Golf Digest list the world’s top-100 golf courses for 2014
Golf Digest magazine has released its inaugural list of the world’s Top-100 golf courses and six Australian courses have featured prominently.
Cypress Point golf course. Image source: Nick O’Hern’s Twitter account.Ah lists. People love them, and golfers especially love them when it comes to ranking golf courses. I was lucky enough to be a part of the ranking panel for Golf Australia magazine’s list of Australia’s top-100 golf courses and now Golf Digest magazine have – for the first time – released a list of the world’s top-100 golf courses.
Golf Magazine have been regularly listing their Top-100 golf courses in the world, but this is the first time that Golf Digest have taken up the challenge to present a top-100 list of the world’s best golf courses – it’s a little confusing I know.
Barnbougle Lost FarmAnd like any list, it has got people talking.
The website is with problems as I write this and many of the course descriptions don’t match the golf course in question – Royal Melbourne West for example. I assume these issues will be fixed in the coming days but this is just one talking point.
Pine Valley is ranked as the best golf course in the world. Cypress Point and Augusta National hold down the number two and three positions just like the Golf Magazine list but the two lists begin to differ at #4.
Golf Digest list Royal County Down as the fourth best golf course in the world with Shinnecock Hills rounding out the top-5.
Most importantly, Australian golf courses have fared very well.
Royal Melbourne West is perhaps not surprisingly ranked inside the world’s top-10 at #9 (#13 on golf Magazine’s list), but somewhat astonishingly Barnbougle Dunes has been ranked 11th in the world – ahead of more well-known golf courses such as Merion, Pebble Beach and Royal Portrush.
Kingston Heath is ranked in 20th position meaning Australia has three of the world’s best golf courses in the Top-20.
Barnbougle Lost Farm has been ranked in 23rd position just one spot behind New Zealand’s highest ranked golf course, Cape Kidnappers. Royal Melbourne East is ranked 28th and New South Wales GC rounds out the six Australian courses to get a mention in 33rd position.
Check out Golf Digest’s full list of the world’s Top-100 golf courses.
Hmmm, have only played 7 of the top 20… Time to get a move on!!