A prestigious Lancashire golf course has been ranked among the top 100 in the world by a leading sports publication.
Golf.com has released its top 100 list, honouring the best courses around the globe, with clubs from all over the world featuring in the coveted list.
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Among them is Lancashire’s premier course, the historic Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, which placed in 68th spot.
The classic seaside links, founded in 1886, has hosted The Open Championship 11 times, most recently in 2012, and is frequently rated among the top five courses in England.
It has also hosted the Women’s British Open on five occasions, most recently in 2018, and will be the host for a sixth time from July 30 to August 2, 2026.
Rated as one of the hardest courses on the Open rota, it features 167 bunkers, thick rough and undulating fairways, typical of links courses.
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Royal Lytham is one of just 10 English courses on the list, with another 15 from around the UK also featuring, with Golf.com’s rankings considered among the most comprehensive rankings in the game.
It’s 126 experts visited more than 500 courses around the world, using a consistent grading system and focusing solely on course design and architecture, meaning some of the most opulent and exclusive clubs in the world did not make the cut.
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On the West Lancashire Coast, Royal Birkdale in Southport, which hosts next year’s Open Championship, was the third-highest ranked English course and placed 42nd overall, behind Sunningdale Old in Ascot (22nd) and Royal St George’s in Sandwich, Kent 30th).
Other English courses ranked were Swinley Forest in Ascot (50th), Sunningdale (New) (55th), St George’s Hill in Weybridge (57th), Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin) in Lincolnshire (74th), Rye (Old) on the East Sussex coast (90th), and Royal Liverpool in Hoylake on the Wirral (95th).
Scotland was represented by 13 courses, with two in Northern Ireland also ranking high in the list.
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The USA had the most courses on the list with 48, while Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, South Korea, Norway, France, the Netherlands and Caribbean nations also made the cut.
First on the list is the highly exclusive Pine Valley in New Jersey, USA, followed by the equally exclusive Cypress Point in California.
The Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland ranked third, with Royal County Down in Northern Ireland ranked fourth, and Shinnecock Hills in New York rounding out the top five.
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Wales’s Royal Porthcawl narrowly missed out on the top 100, ranking 102nd, while five more English courses also just missed out, placing between 101st and 150th.
They were Royal Cinque Ports, St Enodoc (Church), Ganton, Walton Heath, West Sussex, and Royal West Norfolk.
The full list can be viewed at Golf.com’s website.
