Best golf courses: St Andrews

St Andrews: the table below provides brief details about the top golf courses in and around this city. Each golf club has been visited and/or researched by Where2Golf. Click on the course name below to discover more. The course ratings below range from 5 highest, to 2 lowest. They attempt to provide an indication of the golfing experience you might expect at the course (based on its design, condition and surroundings). Hover your cursor above the Rating Key below for the rating definitions.
4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
St Andrews
Morris, Old Tom

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

St Andrews

Designer

Balcomie Links - Old Tom Morris (1895). Craighead Links - Gil Hanse (1998).

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
St Andrews
Clark, Clive

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

St Andrews

Designer

Clive Clark

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
St Andrews
Morris & Braid

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

St Andrews

Designer

Old Tom Morris and later James Braid are thought to have had the biggest influences on the design of the current Elie course.

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
St Andrews
Devlin, Bruce

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

St Andrews

Designer

Bruce Devlin (with contributions from Gene Sarazen).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
St Andrews
Torrance, Sam

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

St Andrews

Designer

Sam Torrance (with contributions from Gene Sarazen)

5-star: Fabulous – courses don’t get much better than this.
Visitors welcome
St Andrews
Phillips, Kyle

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

St Andrews

Designer

Kyle Phillips & Mark Parsinen

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
St Andrews
Unknown

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

St Andrews

Designer

Many have contributed to the Old Course layout. Most recently: Daw Anderson (1850s), Old Tom Morris (1860s to 1900) and Dr Alister Mackenzie (1930s).

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
St Andrews
McLay-Kidd, David

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

St Andrews

Designer

David McLay-Kidd

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
St Andrews
Thomson, Peter

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

St Andrews

Designer

Original design by Peter Thomson, with significant later alterations and a new back-nine layout by Tim Liddy in 2006.

3-PLUS: Good course - several memorable features; worthy of 3½ stars.
Visitors welcome
St Andrews
Colt, Harry

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

St Andrews

Designer

Harry Colt

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
St Andrews
Angus & Steel

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

St Andrews

Designer

John Angus Jr designed the original 12-hole layout (1897). The course was extended from 12 to 18 holes (1905), and significantly redesigned by Donald Steel (1989).

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
St Andrews
Morris, Old Tom

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

St Andrews

Designer

Old Tom Morris

5-PLUS: In the world’s elite - has few peers; one of our top-rated 5s!
Visitors welcome
St Andrews
Unknown

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

St Andrews

Designer

Many have contributed to the Old Course layout. Most recently: Daw Anderson (1850s), Old Tom Morris (1860s to 1900) and Dr Alister Mackenzie (1930s).

3-star: Good course – an enjoyable test for your game.
Visitors welcome
St Andrews
Steel, Donald

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

St Andrews

Designer

Donald Steel

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Tournaments

124th US Open: the No.2 Course at Pinehurst once again plays host to this most illustrious championship (June 13-16). Wyndham Clark defends his title, having won at Los Angeles CC in 2023.

79th Women’s US Open: the second women’s major championship of the season gets underway at Lancaster CC in Pennsylvania. It’s the second time the championship has been held here.
(May 30-June 2).

Who's Who

Nelly Korda: won the Mizuho Americas Open (May 16-19) at Liberty National GC, continuing her extraordinary form in LPGA events. This was her sixth win in seven starts in 2024.

Xander Schauffele: recorded his first major championship win, and second record-equalling low score of 62 in a major. Only he, Branden Grace, Rickie Fowler and Shane Lowry have achieved this feat in a men’s major championship.

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club: With a clubhouse that might befit a Roman Emperor, and a golf course to match, you can be sure of a memorable outing at Rome's most talked about golf facility.

Jim Fazio's original layout was much changed to create a modern Ryder Cup course ... now one of the Eternal City's (and Italy's) most revered.

Prince's Golf Club, Kent (UK)

Here at Prince’s Golf Club you'll find 27 excellent holes of links golf. Just over the fence and sharing similar terrain is Royal St George’s; but Prince’s is far from overshadowed by its venerable neighbour. The three nine-hole loops at Prince's, laid out over gently undulating terrain, are sure to bring a smile of satisfaction to all lovers of links golf.

Stay&Play at Prince's: excellent onsite Lodge accommodation available

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Whistling Straits (Wisconsin, US)

Hamburger GC - Falkenstein, Germany

Littlestone Golf Club (Kent, UK)