The Best of the Rest: A World of Great Golf

As the British empire expanded, golf was planted in all corners of the world. Wherever the Brits went, they took their golf, cricket, bridge, gin, scones and garden clubs. Royal Calcutta was founded in 1829, Royal Montreal in 1873, Royal Hong Kong in 1889. Since that time, golfers have wanted to know where the world's best golf can be played.

Are South Africa and New Zealand worth the effort? When in Cairo or Paris or Shanghai, where should I play? To answer these questions, Golf Digest again publishes the top-100 courses outside the United States, and individual rankings for every golf nation on earth, too, 199 countries in all. The rankings were compiled from ballots submitted by our 900-plus U.S. and international golf-course panelists, editors among our network of 23 editions of Golf Digest plus our other affiliate magazines around the world, and various other experts we have come to know and trust.

Though Scotland predictably leads the way in our best-of-the-rest top 100 with 17 courses, it's important to note that you must travel to 26 countries to play them all. Generally you will be searching for the finest coastal sand, for that is where those at the top of our list are to be found. All of the top eight are true links, built on sand or sandy loam. Forty-two of the top 100 are in the British Isles — again, mostly links — 13 in the rest of Europe, 17 are in the Southern Hemisphere, nine in Asia, and 11 in Canada.