Top golf destinations and championship courses
Top golf destinations and championship courses
Championship golf courses and top resorts for players
Championship golf exists almost anywhere there's the right landscape, but a small number of destinations have built an entire travel identity around it. These are places where course design, climate and surrounding infrastructure, including caddies, clubhouses and accommodation built specifically for golfers, combine into something more complete than a single good round.
The destinations on this list range from links courses shaped by coastal wind and centuries of tradition to desert and resort courses engineered more recently with modern design in mind. Some host major championships. Others are known mainly within the golf world itself. Weather, particularly wind and rain, can also reshape how a links course plays from one day to the next.
Season and course conditions vary enormously by region and booking tee times well ahead is standard practice at the destinations that matter most.
Lists by region
State/Prefecture in Japan
Hokkaido
Volcanoes, powder snow and fresh seafood
Golfers in Hokkaido play courses framed by volcanic peaks like Mount Yotei near Niseko. The island's short summer season draws mainland golfers escaping the heat further south. Visitors can combine a round with nearby hot spring resorts after playing. Courses here often close under heavy snow through winter.
Country
Singapore
Tropical city-state of hawker food and gardens
Sentosa Golf Club's Serapong course hosts the Singapore Open on a layout built partly over reclaimed land. Several holes play alongside the sea, with views back toward the city skyline. Visitors can book tee times at the same course used by touring professionals. Monitor lizards are a common sight wandering near the fairways.
Island in Japan
Okinawa Island
Reef beaches and Ryukyu Kingdom heritage
Golf courses on Okinawa often sit along cliffs above coral reefs, with fairways framing turquoise water below. Kise Country Club has hosted events on Japan's professional tour among its ocean view holes. Visitors can play year round thanks to the island's subtropical climate. Trade winds off the Pacific add extra challenge to seaside approach shots.
Town in Japan
Karuizawa
Cool highland resort at the foot of Asama
Golf courses in Karuizawa have drawn visitors from Tokyo since the late 1800s. The town became a cool mountain retreat during that era. Courses sit among birch forests at an elevation that keeps summer temperatures mild. Visitors can combine a round with browsing the town's outlet shops.
Town in Japan
Hakone
Onsen town with Fuji views and lake cruises
Golf courses around Hakone often frame views of Mount Fuji from fairways cut into forested hillsides. Many resorts pair a round of golf with a soak in hot spring baths afterward. Visitors can rent clubs at several courses without bringing their own equipment. Morning mist often rises off nearby lakes before burning off by midday.
Country
Georgia
Wine country, mountain villages and old Tbilisi
Chateau Mukhrani golf course opened in 2016, among the earliest international standard courses built in the Caucasus. The layout sits beside a restored 19th century chateau and vineyard outside Tbilisi. Visitors can combine a round of golf with wine tasting at the same estate. Snow capped mountains frame several holes on clear days.
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