The 100 best were selected from 464 golf courses in 18 countries across the globe. Topping the list by a clear margin is Pine Valley Golf Course, New Jersey's heathland homage to Sunningdale in England; followed closely by the Cypress Point Country Club in Pebble Beach, California, widely regarded as one of the USA's very best. At just 12 years old, it is a feather in the cap of The Links to be placed ahead of iconic golf courses like Sunningdale and Royal Birkdale in England, and Valderrama in Spain, among others.
A ballot of the world's best layouts was compiled and sent to the US course ranking panellists of Golf Digest, representatives of their 27 international editions and their respective course ranking panels, as well as carefully selected and trusted golf experts. In total, 846 knowledgeable and well-travelled golfers rated courses they were familiar with on a 10-point scale and only those courses achieving a minimum of 20 ballots qualified for evaluation and selection.
A delighted Kerrin Titmas, CEO of Fancourt, said, "We are extremely proud of the work that we do at The Links and therefore it is an honour for it to be recognised amongst the greatest in the world. I could not be more proud of our team as they have worked hard to raise the standards and create a piece of golfing and environmental heritage. They continually strive to achieve world class standards in both course condition and service delivery. I want to emphasise the contribution of the rest of our team too, as I believe the overall Fancourt experience as South Africa's premier golfing and leisure destination on the Garden Route, positively impacts on the experience of any visitor to The Links."
Gary Player is behind the craftmanship of The Links, which was inspired by Scotland's famous links courses. Here, he and his team have designed some of their finest holes to create an authentic links test on what was once a featureless terrain and former site of an airfield. Unique to South Africa, The Links offers undulating windswept terrain and dune-style landscape, with the tees and fairways a combination of four cool season grasses. Player and his team planned every hole to ensure that the overall balance in terms of length, position of hazards and shot values provide the ultimate test to the low handicap player.
The Links, Outeniqua and Montagu at Fancourt consistently feature among the country's 20 finest courses in the South African edition of Golf Digest. The Links is known for hosting high profile international and national events, including the Volvo Golf Champions 2012, as well as the Berenberg Bank Master Seniors European Tour event in 2010, the Woman's World Cup and South African Open in 2005 and the Presidents Cup in 2003.
Fancourt was recently voted among the World's 10 Best Golf Resorts on CNNGO, the online travel hub of Cable Network News (CNN), the world's highest rated cable news channel.
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