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The same rule that governs books and their covers applies to golf courses and their scorecards. You can’t judge one by the other.

Shoreacres illustrates the point.

This alluring layout on Chicago’s North Side tips out at just over 6,300 yards, making it the shortest of GOLF’s Top 100 Courses in the World. (Yes, some holes at Shoreacres can be stretched back for competitions, but we’re going by daily-play setup and the distance printed on the card.)

Its story, though, is more than a tale of the tape.

Shoreacres is the work of Seth Raynor, the engineer-turned-architect who was tutored in the trade by the father of American architecture, C.B. Macdonald. Like his mentor, Raynor incorporated templates into his designs, archetypal features that he adapted to suit each site. If you’ve played a Raynor course — this can be a challenge, as most are private — you’ve probably heard the terms: Biarritz, Redan and Eden. Shoreacres has them all, on an intimate site beside Lake Michigan.

Shoreacres starts benignly, with a gettable par-5 and a pair of short par-4s. Bank some birdies while you can. The front nine is relatively flat, but the land grows more dramatic as you make the turn, with a particularly thrilling stretch from holes 11-15 that plays over and round ravines. From start to finish, the layout’s main defense comes on and around its greens. At some point during an outing here, you’re apt to hear the phrase, “You’ve been Raynored,” which can happen in all kinds of ways. An approach shot, for instance, defied by a false front or shrugged off by a green-side shoulder. A putt that breaks in some confounding fashion. A ball that glides past the cup… and down into a bunker.

Classic courses filled with templates are often describes as architecture “museums.” Really, they’re more like interactive exhibits. In that regard, Shoreacres demands your full engagement, without requiring you to play the power game. Strategy and shot-making are priorities here. 

All the more impressive is that Raynor pulled this off without having access to what many regard as the property’s best land. The clubhouse occupies that acreage, on a bluff overlooking the lake. It’s an idyllic place to soak in views while recounting your highlights from the day. Self-glorification is fair game in golf. Just do your friends a favor and keep those stories like the golf course: short.

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The 1970s, the decade that gave us disco, also delivered a wave of prominent golf-course redesigns. One was an overhaul of Inverness in advance of the 1979 U.S. Open, conducted by Tom Fazio and his uncle, George Fazio. To help defend the storied Donald Ross design against the world’s best players, the Fazios added length, tightened corridors and altered the routing, including the introduction of three new holes. Mission accomplished, at least in terms of toughness. The changes, though, were polarizing. Critics saw them as incongruous with Ross’ work, a blemish on a gem.

Over time, the rankings came to reflect that sentiment. Inverness debuted at No. 54 on GOLF’s list in 1985. By 2017, it had slipped to No. 98.

Enter Andrew Green. In 2018, Green, a relatively unknown architect at the time, completed a restoration aimed at returning Inverness to its roots. As part of the project, Green reopened corridors, expanded greens and surrounds and revived the cadence of Ross’s routing, replacing three holes the Fazios built with three of his own — each meant to channel Ross. The result is a course with more width off the tee, more short-grass options around the greens and more strategic nuance.

You feel it throughout. The 6th and 7th, both stout par-4s, are imposing tests of power and precision. The 4th, 10th and 18th holes, for their part, present a variety of risk-reward decisions, tempting you to take on bunkers, creeks or awkward downhill and sidehill lies for a shorter approach. It’s no surprise many of the 2021 Solheim Cup matches were decided by how players managed these beautifully calibrated challenges.

For a course with four U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships and a Solheim Cup on its résumé, Inverness hardly needed validation. But Green’s restoration was a welcome refresher. The rankings reflect that sentiment, too, as Inverness has climbed back to No. 67. That feels about right. The course is a compelling test for members yet remains a worthy championship stage, just as Ross surely would have wanted. And another major is on the way. I’m excited to see Inverness back in the spotlight at the 2027 U.S. Women’s Open.

Dave Greiner is a course rater for GOLF and GOLF.com.

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But there’s perhaps little debate on the value found on the entry fee to play the course that hosted the event. Consider this:

You can peg it at Bethpage Black five times in one day — for just about the price of one of the aforementioned tickets. 

And that’s if you’re from out of state ($140 during the week). New York state residents can play it 10 times ($70 during the week).

Bethpage Black, then, heads our list of the five most affordable courses in our Top 100 in the World ranking, which you can view below.

5 most affordable courses in our Top 100 in the World ranking 

1. Bethpage (Black), Farmingdale, N.Y., No. 56 in Top 100: The Black intimidates golfers with a sign at the 1st tee that recommends the course “only for highly skilled golfers.” Among them? Tiger Woods, who won the 2002 “People’s Open,” as that U.S. Open came to be known. Woods was the only golfer to break par for 72 holes, owing to rugged, uphill par-4s, massive bunkers and the wrist-fracturing rough found on this Rees Jones-restored A.W. Tillinghast layout. The Black enjoys one of the great routings, highlighted by the masterful way Tillinghast placed the fairways and greens from the 2nd hole in a valley all the way through the dogleg left 9th. The par-5 4th and its iconic cross-bunkering is a world-beater. 

2. Cruden Bay, Cruden Bay., Scotland, No. 61 in Top 100: This cult classic is a personal favorite of both Pete Dye and Tom Doak. Twenty-three miles north of Aberdeen, Cruden Bay offers many novel features, including the postcard-perfect par-3 4th, which overlooks the Water of Cruden and the fishing village of Port Erroll, and the par-4 14th, with its funnel-shaped bathtub green. The 4th kicks off a five-hole stretch that any links course would love to claim as its own, so wildly varied and well-conceived is each hole. 

3. Machrihanish (Championship), Campbeltown, Scotland, No. 92 in Top 100: On the Mull of Kintyre, the course makes the most of its romantic setting, starting with the opening tee shot set on a diagonal across the beach. One panelist considers the 3rd as an ideal links hole, writing: “The tee ball is blind over a heaving dune, which creates a sense of adventure as you aim your ball into the unknown. Then, as you crest the hill, a view of the Irish Sea emerges in the distance, with the beautifully situated green in the foreground, sunken in its own natural amphitheater.” The rumpled fairways never let up and serve up the awkward stances that complicate playing in the wind. But the real star is the set of greens. The surfaces from 12 through 16 are all brilliant and highlight that the best links holes aren’t necessarily confined to those closest to the sea. It’s always a delight to find a course that poses so many questions, all while measuring under 6,500 yards.

4. Utrecht de Pan, Bosch en Duin, The Netherlands, No. 89 in Top 100: Modern architecture did itself no favors by pursuing holes that constantly scream at the golfer, because at some point the golfer goes tone deaf. Designer Harry Colt never went down that path and thus his courses enjoy timeless appeal. At Utrecht de Pan, he did what he did best: produce a course that is a delight to play every day. De Pan may not have the topography of St. George’s Hill, but it does have sand dunes throughout the property. A master router, Colt incorporated the dunes in every way possible.

5. Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin), Woodhall Spa, England, No. 74 in Top 100: Credit architects H.S. Colt and S.V. Hotchkin for enhancing Harry Vardon’s initial work and turning the course into one of golf’s supreme inland delights, an oasis amid the surrounding flat fenland of Lincolnshire. Deep bunkers are Woodhall Spa’s defining trait, along with plentiful gorse and a stellar set of par-3s. A meticulous restoration carried out by Renaissance Golf Design in recent years saw trees felled and heather regenerated. Set 150 miles north of London, Woodhall keeps a relatively low profile as it isn’t among a cluster of great courses. That’s a shame, because this outpost course is emphatically worth the trip. 

Editor’s note: Below are additional Top 100 Courses in the World links:

Top 100 Courses in the World 2025-26: Our raters’ votes, revealed! | Full methodology: How we rate courses | 2025-26 World list sorted by country | 2025-26 World list courses you can play 

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AUGUSTA NATIONAL — Augusta, Ga.

Hello again, friends. Settle in for our mostly-uninterrupted broadcast, drink in the pastels of dogwoods and magnolias, and let that pre-recorded birdsong wash over you. By the time the final putt drops, you’ll feel as though you’ve memorized every ridge and rise of Alister MacKenzie’s masterpiece — which is convenient, since experiencing it in person is, for almost all of us, a lovely little fantasy.

CHICAGO GOLF CLUB — Wheaton, Ill.

A founding pillar of the USGA and home to the nation’s first 18-hole course, Chicago Golf is the game’s version of a lovable old grump. Membership is tiny. Unaccompanied play is not allowed. And guests are asked to steer clear of the property until their host arrives, and to scram as soon as said host departs. If courses could channel cranky charm, C.B. Macdonald’s creation would be on the front steps of its clubhouse, grumbling at the world to get off its lawn.

CHILDRESS HALL, UPPER — Childress, TX

Situated in a lonely swath of the Lone Star State, where rumpled dunes run alongside a lovely bend in a wide river, Childress is the newest course on our World Top 100, but Childress follows an old model of exclusivity: high initiation dues, low number of members.

CYPRESS POINT CLUB — Monterey, Calif.

“Cypress once held a major membership drive,” Bob Hope liked to joke about his home club. “They drove out 40 members.” The roll today still hovers around a couple hundred fortunate souls who can stroll onto a seaside layout so spectacular you half expect park rangers to appear and warn you to stay on the designated paths.

FISHERS ISLAND — Fishers Island, N.Y.

Both literally and figuratively insular, this Seth Raynor gem sits off the eastern tip of Long Island, reachable only by boat or private plane and far beyond the everyday golfer’s grasp. The wealth here predates paper currency. And it prefers anonymity: in 1979, after GOLF placed Fishers on its first-ever world ranking, the club politely asked to be removed. Hard to reach? Absolutely. But once you’re there, it etches itself into memory.

HIRONO — Kobe, Japan

Japan’s devotion to etiquette and tradition finds a fitting expression at Hirono. What it doesn’t extend quite so readily is access. No unaccompanied play. Almost no tournaments of note — only the Japan Amateur and Japan Open have broken through. A recent Martin Ebert restoration has only stoked curiosity, but the guest list remains as tight as ever.

MORFONTAINE — Hauts-de-France, France

A great many golfers dream of pegging it at this sandy, piney wonderland an hour north of Paris. Très peu actually manage it. Built in 1913 as the personal playground of the Duke of Gramont, Morfontaine has remained a discreet refuge for French golf aristocracy and various worldly heirs. Unaccompanied visitors are about as common as steak tartare without an egg yolk. Unless you count a Duke among your acquaintances, you may never get close — though you’ll certainly hear the legends about its lunch.

THE OLD COURSE AT ST. ANDREWS — St. Andrews, Scotland

Yes, there’s a ballot. Yes, there’s a walk-up line. But if you aren’t a local or linked to the R&A, you’ll probably want a tour operator to help navigate a tee sheet that fills up years out. One of the game’s little paradoxes: the Old Course is open to everyone, which makes it feel, at times, almost impossible for anyone to book a slot.

PINE VALLEY — Pine Valley, N.J.

Since we’re all into analytics these days, let’s crunch a few. The world’s top-ranked course means global demand to play it. Most members live far away. Guests can’t come unescorted. Add the fact that Pine Valley doesn’t fundraise or host corporate days — rare backdoor entry points at other elite clubs — and the equation is simple. The probability you’ll tee it up here hovers somewhere around snowball-in-July territory.

SEMINOLE — Juno Beach, Fla.

Imagine the stereotypical Florida golf enclave — glitzy clubhouse, over-amped landscaping, gold-plated carts — and then picture the opposite. That’s Seminole. Ben Hogan once said that if he were a young pro, he’d do whatever he could to gain access to this Donald Ross classic. Sensible advice, though not easily followed. This is the club, after all, rumored to have passed on Jack Nicklaus.

SHANQIN BAY — Hainan, China

A GOLF staffer once spent several blissful days at this Coore-Crenshaw design, perched on breezy seaside bluffs on Hainan Island, and encountered exactly one other group. The emptiness is by design. Membership is low-capped, initiation fees clear seven figures, and on many days the staff so vastly outnumbers golfers that employees have been known to spell out guests’ names in range balls, in giant letters on the practice ground.

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The Old Course at St. Andrews is, of course, the oldest ranked course of them all, dating back 625 years. The next batch of oldest courses predictably comes from the UK and Ireland, with opening dates in the mid- to late-1800s. The oldest U.S. course on the list is venerable Chicago, which opened in 1895.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the most prolific decades for courses on this year’s ranking are the 1920s and the 1930s — the game’s golden age of architecture, when Donald Ross, Alister MacKenzie, and A.W. Tillinghast delivered classic tracks like Seminole (Ross); Cypress Point and Royal Melbourne (MacKenzie) and Winged Foot and Baltusrol (Tillinghast). A grand total of 36 courses on the list hail from these two decades.

Take in the extensive history of our Top 100 World list below, by browsing the course names sorted from oldest to newest. To view the original Top 100 Courses in the World list in its entirety, click here.

GOLF’s Top 100 list by year built, oldest to newest

1. St. Andrews (Old Course) — St. Andrews, Scotland — 1400 (Rank 3)

2. Carnoustie (Championship) — Carnoustie, Scotland — 1842 (Rank 39)

3. Prestwick — Prestwick, Scotland — 1851 (Rank 58)

4. Royal Liverpool — Hoylake, England — 1869 (Rank 95)

5. Machrihanish (Championship) — Campbeltown, Scotland — 1879 (Rank 92)

6. Royal Dornoch — Dornoch, Scotland — 1886 (Rank 12)

7. Royal Troon (Old) — Troon, Scotland — 1887 (Rank 53)

8. Royal County Down — Newcastle, Northern Ireland — 1889 (Rank 4)

9. Muirfield — Gullane, Scotland — 1891 (Rank 11)

10. Chicago — Wheaton, IL — 1895 (Rank 17)

11. North Berwick (West) — North Berwick, Scotland — 1895 (Rank 25)

12. Rye (Old) — Rye, England — 1895 (Rank 90)

13. Portmarnock (Old) — Dublin, Ireland — 1896 (Rank 54)

14. Royal Lytham & St. Annes — Lytham St Annes, England — 1897 (Rank 68)

15. Myopia Hunt Club — South Hamilton, MA — 1898 (Rank 86)

16. The Country Club (Clyde/Squirrel) — Brookline, MA — 1899 (Rank 37)

17. Garden City — Garden City, NY — 1899 (Rank 52)

18. Oakmont — Oakmont, PA — 1903 (Rank 9)

19. Pinehurst No. 2 — Pinehurst, NC — 1907 (Rank 20)

20. Swinley Forest — South Ascot, England — 1910 (Rank 50)

21. National Golf Links of America — Southampton, NY — 1911 (Rank 6)

22. Merion (East) — Ardmore, PA — 1912 (Rank 13)

23. St. George’s Hill (A & B) — Weybridge, England — 1913 (Rank 57)

24. Sleepy Hollow — Briarcliff Manor, NY — 1913 (Rank 77)

25. Oakland Hills (South) — Bloomfield Hills, MI — 1917 (Rank 36)

26. Pine Valley — Pine Valley, NJ — 1918 (Rank 1)

27. San Francisco — San Francisco, CA — 1918 (Rank 40)

28. Somerset Hills — Bernardsville, NJ — 1918 (Rank 51)

29. Pebble Beach — Pebble Beach, CA — 1919 (Rank 15)

30. Inverness — Toledo, OH — 1919 (Rank 67)

31. Shoreacres — Lake Bluff, IL — 1921 (Rank 47)

32. Oak Hill (East) — Rochester, NY — 1921 (Rank 60)

33. Sunningdale (Old) — Sunningdale, England — 1922 (Rank 22)

34. Royal St. George’s — Sandwich, England — 1922 (Rank 30)

35. Maidstone — East Hampton, NY — 1922 (Rank 49)

36. Sunningdale (New) — Sunningdale, England — 1922 (Rank 55)

37. Baltusrol (Lower) — Springfield, NJ — 1922 (Rank 70)

38. Winged Foot (West) — Mamaroneck, NY — 1923 (Rank 33)

39. Winged Foot (East) — Mamaroneck, NY — 1923 (Rank 91)

40. Fishers Island — Fishers Island, NY — 1926 (Rank 16)

41. California Golf Club of San Francisco — South San Francisco, CA — 1926 (Rank 45)

42. Camargo — Cincinnati, OH — 1926 (Rank 59)

43. Cruden Bay — Cruden Bay, Scotland — 1926 (Rank 61)

44. Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin) — Woodhall Spa, England — 1926 (Rank 74)

45. Los Angeles (North) — Los Angeles, CA — 1927 (Rank 21)

46. Riviera — Pacific Palisades, CA — 1927 (Rank 26)

47. Lahinch (Old) — Lahinch, Ireland — 1927 (Rank 34)

48. Morfontaine — Morfontaine, France — 1927 (Rank 38)

49. Victoria — Cheltenham, Australia — 1927 (Rank 93)

50. Cypress Point — Pebble Beach, CA — 1928 (Rank 2)

51. Kingston Heath — Cheltenham, Australia — 1928 (Rank 24)

52. New South Wales — La Perouse, Australia — 1928 (Rank 46)

53. Royal Portrush (Dunluce) — Portrush, Northern Ireland — 1929 (Rank 14)

54. Seminole — Juno Beach, FL — 1929 (Rank 32)

55. Shinnecock Hills — Southampton, NY — 1931 (Rank 5)

56. Royal Melbourne (West) — Black Rock, Australia — 1931 (Rank 7)

57. Hirono — Miki-Chi, Japan — 1932 (Rank 28)

58. Crystal Downs — Frankfort, MI — 1932 (Rank 31)

59. Royal Birkdale — Southport, England — 1932 (Rank 42)

60. Royal Melbourne (East) — Black Rock, Australia — 1932 (Rank 82)

61. Utrecht de Pan — Bosch en Duin, Netherlands — 1932 (Rank 89)

62. Augusta National — Augusta, GA — 1933 (Rank 8)

63. Bethpage (Black) — Farmingdale, NY — 1935 (Rank 56)

64. Ballybunion (Old) — Ballybunion, Ireland — 1936 (Rank 29)

65. Southern Hills — Tulsa, OK — 1936 (Rank 43)

66. Kawana (Fuji) — Ito-shi, Japan — 1936 (Rank 62)

67. Prairie Dunes — Hutchinson, KS — 1937 (Rank 27)

68. Royal Hague — Wassenaar, Netherlands — 1938 (Rank 81)

69. Old Town — Winston-Salem, NC — 1939 (Rank 80)

70. Trump Turnberry (Ailsa) — Turnberry, Scotland — 1946 (Rank 18)

71. Peachtree — Atlanta, GA — 1947 (Rank 75)

72. Casa de Campo (Teeth of the Dog) — La Romana, DR — 1971 (Rank 83)

73. Kiawah Island (Ocean) — Kiawah Island, SC — 1991 (Rank 71)

74. Sand Hills — Mullen, NE — 1995 (Rank 10)

75. Bandon Dunes — Bandon, OR — 1999 (Rank 85)

76. Kingsbarns — Kingsbarns, Scotland — 1999 (Rank 94)

77. Pacific Dunes — Bandon, OR — 2001 (Rank 35)

78. Nine Bridges — Jeju-do, South Korea — 2001 (Rank 87)

79. Friar’s Head — Riverhead, NY — 2003 (Rank 23)

80. Barnbougle Dunes — Bridport, Australia — 2004 (Rank 41)

81. Cape Kidnappers — Te Awanga, New Zealand — 2004 (Rank 65)

82. Bandon Trails — Bandon, OR — 2005 (Rank 76)

83. Ballyneal — Holyoke, CO — 2006 (Rank 63)

84. Rock Creek Cattle Company — Deer Lodge, MT — 2008 (Rank 88)

85. Cabot Highlands (Castle Stuart) — Inverness, Scotland — 2009 (Rank 97)

86. Shanqin Bay — Hainan, China — 2012 (Rank 64)

87. Cabot Cape Breton (Cabot Links) — Inverness, Canada — 2012 (Rank 96)

88. Tara Iti — Te Arai, New Zealand — 2015 (Rank 19)

89. Lofoten Links — Gimsøysand, Norway — 2015 (Rank 66)

90. Cape Wickham — Wickham, Australia — 2015 (Rank 100)

91. Cabot Cape Breton (Cabot Cliffs) — Inverness, Canada — 2016 (Rank 78)

92. Ardfin — Isle of Jura, UK — 2017 (Rank 72)

93. Ohoopee Match Club — Cobbtown, GA — 2018 (Rank 99)

94. St. Patrick’s Links — Rosapenna, Ireland — 2021 (Rank 44)

95. CapRock Ranch — Valentine, NE — 2021 (Rank 84)

96. Te Arai (South) — Te Arai, New Zealand — 2022 (Rank 79)

97. Sand Valley (The Lido) — Rome, WI — 2023 (Rank 48)

98. Cabot Saint Lucia (Point Hardy Golf Club) — Gros Islet, St. Lucia — 2023 (Rank 69)

99. Te Arai (North) — Tomarata, New Zealand — 2023 (Rank 98)

100. Childress Hall (Upper) — Childress, TX — 2025 (Rank 73)

LINKS: Full methodology: How we rate courses | 2025-26 World list sorted by country | 2025-26 World list courses you can play

To hear our ratings experts break down our latest rankings, check out our travel podcast Destination GOLF. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: APPLE | SPOTIFY | IHEART | AMAZON

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The post How this dramatic Aussie course cracked our World Top 100 ranking appeared first on Golf.

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Golf is fickle, subject to fluctuations. Golf course rankings can be volatile, too. Cape Wickham, which opened in 2015, debuted at No. 72 on the World Top 100 and rose as high as 60 two years later, only to fall off the list in 2023–24. Critics of the course pointed to problems with the site itself, on King Island between Tasmania and mainland Australia, where breezes often swell into four-club gusts. Wind is integral to the game, naysayers said. But conditions this blustery? That, in their view, pushed past character and into chaos.

This year, though, Cape Wickham has blown back onto the roster, buoyed by ballots from raters who felt that any extreme huffing and puffing was more than offset by the layout’s strengths. Start with the setting, which feels like golf at the edge of the map, the routing opening on seaside bluffs and affording views of the Bass Strait throughout. Throw in a collection of coast-hugging par 3s and a closing cape hole that invites derring do, and Cape Wickham delivered with a rare blend of strategy and beauty.

It was also crafted for its surrounds. In a nod to the elements, the fairways are generous and the greens open-fronted, built to welcome low-flighted approaches. When the votes were tallied, Cape Wickham landed right on the number, returning to the ranking on the winds of change.

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Tom Doak batted second at Te Arai, stepping to the plate after Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw knocked one out of the park with the resort’s South Course. Doak’s North Course, less cozy to the coast, starts and ends amid the seaside dunes but also makes the most of its inland stretches. The real story, though, is the scale and drama of the greens, outsize, expressive surfaces that pose a wholly different challenge depending on where the flag is cut.

You know you’re in for entertainment from the opening hole, drivable par-4 that often leaves a ticklish pitch off a tight lie for your second. Other early highlights include the par-4 5th, which, like the tee of the Dell hole 6th, occupies a ridge alongside the remains of an ancient Maori fortress, a feature that sharpens the property’s vivid sense of place.

As the routing moves toward the back nine, it becomes transportive, taking advantage of a natural sandy crater that Doak has likened to the landscape of Pine Valley. This is the backdrop for an especially stirring stretch that begins with the 11th: a brawny par-5 with a green-side bunker some two stories deep. It leads to a short, downhill par-3; then a roller-coaster par-4 with a blind tee shot and an unruly green; followed by an elegant par-5 and an Eden hole rendered with such fidelity it could pass for a postcard from St. Andrews.

On multiple loops around the North, some of my favorite memories involve watching playing partners linger after the final putt, experimenting with bump-and-runs, flops, even the occasional Texas wedge, evidence of a course that leaves you itching to get back out to test yourself again.

Michael Goldstein is a course rater for GOLF.

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The Netherlands rarely comes up first when golfers daydream about must-visit destinations. But the country is quietly loaded with great designs, including several by Golden Age masters. One of them — Utrecht de Pan — has returned to GOLF Magazine’s World Top 100 list, a worthwhile reminder of just how rich Dutch golf really is.

Set on sandy soil and tucked deep in a forest, De Pan is a heathlands course with a look, feel and playability that echo Harry Colt’s more famous work around London. The experience begins with a long, winding drive through the trees to a quintessential thatched-roof clubhouse. Beyond it, the course unfolds as a walk in a sylvan park, its holes meandering from grove to grove beneath tall pines.

Courses

Colt used the land to full advantage, creating a routing dotted with blind shots — sometimes more than one on the same hole. Word is Tom Doak borrowed inspiration from De Pan’s 6th when designing what has become the signature 8th at the new Pinehurst No. 10: a blind tee shot followed by a blind approach, which add to the sense of excitement and surprise.

In an era defined by wide fairways and aggressive tree-removal campaigns, De Pan is a throwback: shorter, tighter off the tee, yet no less demanding than the brawnier modern layouts that dominate rankings.

Its return to the World Top 100 underscores a truth long appreciated by those in the know: some of Europe’s finest golf is found in the Netherlands. A loop of De Pan, Royal Hague, Kennemer and Eindhoven won’t come with tour buses of Americans — just the quiet satisfaction of discovering world-class, underrated golf.

Pete Phipps is a course rater for GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com.

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CapRock is part of a flock of relatively fresh arrivals in a Nebraska Sandhills region bursting with new courses. But plans for it had been gestating for years, giving Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner time to puzzle out the best use of a distinctive site where sandy chop hills brush up against the Snake River canyon. They made the most of that millennia-old hazard, pinning multiple greens along the bluffs and leaning into the drama of its drop-offs. The gorge plays a particularly compelling role in a constellation of par-3s that call on your inner Evel Knievel.

But CapRock is no drumbeat of forced carries. As it wanders through the dunes, the course swings through all points of the compass and serves up a panoply of ground-game options. While its light-on-the-land aesthetic carries echoes of Sand Hills — the O.G. of the region, whose minimalist ethos helped spark a movement — CapRock has a personality all its own.

Two years ago, when GOLF tallied ballots for its 2023-24 ranking, CapRock finished just outside the Top 100. The turf was still maturing, and only a handful of panelists had seen it. Its breakthrough this year is an emphatic statement for a course deeply rooted in its surroundings yet very much a place apart.

Josh Sens is a senior writer and course rater for GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com.

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There are no signposts to mark the start of the Scottish Highlands. But there is a shift. Golfers sense it in the lilt of the land and the coastal scenery of the courses they play. The roots of the game here run centuries deep, and new layouts don’t come around often. But one has just arrived with the second 18-hole course at Cabot Highlands, a destination resort within 15 minutes of the Inverness airport.

It’s called Old Petty, a new Tom Doak design that joins Castle Stuart, a Gil Hanse-Mark Parsinen collaboration that ranks among GOLF’s World Top 100. Like its sibling, Old Petty occupies prime ground beside the Moray Firth, though it works farther inland, tracing a routing that turns through every point of the compass. The sea makes several cameos, but the ground steals the show — broad, heaving fairways and restless greens that bear the imprint of both Doak and his lead design associate, Clyde Johnson.

Castle Stuart, the 400-year-old landmark that lent its name to the original course, looms in the backdrop of several holes and within a stone’s throw of the par-3 3rd, a feature so prominent that Cabot founder Ben Cowan-Dewar says, “We could have called the course Castle Stuart if the name hadn’t already been taken.” Instead, it borrows from Old Petty Church, a stone relic that also peeks into view early in the round.

Doak has never been captive to convention, and his routing includes a quirk. The 1st and 18th crisscross on land once given over to the driving range, a fanciful flourish that serves a double function: It is safer than having two holes running side by side, and it allows the 18th to finish closer to the clubhouse.

Just as the new course loops back on itself, so does the story of Cabot Highlands: Cowan-Dewar first toured the property in 2008, when he walked Castle Stuart with Parsinen, who died in 2019. “Mark was a visionary,” Cowan-Dewar says. “It’s an honor to carry on what he started.”

Cowan-Dewar now envisions Cabot Highlands as both tribute and gateway — a first stop on excursions that extend to Nairn, Royal Dornoch and other great courses around the region. If the Highlands can’t be mapped by border, Cabot Highlands makes a case for where they should begin.

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