In depth
The story of the game
How the great clubs began, who shaped their holes, and the architects whose courses you can play today. Every date and name comes from the clubs’ own histories or the record; where sources disagree, we leave it out.
Club histories
Club history
Real Club Valderrama
A Robert Trent Jones Sr course on the Andalusian coast that was rebuilt in the 1980s and became the setting for Europe’s 1997 Ryder Cup.
Club history
Real Club de Golf Sotogrande
Opened in 1964 as the heart of a new residential estate, Sotogrande was Robert Trent Jones’s first European course.
Club history
Royal Colombo Golf Club
From a patch of Galle Face Green shared with cricketers to a royal title in 1928, the story of Sri Lanka’s Royal Colombo is the story of golf coming to Ceylon.
Club history
Nuwara Eliya Golf Club
Laid out for British servicemen and tea planters in Sri Lanka’s cool hill country, the course at Nuwara Eliya has been played, in one form or another, for well over a century.Club history
St Andrews Links
Golf has been played on the links at St Andrews since the early 15th century, and the Old Course still shapes how the game is laid out, ruled and watched.Club history
Muirfield
From the Silver Club at Leith in 1744 to a private links on the Firth of Forth, the Honourable Company has been writing golf’s rules, and its home course, for nearly three centuries.Club history
Carnoustie Golf Links
Golf is recorded in Carnoustie in 1560. The links went on to shape the Open and send its professionals across the Atlantic.Club history
North Berwick Golf Club
Golf has been played on North Berwick’s West Links since the 17th century; the club dates from 1832, and the 15th hole, the Redan, has been copied around the world.Club history
Gleneagles
Conceived by a railway manager in 1910 and shaped by James Braid, Gleneagles opened its courses in 1919 and its hotel in 1924, and has hosted both the Ryder Cup and the Solheim Cup.Club history
The Breakers Golf
Henry Flagler’s oceanfront resort in Palm Beach has played host to golfers since the end of the nineteenth century, and its Ocean Course carries a layout drawn up in 1897.Club history
Emirates Golf Club
Opened in 1988 on 175 acres of Dubai sand dunes, Emirates Golf Club proved that a fully grassed championship course could work in the desert.Club history
Sandy Lane Golf
A hotel and a golf course born together on a Barbados sugar plantation in 1961 have grown into a 45-hole estate, designed in part by Tom Fazio.The architects
The designers behind the courses on ULTIMATE Golf, from the keeper of the greens at St Andrews to the modern masters of the desert and the dunes.
Course architect
Tom Fazio
An American architect who learned the trade from his uncle and went on to shape desert, island and city-edge courses, four of which you can find on ULTIMATE Golf.Course architect
Robert Trent Jones Sr
A Lancashire-born caddie who became one of the most prolific course architects in history, and left six courses on the Costa del Sol and in Florida that appear on ULTIMATE Golf.
Course architect
Robert Trent Jones Jr
The son of a famous architect, he set out on his own in 1972 and has worked internationally ever since; his courses in Portugal and Barbados are on ULTIMATE Golf.
Course architect
Greg Norman
From a Queensland childhood to two Open Championships and a design company that has created over 100 courses; courses by his firm appear in three of our listings.
Course architect
Jack Nicklaus
Eighteen major championships first, then one of the world’s largest golf design practices; his hand is on three courses in Scotland, Nevada and the Bahamas that ULTIMATE Golf lists.
Course architect
Seve Ballesteros
The Cantabrian who reshaped European golf as a player later turned to design, leaving his mark on the Costa del Sol at Los Arqueros, San Roque and Valderrama.
Course architect
Pete Dye
An Ohio-born insurance salesman who turned to design in his mid-30s and became one of the most influential course architects in the world; his three Las Vegas Paiute layouts are on ULTIMATE Golf.
Course architect
Javier Arana
An Olympic sailor and champion amateur who helped rebuild Spanish golf and designed El Prat, El Saler and two courses on the Costa del Sol that ULTIMATE Golf lists.Heritage, films and homes
Heritage
Golf museums and heritage
Where the game keeps its clubs, balls, trophies and stories.On screen
Golf on Film
Real courses and clubs in the cinema, with the official trailers.Films
Course films
The clubs’ own films, from the first tee to the last green.Live on the course