The 15 Most Beautiful Golf Courses in the World

Home of the 43rd annual Ryder Cup and the 2015 PGA Championship, the Straits Course at Whistling Straits is a showstopper set along two windswept miles of Lake Michigan’s shores. Its partner course, the Irish Course, is also gorgeous, but it’s hard to beat the bluffy beauty of the Straits. Golfers can enjoy a challenging yardage of 7,790 at this Pete Dye-designed, 18-hole masterpiece.

Acclaimed golf architect Tom Fazio designed this inland course to perfectly encapsulate the viridescent beauty for which the aptly named Emerald Isle is known. Complete with undulating hills and sweeping views of the River Maigue, this parkland-style golf course is set to host the 2027 Ryder Cup. The Adare Manor is a 7,509-yard, 18-hole, par-72 course.

Known for being the annual home of The Masters, this southern beauty is a well-kept and beautifully landscaped course, complete with perhaps the most verdant of fairways and tees. The ever-blooming azaleas, more than a thousand on hole 13 alone, add floral interest to this pristine offering.

The Old Course (pictured here with the iconic Swilcan bridge) may be the most classic offering, but the Castle Course at St. Andrews is hard to beat in terms of beauty. The newest option (a 6,759-yard, par 71 course) at the Home of Golf welcomes golfers to the most significant public golf complex in Europe. Set on a cliff along the North Sea, the Castle Course boasts rugged landscapes combined with a strong sense of place and history.

Donald Ross-designed Oak Hill Country Club has hosted premier golf events such as the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Senior Open, Ryder Cup, just to name a few. Though the course is in pristine condition, it's certainly no piece of cake. In fact, Ben Hogan once called Oak Hill's first hole, which is aptly named The Challenge, "the toughest starting hole in golf" because of its incredibly tight fairway.

In 2019, the course underwent a massive restoration project spearheaded by Andrew Green. In May of 2020, the project was completed (just in time for the 2023 PGA Championship to return to the club). Pictured here is the course's most iconic hole—number 13's Hill of Fame. Beyond offering a verdant vista and rows of fluffy oaks, this hole also commemorates the achievements of 42 individuals who have contributed to the game of golf and pushed boundaries in their respective fields. Near the hole, you'll find beautiful bronze plaques affixed to oak trees honoring people like Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ben Hogan, Robert Trent Jones, Bob Hope, Annika Sorenstam and more.

No list of the world’s most beautiful golf courses could be complete without a majestic mountain view option; enter the staggering natural beauty of the Fairmont Banff Springs course, set in Banff National Park amid the Canadian Rockies. Designed by native son Stanley Thompson, the 18-hole, par 71 course makes the most of its dramatic alpine surroundings with 6,938 yards.

Central California’s Pebble Beach Golf Links is often rated the best public golf course in the United States and is a regular host of the U.S. Open. Besides accolades of this nature, the course is renowned for its stunning rocky shoreline views from the fairways and the iconic 18th hole being one of the most famous finishing holes in golf. Jack Neville and Douglas Grant were the original designers back in 1919, though Arnold Palmer and Thad Layton provided a 2016 refresh to the outstanding 7,075-yard course.

The Ocean Club at Atlantis takes advantage of its tropical island setting with a beautiful 18-hole, 7,100+ yard course designed by Tom Weiskopf. Winding along sparkling Caribbean waters, the Ocean Club is one of the region’s (and world’s) best-known courses.

This Greg Norman-designed course offers a traditional links-style option in Southeast Asia. As with many of the most well-known courses, dramatic ocean views make it an astounding visual spectacle, especially when combined with the area’s towering sand dunes. This par-71 course plays at 7,007 yards from the tips, giving it a challenging 74.4 slope rating. The course debuted in 2014 and has increased golf tourism to Vietnam ever since.

This Pacific Northwest destination has welcomed golfers to the meandering Oregon coast since 1999. Bandon Dunes is an entirely natural course that embraces the area's windswept dunes and indigenous vegetation to craft a golfer’s dream paradise. Scotsman David McLay Kidd made a par 73, 7,327-yard gem on Southern Oregon’s pristine Pacific coast.

Boasting the most ocean holes in the Northern Hemisphere, the famous Dye-designed Ocean Course on South Carolina’s Kiawah Island offers a lesson in low-country charm. Kiawah itself is remarkably preserved in terms of natural beauty, and this 7,876-yard course makes the most of it. It’s easy to see why it’s a tournament-favored host, with the Ryder Cup, PGA Championship, and World Cup all choosing the Ocean Course over the years.

This beautiful course is set along the shores of pristine Lake Coeur d’Alene in Northern Idaho and is home to the world’s only floating green! (Pro tip: Golfers who make it to the famous island green on hole 14 can finish the hole by accessing it with a small boat). Complete with evergreen trees, the par-71 course plays at 6,803 yards. Designer Scott Miller included lake views at every hole for maximum visual impact.

With more miles of coastline than any state in the continental U.S., Michigan offers jaw-dropping water views from both its upper and lower peninsulas. But this course is perhaps the most unique offering in the Wolverine State, The Jewel at Grand Hotel. This is the only course in the country with a horse-drawn carriage ride between nines, part of the car-less charm of Mackinac Island.

The Jerry Matthews-designed Grand Nine and Woods Nine combine for one epic course experience; the Grand Nine stuns with Straits of Mackinac views that date back to its 1901 foundation. The Woods Nine is an inland course that boasts picturesque snippets of the iconic Mackinac Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere.