Golfweek’s Best 2023: Top 50 modern courses in Great Britain and Ireland

Welcome to Golfweek’s Best 2023 rankings of the Top 50 Modern Courses in Great Britain and Ireland – built in or after 1960 – as determined by Golfweek’s Best Raters.

The members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on our 10 criteria. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings on each course are averaged to produce a final rating for each course. Then each course is ranked against other courses in Great Britain and Ireland to produce the final rankings.

• More: Top 50 classic courses in Great Britain and Ireland

Listed with each course below is its average ranking, location, designers and year opened.

*New to or returning to list

Other popular Golfweek’s Best lists include:

• Best public-access courses in each state
• Best private courses in each state
• Top 200 modern courses in the U.S.
• Top 200 classic courses in the U.S.
• Top 100 public-access courses in the U.S.

Nos. 1-10

The original Castle Stuart at the recently renamed Cabot Highlands in Scotland (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)

1. Kingsbarns 7.90
St. Andrews, Scotland; Kyle Phillips (2000)

2. Trump International Scotland 7.87
Balmedie, Scotland; Martin Hawtree (2012)

3. Rosapenna (St. Patrick Links)* 7.69
Letterkenny, Ireland; Tom Doak (2021)

4. Cabot Highlands (Castle Stuart) 7.66
Inverness, Scotland; Gil Hanse, Mark Parsinen (2009)

5. Loch Lomond 7.63
Dunbartonshire, Scotland; Jay Morrish, Tom Weiskopf (1993)

6. Waterville 7.54
Waterville, Ireland; Eddie Hackett (1973)

7. Old Head of Kinsale 7.45
Kinsale, Ireland; Eddie Hackett, Joe Carr, Ron Kirby, Paddy Merrigan, Liam Higgins (1997)

8. Renaissance Club at Archerfield 7.29
Dirleton, Scotland; Tom Doak (2008)

9. The European Club 7.23
Brittas Bay, Ireland; Pat Ruddy (1992)

10. Queenwood GC 7.22
Ottershaw, England; David McLay Kidd (2001)

Nos. 11-20

Hogs Head in Ireland (Courtesy of Hogs Head)

11. Hogs Head 7.11
Waterville, Ireland; Robert Trent Jones Jr. (2018)

12. Tralee 7.07
Tralee, Ireland; Arnold Palmer (1984)

13. Hillside Golf Club 6.93
Southport, England; Fred Hawtree (1967)

14. Enniscrone 6.92
Enniscrone, Ireland; Eddie Hackett, Donald Steel (1974)

T15. Carne 6.87
Belmullet, Ireland; Eddie Hackett (1992)

T15. Dumbarnie Links* 6.87
Fife, Scotland; Clive Clark  (2020)

17. Trump International Golf Links Doonbeg 6.79
Doonbeg, Ireland; Greg Norman, Martin Hawtree (2002)

18. Ballyliffin (Glashedy) 6.76
Ballyliffin, Ireland; Pat Ruddy, Tom Craddock (1995)

19. Killeen Castle 6.74
Dunsany, Ireland; Jack Nicklaus (2009)

20. Rosapenna (Sandy Hills) 6.65
Letterkenny, Ireland; Pat Ruddy (2003)

Nos. 21-30

Machrihanish Dunes in Scotland (Courtesy of Machrihanish Dunes)

21. Lough Erne (Faldo) 6.62
Enniskillen, Northern Ireland; Nick Faldo (2009)

22. Carnegie Links at Skibo 6.58
Dornoch, Scotland; Donald Steel (1991)

23. The Grove 6.48
Chandler’s Cross, England; Kyle Phillips (2003)

24. Woburn (Marquess) 6.43
Milton Keynes, England; Ross McMurray, Clive Clark, Peter Alliss, Alex Hay (2000)

25. St. Andrews (Castle Course) 6.42
St. Andrews, Scotland; David McLay Kidd (2008)

26. Adare Manor Golf Resort 6.39
Adare, Ireland; Tom Fazio  (1995)

T27. Trump Turnberry (King Robert the Bruce) 6.37
Turnberry, Scotland; Donald Steel, Martin Ebert (2001)

T27. Cruit Island* 6.37
Kincasslagh, Ireland; Michael Doherty (1986)

29. Carton House (Montgomerie) 6.33
Maynooth, Ireland; Colin Montgomerie, European Golf Design (2003)

30. Machrihanish Dunes 6.30
Machrihanish, Scotland; David McLay Kidd (2009)

Nos. 31-40

Dundonald Links in Scotland (Gabe Gudgel/Golfweek)

T31. Celtic Manor (Twenty Ten) 6.29
Newport, Wales; Ross McMurray (2007)

T31. Woburn (Dukes) 6.29
Milton Keynes, England; Charles Lawrie (1976)

33. Fairmont St. Andrews (Kittocks) 6.27
St. Andrews, Scotland; Bruce Devlin, Gary Stephenson (2001)

34. The Carrick 6.23
Loch Lomond, Scotland; Doug Carrick (2007)

35. Dundonald Links 6.22
Gailes, Scotland; Kyle Phillips (2003)

36. Crail (Craighead) 6.20
Crail, Scotland; Gil Hanse  (1998)

37. Fairmont St. Andrews (Torrance) 6.18
St. Andrews, Scotland; Sam Torrance (2001)

38. Bearwood Lakes 6.13
Wokingham, England; Martin Hawtree (1996)

T39. Donegal 6.07
Murvagh, Ireland; Eddie Hackett, Pat Ruddy (1973)

T39. Craigielaw GC 6.07
Aberlady, Scotland; Donald Steel (2001)

Nos. 41-50

The PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles in Scotland (Getty Images)

41. Remedy Oak* 6.06
Ringwood, England; John Jacobs (2006)

42. Gleneagles – PGA Centenary 6.05
Auchterarder, Scotland; Jack Nicklaus (1993)

43. K Club (Palmer North)* 5.99
Straffan, Ireland; Arnold Palmer, Ed Seay (1991)

44. Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links 5.95
Portmarnock, Ireland; Stan Eby, Bernhard Langer (1995)

45. St. Andrews (The Dukes) 5.93
St. Andrews, Scotland; Tim Liddy, Peter Thomson (1995)

46. Druid’s Glen 5.92
Newtownmountkennedy, Ireland; Pat Ruddy, Tom Craddock (1995)

47. Ballybunion (Cashen) 5.85
Ballybunion, Ireland; Robert Trent Jones Sr. (1982)

48. Fota Island 5.82
Cork, Ireland; Christy O’Connor Jr., Peter McEvoy, Jeff Howes (1993)

49. Carton House (O’Meara) 5.80
Maynooth, Ireland; Mark O’Meara, European Golf Design (2002)

50. K Club (Palmer South) 5.78
Straffan, Ireland; Arnold Palmer (2003)