Top100GolfCourses has published its 2026 GB&I Top 100, with the entire top 30 unchanged from 2025 and eight new courses entering the list as a clutch of mid-table climbers reshape the rankings below.

Royal County Down (Championship) holds the No. 1 position it has occupied since 2006. St Andrews Links (Old Course) sits second, Royal Portrush Dunluce third, Muirfield fourth, Trump Turnberry Ailsa fifth and Royal Dornoch sixth, completing an established top tier in British Isles golf.

 

The country breakdown: England contributes 47 courses, Scotland 30, Ireland 18, Wales four and the Isle of Man one.

Why the Top 30 Didn’t Move

Top100GolfCourses says the top-30 freeze reflects alignment with its world ranking. The only structural change is the removal of The European Club, which the site says was taken out “after its sale and new development.” For golfers tracking the list year on year, the top end remains a settled reference list of bucket-list venues, while the mid-table movers and debutants offer more useful trip-planning clues.

Eight Debutants

Scotland leads the new-entry count with three unnamed additions. England brings in four: Aldeburgh (Suffolk), Hayling (Hampshire), Royal Ashdown Forest (East Sussex) and Beau Desert (Staffordshire), stretching the list’s geographic footprint well beyond the famous Surrey–Berkshire heathland belt. Royal Ashdown Forest is a bunkerless inland course, adding an unusual dimension to the English contingent.

Ireland’s debutant is Royal Portrush Valley, described by Top100GolfCourses as a “landmark addition.” And Castletown on the Isle of Man enters at 93rd, a links on Langness Peninsula with views across Castletown Bay that Top100 calls “perhaps the most underrated links destination in the British Isles.”

The Big Movers

Several named climbers stand out.

Brora Golf Club, James Braid’s Sutherland links, has risen on what the panel describes as renewed appreciation for one of Scotland’s most characterful courses. At a green fee of £95, it remains one of the more accessible ranked courses in the country.

St Andrews Links (New Course), laid out by Tom Morris on the same Fife linksland as the Old Course, made what Top100 calls a “dramatic leap,” reflecting growing panel recognition of its merits.

Pennard is Wales’s biggest mover, a James Braid coastal design set atop cliffs with views across Three Cliffs Bay. Its climb continues a run of gains for Welsh golf.

The Addington Golf Club gains ground on the strength of its heath-and-heather landscape and inventive woodland routing. Formby Golf Club leaps into the top 40, and its Merseyside neighbour West Lancashire also rises, reinforcing the depth of the Lancashire coast corridor alongside Royal Birkdale, Royal Lytham & St Annes, Hillside, Southport & Ainsdale and Wallasey.

In Ireland, Portstewart Strand, County Louth and Carne Golf Links (Wild Atlantic Dunes), Eddie Hackett’s design on the County Mayo coast, all make advances.

Country-by-Country Patterns

England’s 47 entries account for nearly half the list. The Surrey and Berkshire heathland belt dominates the upper table: Sunningdale Old (8th), Sunningdale New (13th), Swinley Forest (18th), St George’s Hill (27th), West Sussex (31st), Walton Heath Old (38th) and Hollinwell (41st) all sit in the top half.

 

 

Scotland’s 30 entries include five of the top six. Below the summit, Top100 says expanded panel membership has brought “fresh perspectives” to evaluation of courses beyond Fife and Ayrshire, reaching into the Highlands and East Neuk.

Ireland’s 18 courses include 11 in the top 52, a density that underpins the island’s reputation as one of golf’s leading links destinations. Ballybunion Old (9th), Lahinch Old (10th), Rosapenna St Patrick’s (12th) and Portmarnock (24th) anchor the Republic’s presence.

Wales holds four spots, led by Royal Porthcawl at 21st, with Royal St David’s (77th) and Aberdovey (90th) joining Pennard.

How the Rankings Are Built

Top100GolfCourses uses a panel of “well-travelled golf enthusiasts” who evaluate courses across all five nations under consistent criteria. According to Cookie Jar Golf’s analysis of the methodology, the panel’s guidance covers golf course architecture, strategic challenge, variety, consistency and land management.

Other UK and Ireland rankings use different models. Today’s Golfer operates a two-year cycle in which regional lists feed into a national ranking, with design weighted at 40 out of 100 points. Golf Monthly’s panel has been in place since 2009/10 and excludes what it calls “exclusive clubs.” These methodological differences explain why a course’s position can vary across publications.

Planning Around the 2026 List

For golfers building a trip, the price range across ranked courses is wide. National Club Golfer reported Turnberry’s peak summer fee at £1,000, while Brora sits at £95. In Scotland specifically, Top100’s own green-fee data shows an average of £194 and a median of £140, with more than half of the Scottish Top 100 playable for £140 or less. Musselburgh Old Links, at £24, is the cheapest ranked course in the country.

For trip planning, anchor a route around one or two of the immovable top-tier venues, then fill the itinerary with movers and new entries in the same region. The Lancashire coast, Fife and the Sutherland Highlands all offer enough ranked courses within close range to build a full week without repeating a style of golf. Full course profiles, visitor information and panellist commentary for all 100 entries are available at Top100GolfCourses.com.