OTHER golf course RANKING SITES

There has become quite an industry in recent years of ranking lists of different golf courses around the world.  There are many different approaches taken and some variances in them but here is a selection of some of those which I have used before.  I have attempted to do a 'poll of polls' to get a list of the top 100 in the world. You can have a look at that here.

Worldwide lists

Golf.com
The Golf.com world top 100 is now the undisputed king of golf course rankings. Overhauled for its last iteration by Ran Morrissett, founder of Golf Club Atlas, this list celebrates all that is good in the game. I wrote about its selections and process here if you want to find out more.

www.top100golfcourses.com  
I pretty much always use this site when going to a new area, there are thousands of reviews there from courses all round the world. They are user generated (with a few super users) and I don't think I have had a bum steer from them yet. They do a good job keeping it up to date and the lists by world, continent, country and county are interesting for sure - the ranking don't just rely on user ratings but they do impact them. The world top 100 in particular is a very strong list.

Golf Course Architecture
This is quite an interesting one. 250 golf architects from around the world have picked their top 100 courses and then ranked them. There's a really nice report here you can download. It's the only recent poll I have seen that has the Old Course as position 1 and promotes North Berwick to 18. Good enough for me! However, this is a few years out of date now so needs to be rerun soon before it loses some relevancy.

Planet Golf
I wouldn't hesitate in recommending Planet Golf as a place to plan those high end golf trips. The author, Darius Oliver, has visited the top 100 from Golf.com and Golf Digest magazines as well as many more.  His 'flag' ranking system sets a high standard and the reviews will really whet the appetite for a trip.  This is his personal list, nothing more and nothing less, so there are some unusual positions for sure - Augusta doesn't make the top 10, Muirfield the Top 30.

top100golf.blogspot
This is quite possibly the best site out there for getting insight into playing some of the best courses in the world. The experiences detailed on the blog by John Sabino are tremendously well documented and there are some great tips on how to make the most out of your trips if you are lucky enough to play some of these great courses. The denouement at Augusta is a must read!

Forecaddie
Forecaddie aggregates different reviews of some great courses as well as providing helpful resources for planning a trip - the climate charts are particularly useful. I’m really looking forward to seeing this one grow.

UK & Ireland

As above, http://www.top100golfcourses.co.uk/ is a good place to start but there are some more resources here -

Golf Monthly
Golf Monthly is now ranking purely on a readers' panel.  Personally I don't think it works brilliantly. The top of the list is fine but when you go down further it starts getting a little odd. Some thoughts on the latest incarnation are here.

Today’s Golfer
Todays Golfer looks a lot more sensible.  It is a mixture of experts and readers and while the Trump International seems to have made a fairly spectacular debut at 7 (above Portrush and Dornoch) I can't comment on that until I play it I guess!

If you are looking for how to get the best value tee time on one of the top 100 golf courses in the UK and Ireland then this list from Go&Golf is well worth a look. It uses the strong Golf World list and let’s you know what the cheapest green fee there possible is.

Continental Europe

Given the plethora of great courses in the UK & Ireland, most rankings cover Continental Europe separately.  In recent years there has been a lot of work put into developing these lists to keep up with the plethora of new courses opening around the continent. It’s an ever-changing picture but these are great starting points -

National Club Golfer
OK, I may be a little biased as I contributed to this top 100 list but they have done a really good job with it. While the listings are interesting, the real power is in the write-ups. Christ Bertram who compiles and writes this has done a great job creating a tremendous resource. A must-read for anyone planning a trip in Europe.

top100golfcourses.com
The top100 is again a good starting point if planning a trip.  It will help you find good courses in any given area and the depth is great.