River from its Westchester hillside. Restoration helped its holes match the drama of the scenery.
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78 / 100
Cabot Cape Breton (Cabot Cliffs)
Cabot Cliffs rises from Nova Scotia dunes to high ocean bluffs. Coore and Crenshaw's routing turns the last stretch into a memorable cliffside finish.
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79 / 100
Te Arai (South)
Te Arai South brings wide, sandy fairways to New Zealand's coast. Coore and Crenshaw let the ground's movement create the test.
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80 / 100
Old Town
Old Town's restoration reconnected fairways, creek beds and native grasses. The North Carolina course now reveals more of Perry Maxwell's intended strategy.
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81 / 100
Royal Hague
At Royal Hague, rolling dunes make fairway lies unpredictable. Colt and Alison used the Dutch coast's movement as the central design feature.
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82 / 100
Royal Melbourne (East)
Royal Melbourne East shares the Sandbelt's firm turf and bold bunkers. Alex Russell's routing holds its own alongside the celebrated West Course.
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83 / 100
Casa De Campo (Teeth of the Dog)
Pete Dye's Teeth of the Dog follows the Dominican Republic shoreline. Its seaside holes helped put Caribbean golf on the world map.
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84 / 100
CapRock Ranch
CapRock Ranch frames holes with Nebraska's Snake River valley. Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner used the land's sharp edges for both views and decisions.
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85 / 100
Bandon Dunes
David McLay Kidd's Bandon Dunes introduced the Oregon resort to the world. Its ocean-facing holes made walking links golf an American destination.
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86 / 100
Myopia Hunt Club
Myopia Hunt Club hosted four early U.S. Opens. Its old-fashioned New England test survives without needing modern championship scale.
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87 / 100
Nine Bridges
Nine Bridges crosses Jeju Island's wooded hills below Mount Halla. Lakes and streams join its elevation changes in defining the round.
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88 / 100
Rock Creek Cattle Company
Tom Doak took advantage of Montana's expansive valley at Rock Creek. Its inland setting offers a different sort of drama from his coastal courses.
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89 / 100
Utrecht de Pan
Harry Colt gave Utrecht de Pan a gentle, strategic rhythm. Heather and woodland make the Dutch course more subtle than spectacular.
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90 / 100
Rye (Old)
Rye's Old Course is short on par-5 relief and long on testing par-4s. The wind keeps this compact English links formidable.
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91 / 100
Winged Foot (East)
Winged Foot East has its own following beyond the famous West. Its varied holes and restored ground options make it a distinctive Tillinghast course.
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92 / 100
Machrihanish (Championship)
Machrihanish begins with a tee shot across the beach. The remote Kintyre links continues with wind, firm turf and little need for artificial drama.
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93 / 100
Victoria
Victoria's restoration renewed an Australian Sandbelt classic. Its bunkering and firm ground again reward the right path into each green.
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94 / 100
Kingsbarns
Kyle Phillips designed Kingsbarns near St Andrews at the end of the 20th century. Its sea views and lively ground quickly won over links travelers.
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95 / 100
Royal Liverpool
Royal Liverpool at Hoylake has hosted Opens across three centuries. Its flatter appearance belies bunkers and wind that punish careless play.
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96 / 100
Cabot Cape Breton (Cabot Links)
Rod Whitman's Cabot Links brought authentic seaside links golf to Nova Scotia. Firm turf and the Gulf of St Lawrence shape its playing character.
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97 / 100
Cabot Highlands (Castle Stuart)
Castle Stuart's figure-eight routing repeatedly returns to the Moray Firth. Gil Hanse and Mark Parsinen used that shoreline to vary the course's outlook.
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98 / 100
Te Arai (North)
Tom Doak's Te Arai North moves from coastal dunes into native forest and back. The changes in setting give each stretch its own mood.
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99 / 100
Ohoopee Match Club
Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner built Ohoopee's match-play course on ancient river sand. Its broad choices encourage risk and invention rather than a single prescribed shot.
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100 / 100
Cape Wickham
Cape Wickham runs along King Island's windy northern edge. Ocean-side par-3s and a bold finishing drive make its setting part of every decision.
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