Rating and ranking every golf course that has ever hosted The Open Championship.
There have been 14 host courses of The Open Championship in its 152 playings and I have been lucky enough to play them all on multiple occasions.
As well as my own experiences, I’ve used the views of the Golf World Top 100 panel to help with this ranking of the best golf courses on the Open rota. The panel are constantly visiting courses to maintain and update our course rankings, including the Best Links Golf Courses in Great Britain and Ireland, and the Best Golf Courses in Great Britain & Ireland.
Ranking every golf course to have hosted The Open
14. Musselburgh Links
Musselburgh, East Lothian
A unique place to play, magical Musselburgh is steeped in history and is officially recognised as the world’s oldest course as the first-ever recorded round was played there in 1672.
Planet Golf’s most famous nine-holer has hosted five Open Championships and after your game you can check out some serious golfing memorabilia housed in the clubhouse.
13. Prince’s
Sandwich, Kent
Design 31 Setting 12 Memorability 11 Playability 8 Consistency 8 Presentation 8 TOTAL 78
Transformed in recent years from dowdy analogue to energetic digital, a round on any one of the three nines at Prince’s is now a much more satisfying experience.
Now established as a must-play links along with its Sandwich coast neighbours, we don’t specify which two of the three loops we are ranking because they are now so evenly matched.
12. Prestwick
Prestwick, Ayrshire
Design 32 Setting 12 Memorability 14 Playability 8 Consistency 7 Presentation 8 TOTAL 81
The birthplace of The Open and a funky, natural design with abundant blind shots, cavernous bunkers and quirks galore.
As with St Andrews Old, perhaps this is a layout not always compatible with a modern palate. However, connoisseurs of the game will surely relish walking in Old Tom Morris’ footsteps. Prestwick has history, drama and unforgettable holes. A quieter period around the turn should not disguise the fact that this is otherwise a thrilling ride.
11. Royal Lytham & St Annes
Lytham, Lancashire
Design 34 Setting 11 Memorability 12 Playability 6 Consistency 9 Presentation 9 TOTAL 81
The best-bunkered course on The Open rota and fantastic, tough par 4s. Maybe the bunkering is too penal in places and the setting lacking in drama, but no one can deny this strong links is a formidable test for all.
10. Royal Cinque Ports
Deal, Kent
Design 34 Setting 12 Memorability 12 Playability 8 Consistency 8 Presentation 8 TOTAL 82
The set of par 4s is as good as any in the land. Throw in the majestic three-shotters and an imaginative set of greens and this is an emphatic recipe for an unquestionably inspiring course. The 16th, whose fairway has been controversially expanded left, captures the essence of Deal in a mere 519 yards. The fairway runs over ideal terrain which brings The Old Course to mind.
9. Royal Liverpool
Hoylake, Merseyside
Design 33 Setting 12 Memorability 12 Playability 8 Consistency 8 Presentation 9 TOTAL 82
In many ways, and for many years, Royal Liverpool was the Home of Golf south of the border. An influential club that has helped shape championship golf since its infancy and remains one of the best golf courses in England.
It may lack the views and standout holes of its rivals, but Hoylake makes up for these shortfalls with its relentless consistency and honest examination. Often underrated and you can’t play it and expect sea views at every turn, but the land itself ripples and tumbles with real character and a game here is a compelling proposition.
8. Royal Troon
Troon, Ayrshire
Design 34 Setting 12 Memorability 13 Playability 7 Consistency 8 Presentation 9 TOTAL 83
The 2024 Open venue is a real driver’s course, with the 11th, ‘Railway’, one of the toughest drives in golf. It’s complemented by one of the most famous par 3s in golf. The Postage Stamp is just 123 yards but quite sensational.
A links out of the very top drawer yet it can be a little downplayed because of a perceived lack of pyrotechnics. Trust us: Troon has plenty of excitement.
7. Carnoustie (Old)
Carnoustie, Angus
Design 34 Setting 11 Memorability 14 Playability 6 Consistency 9 Presentation 10 TOTAL 84
No views, no sea, no frills; but it makes up for this with as searching a test as there is on The Open rota. However, the 16th to the 18th apart, when the rough is down, Carnoustie can be surprisingly playable. The famous finish and the long 6th, Hogan’s Alley, lives long in the memory.
6. Royal Birkdale
Southport, Merseyside
Design 33 Setting 13 Memorability 14 Playability 7 Consistency 9 Presentation 9 TOTAL 85
A big, imposing Open venue that is a proper test with no weak holes. Birkdale rates at the top of the English links.
Royal Birkdale’s members decided it was possible to improve on excellence when the club appointed McKenzie & Ebert to overhaul certain aspects of their world-class links. Their several objectives included enhancing the diversity among the par 3s, which were of a similar length and in a similar wind direction, as well as spreading the par 5s around more evenly. Improved practice facilities were also desired. The world-famous clubhouse now acts as a backdrop to a new par-3 15th and other completed alterations, which opened in May 2024, include redesigned holes at the par-5 14th, par-4 5th hole, and the short 7th.
All alterations to greens were completed two years before the Open arrives in 2026 and all remaining tees and bunkers will be reconstructed from October 2024.
5. Royal St George’s
Sandwich, Kent
Design 34 Setting 12 Memorability 14 Playability 7 Consistency 9 Presentation 9 TOTAL 85
I am yet to meet anyone who plays the game for recreation and doesn’t have the highest affection for the best golf course in England. Every single hole represents a completely different proposition. It is magnificent.
A tremendous set of green complexes and a collection of holes bettered by few in these isles.
4. Royal Portrush (Dunluce)
Portrush, Co. Antrim
Design 34 Setting 14 Memorability 13 Playability 7 Consistency 9 Presentation 9 TOTAL 86
For me, faultless. The finest example of a links championship course and a true standard setter.
A real blockbuster of a course with memorable holes at every turn. Far fewer bunkers than most Open rota courses, but its classic Colt green complexes are its major defence. A course you could happily play every day for the rest of your life!
The Dunluce proved a fantastic addition to The Open rota in 2019 with Martin Ebert’s changes improving the course significantly. I can’t wait to see how the world’s best fare here when the final men’s Major of the year returns again in 2025.
3. Muirfield
Gullane, East Lothian
Design 36 Setting 12 Memorability 12 Playability 6 Consistency 10 Presentation 10 TOTAL 86
One of the best golf courses in the world, let alone GB&I. No ‘wow’ views, just unrelenting quality, conditioning, and a strategic test to match the Honourable Company’s unparalleled place in the history of our game.
When the rough is up, rumour has it that the members all play a ‘Titleist 3’ so it’s easier to find ‘their’ ball in the brutally long grass!
2. Turnberry (Ailsa)
Turnberry, Ayrshire
Design 33 Setting 15 Memorability 15 Playability 8 Consistency 9 Presentation 8 TOTAL 88
Experience Martin Ebert’s genius in reworking a good links into one of the world’s finest. His crowning glory – among many improvements – is the 10th, with the majesty of Ailsa Craig watching on. Despite the unquestionably impressive overhaul, it still doesn’t get the juices flowing of some architectural connoisseurs. Most, though, revel in its mix of dramatic holes and beautiful backdrops.
Incredible views and course condition, but the course itself lacks character somehow. “It’s a bit like a Pizza Express versus the seaside Greek taverna of the Old Course,” said one acerbic panellist.
1. St Andrews (Old)
St Andrews, Fife
Design 35 Setting 14 Memorability 15 Playability 8 Consistency 9 Presentation 8 TOTAL 89
Experience the 1st tee tingle of nervous excitement in anticipation of playing the hallowed links. Avoid the scarily-named bunkers, putt well on the gigantic greens, and survive the iconic Road Hole to finally drive towards the world’s most famous clubhouse. Follow golf’s greats over the Swilken Bridge and have onlookers applaud your last putt of the day. Literally nowhere compares.
So many great individual holes, 11 and 17 being my favourites. But it’s the complete package that makes it: huge double greens, the bunkers, hitting over railway carriages/hotel, the caddies, the Valley of Sin and the Jigger Inn.
Allan Robertson and Old Tom Morris put the final touches to what Mother Nature gifted the rest of the golf world on the linksland of St Andrews. From a layman’s point of view, that land is flat, with barely a glimpse of sea to be had. But to the connoisseur, this is the promised land.
There may be little in the way of dramatic undulation or obvious topographical features to the casual observer. But for those in the know, those who can see beyond superficial first impressions, the Old Course is the most rumpled, most charismatic, and most layered linksland that ever existed. Never mind the history of the town that surrounds you. Never mind the palimpsest of golf that is imprinted onto these storied links over many centuries. The Old Course is perfect, from start to finish, and that’s all there is to it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Bertram – Golf World Top 100 Editor
He was born and brought up in Dumfriesshire and has been a sports journalist since 1996, initially as a junior writer with National Club Golfer magazine.
Chris then spent four years writing about football and rugby union for the Press Association but returned to be Editor and then Publisher of NCG before joining Golf World and Today’s Golfer as Senior Production Editor.
He has been freelance since 2010 and when he is not playing and writing about the world’s finest golf courses, he works for BBC Sport.
A keen all-round sportsman, Chris plays off 11 – which could be a little better if it wasn’t for hilariously poor lag putting which has to be seen to be believed.