Top 20 Golf Courses In The UK

The U.K holds an embarrassment of riches in regards to Golf Courses. Royal County Down in Scotland is regularly regarded as the best 18 hole course in the world with it's

1) Sunningdale (Old)

Location: Sunningdale, Berkshire

Incredibly convenient course to reach if you're a London resident as it's just a 30 minute drive outside of the capital. Though split into the Old and New courses, the place as a whole is steeped in history with the new course having been up since 1923. Crafted on undulating heathland with plenty of birdie opportunities, it's can be pleasant on the eyes and scorecards.

Best Hotel: Royal Berkshire
Booking Link: Book Rounds Here

2) Royal Birkdale

Location: Southport, Lancashire

Designed by human hands in 1889, and further carved into shape through the Irish winds whipping in from the coast. It boasts one of the trickiest opening holes you'll ever come across and teeing off from atop the dunes here will test your technical acumen and judgment of wind, distance and going more than most.

Book Hotel: The Coach House
Book Golf Course: Royal Birkdale

3) Royal St George's

Location: Kent

A links with it's own distinct feel. You'll need a full range of shots and clubs to make your way around this in a respectable number of shots. Only 3 golfers have managed to be under par after 72 holes in the Open, the last being in 2003 so don't expect to be hitting birdie after birdie here.

Book Hotel: Dutch Barge, Fisherman's Wharf
Book Golf Course: Royal St George's

4) Woodhall Spa

Location: Lincolnshire

Rising from some of Britains premier heathlands, the recent restoration was one of Golf's most ambitious and has ramped up the skill ceiling and future proofed this awesome course for decades to come.

Book Hotel: Golf Hotel Woodhall Spa
Book Golf Course: Woodhall Spa

5) Sunningdale (New)

Location: Sunningdale, Berkshire

Younger sibling to the sublime Sunningdale Old course, the new course is a tad rougher around the edges with less bunkers making it trickier. It's a fave of Gary Lineker and he admitted to it being a tough course with the all time record being a 62 on a 70 par.

Best Hotel: Royal Berkshire
Booking Link: Book Rounds Here

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6) St Enodoc

Location: Wadebridge, England

Offering one of the most panoramic views in all of England, you can sea coast, cliff and sea without so much as moving a foot. Designed for all levels to enjoy but with some punishing greens for those who want to test themselves.

Book Hotel: The St Enodoc Hotel
Book Golf Course: St Enodoc

7) . Walton Heath (Old)

Location: Surrey

Some rather famous folk have called themselves members here, Winston Churchill being one of them. The heather clad bunkers can be tricky but the generous fairways make it more than fair.

Book Hotel: The Lodge At Kingswood
Book Golf Course: Walton Heath Golf Club

8) Royal Lytham & St Annes

Location: Lytham St Annes, Lancashire

One of the premier links courses in the world, there are 167 bunkers peppering the fairways. It's difficult to scramble together a good score but it's worth the bogeys to soak in the views.

Book Hotel: Paramount Aparthotel
Book Golf Course: Royal Lytham & St Annes

9) Ganton Golf Club

Location: Scarborough

This inland links in Yorkshire is a beaut and has hosted the Ryder Cup, the Walker Cup and the Curtis Cup. Nestles between York and Scarborough it can easily be mistaken as a lush and forgiving course, but over 100 tricky little bunkers litter the course from front to back. Great for seaside trips just 9 miles from the sea.

Book Hotel: The Plough, Scalby
Book Golf Course: Ganton Golf Club

10) West Sussex

Location: Sussex

Not quite up to championship par, but what it lacks in exact distance and difficulty, is made up for with staggering heaths and healthy doses of pine sprinkled throughout. The longest driver won't have much of a bragging chance here as deft technical shots mark those who score well.

Book Hotel: Halfway Bridge, Midhurst
Book Golf Course: West Sussex

11) Swinley Forest

Location: South Ascot, Berkshire

Interestingly, opinion was split on this majestic heathland course, with as many panellists voting for a fall as for a rise in the rankings this time around. Designed by Harry Colt, its layout carves its way through spectacular heathland vistas framed by heather, pine woods, azaleas and rhododendrons. Today, off the back tees, at 6431 yards long it delivers a true test of the game, but the course is set up to deliver a great experience to golfers of all standards.

Book Hotel: Stirrups Hotel
Book Golf Course: Swinley Forest Golf Course

12) Saunton (East)

Location: Devon

The land at Saunton Burrows has hosted golf since 1897 and given us today’s premier golf course in the West Country since Herbert Fowler (famed designer of Walton Heath, The Berkshire, and Delamere Forest to name just a few) created the East Course in the 1920s. This venue has been used ever since for major amateur championships, notably the 1937 English Amateur when Frank Pennink was victorious.

Book Hotel: Saunton Sands Hotel Source Spa & Wellness
Book Golf Course: Saunton (East)

13) St George's Hill

Location: Weybridge

Heathland is par for the course when it comes to pretty golf courses, but the extreme contrast of green on purple and lilac makes for particularly pleasing pastures. Harry Colt's design is ageing like a fine wine. Despite being built for luxury in the 1920's, it still holds every oz of decadent charm almost a century later.

Book Hotel: Brooklands Hotel & Spa
Book Golf Course: St George's Hill

14) Royal West Norfolk

Location: Brancaster, Norfolk

Windswept and at the mercy of the tides, Royal West Norfolk – aka Brancaster – remains a links course of rare challenge and beauty. As a general rule, fairway bunkers are sodded and the greenside ‘pits’, yawningly deep in places and are usually faced with sleepers between 42 and 48 degrees from vertical.

Book Hotel: The Old Stables, Docking
Book Golf Course: Royal West Norfolk

15) Royal Liverpool

Location: Hoylake

Not the most sparkling piece of linksland you’ll ever come across, but the turf is just sublime and the topography disguises some amazing holes. It's not long, but you really have to think from the tees.

Book Hotel: Pipers & Mere Hoylake The Weaves
Book Golf Course: Royal Liverpool Golf Course

16) The Alwoodley

Location: Wigton, Leeds

The best of a handful of top-notch courses that straddle the moors to the north of Leeds. Alwoodley's runs almost straight out and back, the inward nine being tougher as most of the holes are played into the fresh winds off the Yorkshire Moors.

Book Hotel: Harewood Estate Cottages
Book Golf Course: The Alwoodley