Top 50
Royal Troon: Where the Open Reveals the Truth
Ayrshire, Scotland
Ten Opens, the most famous short hole in championship golf, and a back nine walking straight into the teeth of a Scottish gale. The truth hurts at Troon.
Ayrshire
5 courses in Ayrshire, Scotland
Top 50
Turnberry: The Duel in the Sun
Ayrshire, Scotland
A course rebuilt from wartime rubble, redesigned to the cliff's edge, and exiled from the Open rota. The Ailsa doesn't need a championship to prove what it is.
Top 100
Prestwick Golf Club: The Birthplace That Won't Grow Up
Ayrshire, Scotland
Birthplace of the Open Championship. Home to the most gloriously blind shots in links golf. Old Tom Morris built it in 1851. It hasn't changed its mind since.
Top 250
Western Gailes: The Course That Forgot to Advertise
Ayrshire, Scotland
Squeezed between an active railway line and the Firth of Clyde, Western Gailes ranks in the world's top 100. It just never got around to mentioning it.
Top 1000
Shiskine: Twelve Holes That Ruin Eighteen for Everyone
Ayrshire, Scotland
A 12-hole links on Scotland's Isle of Arran where blind shots, a rope-and-pulley system, and a ferry ride conspire to ruin eighteen-hole golf forever.