Europe's top 10 golf courses beyond Great Britain

Today I found interesting course rankings from Golf World Magazine. Golf World Magazine's top 100 courses in Europe ranks those within mainland Europe, leaving out those in Britain & Ireland. The top 10 of the rankings are as follows:

1. Les Bordes Golf Club
2. Golf de Morfontaine
3. Royal Hague Golf & CC
4. Royal Zoute Golf Club
5. Le Golf National
6. Valderrama Golf Club
7. Kennemer Golf & Country Club
8. PGA Golf de Catalunya
9. Noordwijkse Golf Club
10. Bro Hof Slott Golf Club

And so it is Les Bordes Golf Club that is the top course for continental Europe. Not a golf course that I've heard much about, but it's a large one that stretches approximately 7,000 yards. The course is set in the forests of Sologne, in France, alongside the River Loire. As such, this golf course's holes are combined with both water and the birch forest.

A number of other French golf courses are included on the list. Among them the Le Golf National which is a future venue for the Ryder Cup, and the Golf de Morfontaine is another of France's gems which ranks in at second. Both climb above more famous courses such as the great Valderrama Golf Club, a golfing mecca that has formerly hosted the Ryder Cup. Set alongside the Pyrenees, on the eastern Spanish coastline, is the PGA Catalunya Golf Course which is another PGA Tour course in Spain ranked among the top 10.

I'm not sure how many of these courses are public ones, but if membership is not required they are certainly worth noting for a golfing vacation in Spain and France. Check out the Planet Golf site for the full rankings of Europe's finest courses. Additional Golf Digest course rankings for the USA can be found in previous posts on this blog.