Ten most spectacular golf courses in the world

Tee off in style at these stunning golf courses around the world.

Cypress Point Club, US

Cypress Point Golf Course in California was created by the renowned course designer Alister Mackenzie and opened in 1928. “Extraordinary and timeless, Alister Mackenzie masterpiece is consistently rated as one of the top three golf courses ever created by all major publications,” Monterey Peninsula Golf says.

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St Andrews, Scotland

Boasting seven courses, St Andrews is known around the world as the "home of golf". The courses consist of the Old Course, where the game was first played 600 years ago, The Castle Course, the New Course, the Jubilee Course, the Eden Course, the Strathtyrum Course, and the Balgove Course.

Shinnecock Hills, US

One of the most historically important courses in the world, Shinnecock Hills in New York claims to be the oldest formal organised golf club in the United States (1891), to have the oldest golf clubhouse in the US (1892), and to have been the first to admit women, which it did from the start. It is also a founding member of the United States Golf Association.

Royal County Down, Ireland

Nestled at the bottom of the majestic mountains of Mourne and in front of the Irish Sea, the Royal County Down course sits in a holiday town as picturesque as it is exhilarating. In 2016 it was voted the best golf course in the world by US magazine Golf Digest.

Augusta National, US

Located in Augusta Georgia, Augusta National Golf Club is one of the most famous golf clubs in the world. Since 1934, it has played host to the annual Masters tournament, one of the four major championships in professional golf, and the only major played each year at the same course.

Pebble Beach, US

According to Golf Digest, Pebble Beach is “not just the greatest meeting of land and sea in American golf, but the most extensive one, too, with nine holes perched immediately above the crashing Pacific surf”.

Sand Hills, US

Probably one of the most unique golf courses in the world, Sand Hills wasn't so much designed as discovered. GolfDigest writes, “[Founders] Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw trudged back and forth over a thousand acres of rolling sand hills in central Nebraska, flagging out naturally occurring fairways and greens. By moving just 4,000 cubic yards of earth, and letting the winds shape (and reshape) the bunkers, the duo created what is undoubtedly the most natural golf course in America.”

Cabot Cliffs, Iverness, Canada

Golf Digest named Cabot Cliffs the Best New Course of the Year in 2015. The design overflows with variety with its southernmost holes in Lahinch-like sand dunes, its northernmost atop Pebble Beach-type ocean cliffs, making the view just as worthwhile as the game.

Hirono Golf Club, Japan

Often dubbed the best golf course in Japan, and one of the best around the world, Hirono Golf Club is hand-made in the surrounding woodland area. According to Golf.com, originally, the course bore a heathland look, akin to London greats designed by Alison's partner, H.S. Colt, but heavy tree planting changed Hirono's character over the years.

Cage Kidnappers, New Zealand

Built on a ridge-and-valley landscape and hailed as one of the great modern marvels in golf, Cage Kidnappers boasts stunning sea views, playing high above the ocean atop dramatic cliffs.