TOP 100 COURSES in the WORLD

To get the clearest picture of our ranking of the planet's most storied and sought-after golf courses, it helps to take the long view, with context only time provides. Change comes slowly. But who wouldn't want to dream about the game's greatest playgrounds for a lifetime?

- By Simon Holt, Josh Sens and GOLF's Course Panelists Text by Josh Sens

Have you played PEVERO?

Forty years ago, when GOLF released its first ranking of the Top 100 Courses in the World, the Robert Trent Jones Sr. design on the bluffs of Sardinia came in at No. 51, one spot ahead of Sunningdale’s Old Course.

Today, Sunningdale Old has climbed to No. 22, while Pevero hasn’t just slipped, it has vanished. The course no longer even appears on the ballot. Same with Firestone Country Club in Ohio. Once a fixture of the rankings, the longtime PGA Tour stop has been absent from the roster since 2005.

That’s the nature of the Top 100: part constant, part churn. Pine Valley has held the top spot since the inaugural Top 100 in the World list in 1985, even as the landscape around it has evolved. Courses rise and fall, revived by restoration, overtaken by fresh arrivals or left behind as the game moves on.

Most shifts, though, aren’t sudden or seismic. Viewed over time, the rankings play like a motion picture, capturing changes (and consistencies) as they unfold. The trends emerge only when you watch the full-length film. Each new list is a snapshot—a look at golf in its current light.

And so it is with the latest Top 100, selected through a vote of our 130 course raters. Behind the names and numbers, it offers a glimpse of where the game has been and where it might be headed. But, above all, it reflects where golf stands today.

Familiar Names, FAMILIAR ORDER