Golf is a sport that is enjoyed by many and it is one of those sports where amateurs can walk in the footsteps of the great professionals by playing the same golf courses. There are a number of great golf courses around the world and many of these offer the everyday player the opportunity to try their skills out on some great golf holes. In Europe there are a few exceptionally good courses on offer and the following are a few of these.
Old Course, St. Andrew, Scotland
As the “Home of Golf” St. Andrews golf club in Scotland is a venue that many golfers want to play. It is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world having been founded as far back as 1754 and the Old Course is considered the oldest golf course in the World. It presently hosts the Open Championship on a 5 year cycle with Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa winning the 2010 tournament. The Old Course has some unique features such as huge double greens, with seven greens on the course being shared by two holes. There are also some great golf holes with the most famous of these being the 17th. This is known as the Road Hole and features the extremely deep “Road Hole Bunker” in front of the green and hazards such as a tarmac road and old stone wall behind it. The Old Course ranks as one of the best and most famous golf courses in the world and is a great venue to play in Europe.
Royal Birkdale, England
Royal Birkdale is another golf course that has hosted the Open Championships with the last time being when Padraig Harrington won in 2008. Located in an area known as England’s Golf Coast it is a seaside course which is regularly voted as one of the best in the UK and Europe. The club was founded in 1889 when a 9 hole course was built, although they moved to the site of the present 18 hole course in 1897. The Open has been played on the course 8 times and it has also hosted the Ryder Cup twice. Some great players have therefore played the club over the years. The course is 6,690 yards in length with the golf holes running through an area of high sand dunes next to the coast. There are some great holes to play and you can pit your skills against the 13th, which at 498 yards in length ranks as one of the longest par 4 holes in golf.
Valderrama, Spain
This course is located at the Sotogrande resort in San Roque, Spain. It is one of the most well known courses in Europe and was the site of the first ever Ryder Cup tournament to be held in Continental Europe. The course is relatively new in that it was only constructed in 1974 and is one of the best works of golf course designer Robert Trent Jones. The course is 6,356 yards in length and features a number of excellent golf holes. In the past Valderrama has been voted the number one course in Continental Europe by Golf World magazine and this demonstrates the quality it has to offer both professional and amateur golfers.
Monte Rei North, Portugal
Monte Rei North is one of the newest golf courses in Europe having opened for play in only 2007. However it has one of the biggest names in world golf behind it and was designed by golf legend Jack Nicklaus. The course is located in the foothills of the Algarve region of Portugal and measures in at 6,567 yards. As well as having some excellent golf holes to play, the course offers some beautiful views of the Portuguese countryside and is a spectacular location to play.
Golf De Chantilly, France
This golf course is located around 30 miles north of Paris, France and is one of the oldest golf courses in the country. It has a history that dates back more than 100 years, with the course having been originally built in 1909 by designer Tom Simpson. It measures in at 6,396 yards and as it is set out amid the forest of Ile de France, trees are one of the major hazards of the course. There are also some challenging bunkers on the course and this can make it a great experience to play. It has regularly hosted the French Open and due to this many famous golfers have walked its fairways, with England’s Nick Faldo and Bobby Jones of the USA among these.
Many people enjoy relaxing on the golf course and taking on the challenge of playing 18 holes. The golf courses shown above are some of those in Europe that many people would like to try and they are rated as some of the best on the continent.
Sources – Wikipedia, England's Golf Coast