38 of The Best Golf Courses to Play in 2025
By: Kieran Clark | Wed 18 Dec 2024
When you reflect on your past year playing golf, the quality of the courses you visited will be among your instant thoughts. Did you uncover a true gem or finally tick off that dream layout that you had long been desperate to experience?
It's the same for us, and some of our ambassadors and contributors managed to take on some incredible courses both close to home within the UK and farther afield.
Bringing together their reviews and recommendations, here are the places that our team managed to visit throughout 2024, all of which you should consider playing yourself.
Take a look below at 38 of The Best Golf Courses to Play in 2025 and walk in our footsteps!
Aldeburgh Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.80
Location: Aldeburgh, Suffolk
Comment: "Aldeburgh is an extremely testing golf course, but one that can and should be experienced and enjoyed by golfers of all ages and abilities. While steeped in tradition, the club are also showing their forward thinking side by introducing a selection of tee boxes to play from, meaning there is an option for everyone."
Assoufid Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.48
Location: Marrakech, Morocco
Comment: "Assoufid Golf Club is a fantastic golf course and it’s no surprise that it has won so many awards. It really tests your ability and the choice of tees available allow all levels of golfers to enjoy it. The condition of the course was exceptional, and the greens were particularly fast and very true."
The Berkshire
Golfshake Rating: 4.94
Location: Ascot, Berkshire
Comment: "The course was a delight, a great test of a player’s skills with many holes requiring positional play from the tee. It requires accuracy and guile rather than brute force. The pin positions on many holes define what was needed from the tee to set up an approach shot that can access the pin."
Bishop Auckland Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.33
Location: Bishop Auckland, County Durham
Comment: "This is a genuine golf club that is at the heart of its community with a very strong competitive ethos through each and every level of the club. The setting is superb, the course an interesting challenge. It was very well presented and maintained. The club welcome visiting golfing groups and I would have no hesitation in returning to this venue, either as a single or part of a group or society."
Blackmoor Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.64
Location: Bordon, Hampshire
Comment: "I have played Blackmoor on average once a year and it gets better each time. This gem is for the senior golfer, 6,170 yards in length off the whites, flat and in fantastic condition! Rarely, at the end of the day, can you reflect and not find fault big or small of a golf course but here we could not! A fantastic afternoon!"
Bowood Park Hotel Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.10
Location: Camelford, Cornwall
Comment: "Bowood may not be the easiest venue to get to but it is well worth the effort. The hotel is excellent, the staff are friendly and the course is a gem. It is also worth pointing out that, unlike many other resort courses, there is "proper" sand in the bunkers. Definitely worth a visit."
Brancepeth Castle Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.59
Location: Durham, County Durham
Comment: "This is a golf course that should be on all golfers' radar as it offers so much for the visitor. The fees for its quality are excellent, its history unsurpassed, and the fun to be experienced by taking on its challenges to be relished."
Carden Park Golf Resort
Golfshake Rating: 3.96
Location: Chester, Cheshire
Comment: "The hotel and the views are stunning, the golf courses are the best resort layouts I have ever played, the facilities are seemingly never-ending, the food is out of this world and the staff are amazing. This venue gets 10/10 from me!"
Cocks Moor Woods Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 3.54
Location: Birmingham, West Midlands
Comment: "Overall, I was so impressed by the course. I had not played it for over 12 years and ahead of my round I struggled to remember many of the holes from my distant memory. But this is a course I will not be forgetting soon. I do think any golfer in the Midlands needs to test their skills on this course."
Coed-y-Mwstwr Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.24
Location: Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan
Comment: "This course scores a Highly Recommended status by our reviewers with a high percentage recommending a repeat visit. Written by golfers for golfers. This is an ideal society venue if you are looking for a well-conditioned playable track. I was genuinely astonished at the lack of mud around the venue given our recent weather. It was a very enjoyable round of golf."
College Pines Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.36
Location: Worksop, Nottinghamshire
Comment: "I loved my experience at College Pines. You could not hope for much more in terms of the course condition and it represents terrific value for money. All 18 holes were in good shape, and we did not have to worry about saturated ground or having to hit off a mat, which is common elsewhere in the UK over winter."
Cowdray Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.31
Location: Midhurst, West Sussex
Comment: "Cowdray GC is a wonderful layout. The fairways and tees are superb, the bunkers are well designed and filled with proper sand and the greens are flawless. The clubhouse is warm and inviting, the food is of the highest standard and the staff are friendly. There is no shortage of things to do on site - and there is plenty to do within striking distance."
Crans-sur-Sierre
Golfshake Rating: 4.09
Location: Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland
Comment: "The championship course will give you everything you think it would and then so much more on top. A tour venue, in excellent condition, outstanding service and scenery to die for. An experience I'll never forget."
Diss Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.19
Location: Diss, Suffolk
Comment: "The course was in superb condition with springy fairways upon which the ball sits up. Some of the greens are quite small, the surfaces are smooth and true and there are a lot of subtle breaks and slopes. And the bunkers are filled with proper soft sand."
Eaton Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 3.89
Location: Norwich, Norfolk
Comment: "The greens were firm, fast and true - among the best putting surfaces I have ever seen. As parkland courses go, this one is an absolute delight and I would not hesitate in recommending it."
Edgbaston Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.24
Location: Birmingham, West Midlands
Comment: "Edgbaston is an exemplary golfing experience situated in the heart of England’s second city. At no point during the round was I distracted by its city centre location and the abundant wildlife and excellent sustainable practices lead you to the thought that this is in fact a rural idyll."
The Grove
Golfshake Rating: 4.93
Location: Chandler's Cross, Hertfordshire
Comment: "I keep using the term 'experience' because what The Grove has to offer is far more than a round of golf. From start to finish you get properly looked after. They know how to do customer service at The Grove and it's a place I couldn't wait to go back to, the moment I pulled away."
Hayling Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.61
Location: Hayling Island, Hampshire
Comment: "Hayling Island must be a big pull for the discerning golfer from areas as far afield as Salisbury in the West, Windsor in the North and Leatherhead in South East London. I think due to this it is never an easy course to reserve a tee time, but is well worth the visit."
Heacham Manor Golf Course
Golfshake Rating: 3.93
Location: Heacham, Norfolk
Comment: "We came to answer the question of whether Heacham Manor was now the best destination in Norfolk for a golf break. Given the addition of the magnificent new Pavilion clubhouse, we can confirm, definitively, that it is."
The Herefordshire Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.59
Location: Hereford, Herefordshire
Comment: "Even though we encountered a little bit of rain, we all agreed that The Herefordshire not only offers up a great course but is also one of the friendliest and nicest venues you will come across."
Ingestre Park Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.34
Location: Stafford, Staffordshire
Comment: "The whole course is an absolute gem. Tee to green it really is a delight to play. The new holes will only get better as they mature which will make it a venue that really must be on your to play list."
The Inspiration Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.00
Location: Northolt, Greater London
Comment: "Ten years in the making, but well worth the wait, this course is fun and exhilarating to play in the most surreal location. It’s not a traditional links of course, but it it does give a flavour of the real thing in an unusual location. Quality and course presentation throughout is first rate and while it is still bedding in it is remains a joy to play."
Isle of Purbeck Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.70
Location: Swanage, Dorset
Comment: "The 10th for me was the standout hole today, not for its difficulty but for the colours. 393 yards and another slightly blind tee shot. We walked down the fairway stopping in the proximity of the marker to take in what lies ahead, with the green slightly below us with a large sand dune covered in heather behind it. The sunshine influencing nature's colours made this shot even more spectacular."
Leckford Old Golf Course
Golfshake Rating: 4.58
Location: Stockbridge, Hampshire
Comment: "Leckford Old Golf Course can be found close to the market town of Stockbridge, just a little north/east of Winchester. Designed by Harry Colt in 1929 it has been described by many as one of the finest nine-hole courses in the country. It features nine greens with 18 tees."
Maesteg Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.12
Location: Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan
Comment: "This is a perfect golf society venue if you have mixed-ability players. The better ones will be challenged by its style and be tempted to take it on as there are areas that encourage exactly that mindset."
Minchinhampton Old Course
Golfshake Rating: 3.85
Location: Stroud, Gloucestershire
Comment: "Minchinhampton Old Course has wonderful 360 degree views from this elevated common, and it is a golfing education reflecting bygone years. As Gary Player would often say when visiting a club, it is the best of its kind."
Noria Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.29
Location: Marrakech, Morocco
Comment: "Noria Golf Club is a great course that tests your ability in many different aspects. It is suitable for all handicaps (playing off the right tees). There are tricky and easy holes that all together work really well together and make a really great course. With the Atlas Mountains in one direction and the city of Marrakech the other, there is never a bad view. After your round, make sure you enjoy a drink and perhaps a bit to eat on the terrace and put some pressure on the other golfers out there."
Pyle & Kenfig Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.36
Location: Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan
Comment: "This is a magnificent golf course and club that delivers a premium product with great value for money. A stay and play short break starts from £79 and that is superb value given the quality of the food, accommodation and golf course."
Quinta do Lago Laranjal
Golfshake Rating: 4.31
Location: Faro, Portugal
Comment: "It's not often a golf course sits in such high regard with me, as Laranjal did. I've played enough courses in places like Spain and Portugal to know a good golf course when I see one, and Laranjal is just that. It would easily sit in my top five (probably top two) courses I have played in Europe."
Quinta do Lago North
Golfshake Rating: 4.26
Location: Faro, Portugal
Comment: "Overall, the North Course didn't disappoint. You can see why it is so highly regarded by golfers who have flocked to Quinta do Lago over the years. It's as tough as you make it and if you put a good score together around here then you will have deserved every part of it. A real gem."
Quinta do Lago South
Golfshake Rating: 4.39
Location: Faro, Portugal
Comment: "Personally, I found the South Course to be the pick of the bunch, although I can easily entertain an argument for all three courses. There is such a selection of holes, nothing ever feels the same, and whether it's raised tees or greens, nasty fairway bunkers, devilishly sloping greens or tight tee shots, the variety on offer is simply outstanding."
Reigate Heath Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.01
Location: Reigate, Surrey
Comment: "Was there a stand out hole? No! Was there a weak hole? No! Nine greens, 18 tees and being on heathland I presume the fairways will remain in the same condition throughout the year. When we played the greens were in great condition, firm but not fiery, a properly struck shot would respond."
Rockliffe Hall Golf Course
Golfshake Rating: 4.75
Location: Darlington, County Durham
Comment: "Golf should be fun to play and the course at Rockliffe Hall is as enjoyable as it is easy on the eye. Exceedingly good design, immaculate presentation and stunning scenery combine to create a memorable, five star experience."
Royal Golf Marrakech Old Course
Golfshake Rating: 4.38
Location: Marrakech, Morocco
Comment: "Royal Marrakech is a great, short course that is suitable for all abilities. The course is in good condition and is such an enjoyable layout to play. You may also a variety of wildlife whilst you’re playing - we were lucky enough to see a family of impalas who were intrigued by our putting! Not only is the course fantastic, the overall facilities are too and it’s not difficult to lose yourself here for the entire day."
Royal Porthcawl Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.93
Location: Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan
Comment: "I have waxed lyrical about this experience as I want to be an evangelist for this venue. I will return and take some of my golfing buddies because I want them to experience the sheer joy that it offered me on this April day of days."
Saunton Golf Club East Course
Golfshake Rating: 4.91
Location: Braunton, Devon
Comment: "Saunton reflects golf as it was played 100 years ago with no evidence of today’s heavy machinery. It was built by men with shovels, horses, and wagons and I understand the club today is restricted in the way it manages its maintenance programmes to protect the unique environment."
Sheringham Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.30
Location: Sheringham, Norfolk
Comment: "I recently had the pleasure of tackling this outstanding course and I have to tell you that it turned out to be one of the best golfing experiences of my life."
Thetford Golf Club
Golfshake Rating: 4.31
Location: Thetford, Norfolk
Comment: "Thetford is a classic heathland course offering a fair but tough test for golfers of all ages and abilities. It offers everything a member or visitor could ask for and it is easy to see why visitors rate it so highly and often features in some of Golfshake 'must play' lists."
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