Pictures: Tourism Ireland
ROYAL County Down has been named the world’s best golf course by respected magazine Golf Digest.
The links course hosted the Irish Open for the first time in 76 years in 2015 and beat off fierce competition from famous clubhouses in America, Australia and Scotland for the number one spot.
Perhaps most notably, Royal County Down pipped Augusta in the annual rankings, the stunning course which hosts The Masters in Georgia, America, year-on-year.
Golf Digest’s Top 10 Golf Courses:
1. Royal County Down (Ireland)
2. Augusta National (Georgia)
3. Pine Valley (New Jersey)
4. Cypress Point Club (California)
5. Royal Dornoch (Scotland)
6. Royal Melbourne (Australia)
7. Shinnecock Hills (New York)
8. The Old Course at St Andrews (Scotland)
9. Muirfield (Scotland)
10. Merion (Pennsylvania)
