A helicopter drops you on a mountaintop in South Africa. Your tee shot has to fall 400 meters to a green shaped like the African continent. A few thousand miles north, on a Norwegian island above the Arctic Circle, someone else is teeing off at 2am, under full daylight, because the sun won’t set for another two months.
That’s two holes out of the 17 courses on this list. None of them are St Andrews. None of them are Pebble Beach. All of them will ruin you for ordinary golf trips.
1. Tara Iti Golf Club, New Zealand
Not a single bunker on the course, just exposed sand and a links so good it’s ranked among the best in the world.
Tom Doak cleared a pine plantation on New Zealand’s North Island and let the wind do the rest. It’s regularly named among the best courses on Earth, and almost nobody who reads this list will ever play it.
📍 Location: Mangawhai, North Island, New Zealand
⛳ Difficulty: Challenging (firm, windswept links, deceptively hard for higher handicaps)
💰 Cost: No public green fee, members and invited guests only
🗓️ Best season: New Zealand summer, December–March
✈️ Access: Invite-only. You need a member to bring you as a guest; a letter of introduction helps. A six-figure membership exists for those who’d rather skip the wait.
Can’t get in? You don’t have to go far, Te Arai Links is 20 minutes down the same coastline, built by the same owner, on the same dune system, and it’s fully bookable. See #2.
Check Availability: Tara Iti Golf Club, New Zealand
2. Te Arai Links, New Zealand
Tara Iti’s more reachable sibling. Two courses here, the South by Coore & Crenshaw, the North by Tom Doak, sit on the same sand dune system that made Tara Iti famous, but Te Arai actually takes outside bookings.
📍 Location: Te Arai, North Island, New Zealand
⛳ Difficulty: Challenging (walking-only, firm and fast)
💰 Cost: NZD 700–975 for international visitors per round (about USD 420–590), depending on season; lower rates apply for NZ/Australia residents
🗓️ Best season: October–April (NZ summer)
✈️ Access: Open to the public, but green fee bookings only open 28 days out, plan a flexible trip, not a fixed tee time months in advance
Check Availability: Te Arai Links, New Zealand
3. Cape Wickham Links, King Island, Australia
Every single hole has an ocean view – a bragging right almost no other course on Earth can make.
Wedged onto a speck of land in the Bass Strait between mainland Australia and Tasmania, Cape Wickham wraps around a 19th-century lighthouse, and the wind off the strait is no joke.
📍 Location: King Island, Tasmania, Australia
⛳ Difficulty: Challenging to Brutal (constant coastal wind)
💰 Cost: AUD ~190–270 for 18 holes depending on season (roughly USD 125–180)
🗓️ Best season: Australian summer/early autumn, November–April
✈️ Access: Public, but King Island is only reachable by small plane from Melbourne, budget a flight, not just a tee time
Check Availability: Cape Wickham Links, Australia
4. Barnbougle Dunes & Lost Farm, Tasmania, Australia
Two world-ranked links courses built on a former potato farm on Tasmania’s wild northeast coast. The Dunes is the OG; Lost Farm next door has 20 playable holes instead of the usual 18, all threaded through steep coastal dunes.
📍 Location: Bridport, Tasmania, Australia
⛳ Difficulty: Challenging (genuine links conditions, exposed to wind)
💰 Cost: AUD 164–199 for 18 holes depending on season (roughly USD 110–135); all-day, both-course tickets available for a bit more
🗓️ Best season: Tasmanian summer, November–March
✈️ Access: Public, fly into Launceston and drive, no member required
Check Availability: Barnbougle Dunes & Lost Farm, Australia
5. Yas Links, Abu Dhabi, UAE
A links course, built from scratch on reclaimed coastal land in the desert, hosting a DP World Tour event. Kyle Phillips (the architect behind Kingsbarns in Scotland) pulled off genuinely authentic turf and wind in the middle of the Arabian Gulf, with Ferrari World and the F1 circuit visible from the fairways.
📍 Location: Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE
⛳ Difficulty: Challenging (wind off the Gulf, firm turf)
💰 Cost: Roughly AED 880–1,100 (about USD 240–300) for 18 holes, varying by season and booking channel
🗓️ Best season: November–March (avoid the brutal summer heat)
✈️ Access: Public, book online, no membership needed.
Check Availability: Yas Links, UAE
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6. Legend Golf & Safari Resort, Limpopo, South Africa
The tee shot drops 400 meters from a helicopter pad to a green shaped like Africa. A hole-in-one pays out $1 million.
You play your round, then helicopter up for the Extreme 19th, the world’s most absurd single hole, before heading out on safari for the Big Five.
📍 Location: Entabeni Game Reserve, Waterberg, Limpopo, South Africa
⛳ Difficulty: Moderate (Signature Course) / the 19th itself isn’t really about skill, it’s about the experience
💰 Cost: The Signature Course and helicopter add-on to the Extreme 19th are typically bundled with stay packages — contact the resort directly for current pricing, as published rates online are outdated
🗓️ Best season: South African dry season, May–September, for the best safari visibility alongside golf
✈️ Access: Public resort, roughly a 35-minute flight or 2.5-hour drive from Johannesburg. Book the helicopter add-on in advance.
Check Availability: Legend Golf & Safari Resort, South Africa
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7. Lofoten Links, Norway
Tee off at 2am under full daylight. The sun doesn’t set here from mid-May to late July.
68 degrees north, above the Arctic Circle. When the midnight sun season ends, the Northern Lights show up instead. Either way, the backdrop is fjords and jagged peaks straight out of a fantasy film.
📍 Location: Gimsøy Island, Lofoten, Norway
⛳ Difficulty: Moderate to Challenging (genuine Nordic links conditions)
💰 Cost: NOK 2,000–3,500 (roughly USD 190–330) for non-resort guests depending on season and tee time; resort guests pay less, and a 24-hour unlimited play pass is available in season for around NOK 2,800–5,000
🗓️ Best season: Mid-May to late July for the midnight sun; late August–October for Northern Lights golf
✈️ Access: Public, fly to Evenes (EVE), then about 2.5 hours by car. Worth the journey, not a quick detour.
Check Availability: Lofoten Links, Norway
8. Cabot Highlands (formerly Castle Stuart), Inverness, Scotland
Overshadowed by St Andrews and Carnoustie, this modern links course on the Moray Firth has quietly hosted the Scottish Open four times. It was acquired by Cabot in recent years and renamed Cabot Highlands, with a second course (Old Petty, designed by Tom Doak) now open alongside it.
📍 Location: Inverness, Scottish Highlands
⛳ Difficulty: Challenging (wide fairways but demanding green complexes)
💰 Cost: Around £385 for 18 holes in high season (roughly USD 490); lower in shoulder season
🗓️ Best season: May–September
✈️ Access: Public, fly into Inverness directly, no member needed, just book ahead.
Check Availability: Cabot Highlands, Scotland
9. Royal Hua Hin Golf Course, Thailand
Thailand’s oldest course, opened in 1924 to entertain Scottish railway engineers, with the original train station still standing beside the clubhouse. Expect monkeys on the fairways, mature trees instead of manicured modern shaping, and a totally different feel from Bangkok’s flashier resort courses.
📍 Location: Hua Hin, Thailand
⛳ Difficulty: Easy to Moderate (narrow, tree-lined, but short and walkable) 💰 Cost: Roughly 1,350–1,950 THB (about USD 38–55), often including a caddie
🗓️ Best season: November–February (cool, dry season)
✈️ Access: Public, easy to book, right in Hua Hin town, one of the most affordable courses on this list.
Check Availability: Royal Hua Hin Golf Course, Thailand
10. Ohoopee Match Club, Georgia, USA
A Gil Hanse design on a former onion farm in rural Georgia, built specifically for match play, there isn’t even a conventional stroke-play scorecard. It’s earned a devoted, low-key following among serious golf architecture fans precisely because it doesn’t chase rankings or publicity.
📍 Location: Cobbtown, Georgia, USA
⛳ Difficulty: Challenging (wide corridors but heavy sand and waste areas demand precision)
💰 Cost: Private, no public green fee. Reported initiation fees run into six figures for members; guest fees (when hosted by a member) are reported around USD 250
🗓️ Best season: Spring and fall (Georgia summers are brutal)
✈️ Access: Members and invited guests only. Closest major airports are Savannah or Jacksonville.
Can’t get in? Erin Hills in Wisconsin gives you the same sandy, wide-open, walk-only golf-architecture-nerd appeal, and anyone can book it. See #11 for a similar sandhills fix at Sand Valley, closer to that same terrain.
Check Availability: Ohoopee Match Club, Georgia, USA
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11. Sand Valley, Wisconsin, USA
Mike Keiser (the Bandon Dunes mastermind) built a sand-based golf mecca in the middle of Wisconsin. Five courses now sit on the property, including Sedge Valley (Tom Doak) and a faithful recreation of C.B. Macdonald’s long-lost Lido course. Demand has gotten so heavy the resort has reportedly closed its 2026/2027 stay-and-play waitlist.
📍 Location: Nekoosa, Wisconsin, USA
⛳ Difficulty: Moderate to Challenging (wide fairways, but Sedge Valley and the Lido bring real teeth)
💰 Cost: Around USD 325 for 18 holes as of 2026
🗓️ Best season: Late spring through early fall (Midwest golf season)
✈️ Access: Public, but stay-and-play packages are in very high demand, booking individual tee times and staying off-site is currently the more realistic route in.
Check Availability: Sand Valley, Wisconsin, USA
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12. Bro Hof Slott Golf Club, Stockholm, Sweden
A baroque 18th-century castle anchors this Robert Trent Jones Jr. design outside Stockholm, regularly rated Sweden’s best course. The Stadium Course has hosted the Scandinavian Masters and is a serious, demanding round with water in play almost constantly, bring extra balls.
📍 Location: Bro, near Stockholm, Sweden
⛳ Difficulty: Challenging to Brutal (Stadium Course has no bail-out areas around several greens)
💰 Cost: Roughly €160–200 (about USD 175–215) for the Stadium Course; the Castle Course runs noticeably cheaper
🗓️ Best season: May–September
✈️ Access: Public on weekdays; the Stadium Course typically restricts outside visitors on weekends, book ahead.
Check Availability: Bro Hof Slott Golf Club, Sweden
13. Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Golf Club, Lijiang, China
The longest regulation par-72 course on Earth, at nearly 10,800 feet of elevation, where thin air sends every drive flying 15-20% farther.
Snow-capped peaks tower over every hole at this Yunnan Province course — the second-highest golf course in the world.
📍 Location: Lijiang, Yunnan Province, China
⛳ Difficulty: Challenging (length is extreme even with the altitude boost; thin air can also affect stamina)
💰 Cost: Roughly USD 70–117 for a round, varying by season
🗓️ Best season: Spring and autumn (avoid Lijiang’s winter cold and summer rains)
✈️ Access: Public, fly into Lijiang via Kunming, often booked as part of a package with accommodation.
Check Availability: Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Golf Club, Lijiang, China
14. Mauna Lani (South Course), Big Island, Hawaii
Often eclipsed by Kapalua in the magazine rankings, but the South Course’s run along jet-black lava fields into the Pacific is one of the most visually unique stretches of golf in the world. Hole 15, a par 3 played entirely over open ocean to a green perched on a lava peninsula, is one of the most photographed holes anywhere.
📍 Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii
⛳ Difficulty: Moderate (manageable for most skill levels, but errant shots into lava rock are gone for good)
💰 Cost: Contact the resort directly for current green fees — Hawaii resort course pricing shifts seasonally and with time-of-day discounts
🗓️ Best season: Year-round, though winter (Dec–Mar) adds the bonus of watching humpback whales migrate offshore from the course
✈️ Access: Public resort course, fly into Kona (KOA)
Check Availability: Mauna Lani (South Course), Big Island, Hawaii
15. Fancourt (The Links), George, South Africa
Gary Player built this on a flat, disused airfield, moving over 750,000 tons of earth to fake a Scottish dunescape inland on South Africa’s Garden Route, convincing enough that you’ll forget you’re nowhere near the ocean.
📍 Location: George, Western Cape, South Africa
⛳ Difficulty: Challenging (genuine links character despite the inland setting)
💰 Cost: Access to The Links is reserved for hotel guests, with only four tee times available per day, contact Fancourt directly for current green fees and stay packages
🗓️ Best season: South African summer, November–March
✈️ Access: Stay-and-play only for The Links specifically; fly into George Airport, just 7km from the resort
Check Availability: Fancourt (The Links), George, South Africa
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16. Concession Golf Club, Bradenton, Florida
A private Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin collaboration that stays almost entirely out of the spotlight despite Florida being lousy with famous resort courses. Architecturally serious, built for golfers who care more about shot-making than flash.
📍 Location: Bradenton, Florida, USA
⛳ Difficulty: Challenging (tournament-tested layout)
💰 Cost: Private – no public access or published green fee
🗓️ Best season: Florida winter, December – April (escape the summer heat and humidity)
✈️ Access: Members and invited guests only
Can’t get in? Streamsong Resort, about 75 minutes away, gives you the same big-name-architect pedigree (Coore & Crenshaw, Tom Doak, and Gil Hanse all have courses there) on dramatic sand-dune terrain — and it’s fully open to the public.
Check Availability: Concession Golf Club, Bradenton, Florida
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17. Kau Sai Chau, Hong Kong
Three public courses on an island reachable only by a dedicated ferry from Sai Kung, with the Hong Kong skyline and South China Sea sharing the view. It’s one of the only true public-access island golf experiences in Asia, and remarkably affordable for what you get.
📍 Location: Kau Sai Chau Island, Sai Kung, Hong Kong
⛳ Difficulty: Moderate (North and East courses are gentler; South Course is the championship test)
💰 Cost: Public green fees are notably affordable by Hong Kong standards, contact the Hong Kong Golf Association for current published rates, as they’re set by a public authority and updated periodically
🗓️ Best season: October–December (cooler, drier autumn weather)
✈️ Access: Public, take the dedicated ferry from Sai Kung Public Pier, no membership required
Check Availability: Kau Sai Chau, Hong Kong
Quick comparison: which course fits your trip
| # | Course | Country | Access | Cost Tier | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tara Iti | New Zealand | Invite-only | $$$$ | Challenging |
| 2 | Te Arai Links | New Zealand | Public | $$$ | Challenging |
| 3 | Cape Wickham Links | Australia | Public | $$ | Challenging–Brutal |
| 4 | Barnbougle Dunes & Lost Farm | Australia | Public | $$ | Challenging |
| 5 | Yas Links | UAE | Public | $$$ | Challenging |
| 6 | Legend Golf & Safari Resort | South Africa | Public | $$$ | Moderate (+ novelty hole) |
| 7 | Lofoten Links | Norway | Public | $$$ | Moderate–Challenging |
| 8 | Cabot Highlands (Castle Stuart) | Scotland | Public | $$$$ | Challenging |
| 9 | Royal Hua Hin | Thailand | Public | $ | Easy–Moderate |
| 10 | Ohoopee Match Club | USA | Invite-only | $$$$ | Challenging |
| 11 | Sand Valley | USA | Public (limited) | $$$ | Moderate–Challenging |
| 12 | Bro Hof Slott | Sweden | Public (weekdays) | $$$ | Challenging–Brutal |
| 13 | Jade Dragon Snow Mountain | China | Public | $$ | Challenging |
| 14 | Mauna Lani (South) | USA (Hawaii) | Public | $$$ | Moderate |
| 15 | Fancourt (The Links) | South Africa | Stay & play only | $$$ | Challenging |
| 16 | Concession Golf Club | USA | Invite-only | — | Challenging |
| 17 | Kau Sai Chau | Hong Kong | Public | $ | Moderate |
Cost tiers: $ = under $75/round, $$ = $75–200, $$$ = $200–400, $$$$ = $400+ or membership-only
If you only play 3
Can’t do all 17? Start here.
Most scenic: Cape Wickham Links. Every hole has an ocean view, wrapped around a lighthouse on an island in the middle of nowhere. Nothing else on this list looks quite like it.
Best value: Royal Hua Hin. A round with caddie included for around $40–55, a century of history, and monkeys on the fairway. Nothing else here gets close to that price for that experience.
Hardest to get into (worth the effort): Tara Iti. If you can find your way to an invitation, it’s widely considered the best modern golf course built in the last decade. Everything else on this list is a “you can book it.” This one is “you have to know somebody” which is exactly what makes it worth chasing.
A few notes before you book
A handful of these (Tara Iti, Ohoopee, Concession) are genuinely private, getting onto them is about who you know, not what you’re willing to pay. I’ve noted a bookable alternative near each one if the invite doesn’t come through.
For everything else, green fees shift with season and currency, double-check current pricing directly with the resort before you book flights, especially for the African, Scandinavian, and Asian entries where I’ve flagged wider ranges above.
