Ranked among the finest heathland courses in the country, West Sussex sits in the South Downs National Park an hour’s drive from London. Fast-running fairways cut through heather and pine; the five par-3s are the holes you'll be replaying on the train home – none more so than the 222-yard 6th, with a pond in front of the green and heather closing in on all sides. Unlike some better-known counterparts in the Home Counties, it welcomes visitors without the need for a member's introduction. The convention of two-ball golf keeps rounds moving at pace – good if you’re making just a day of it from town. Green fees run to £175 per person on a weekday in peak season.

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Built in 1989 at a reported cost of $60m, Shadow Creek is a woodland course of waterfalls, creeks and towering pines that has no business existing in the Mojave desert. It was a private course for a decade before MGM acquired it, and the mystique has never entirely left. Access remains strictly limited to guests of MGM Resorts properties on the Strip: a stretch limousine collects you from your hotel lobby, a personal caddie meets you at the course, and the locker room bears the nameplates of every president and celebrity who has played here. Tee times run to $1,250 a head and are difficult to secure – book well in advance. The golf, for the record, is as good as the theatre. Stay at the Bellagio, Aria or MGM Grand and book through the concierge.

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Bordeaux is a Unesco World Heritage city, the wine capital of the world, and two hours from Paris on a high-speed train. Cabot Bordeaux sits 20 minutes from the city centre in the heart of the Médoc, with two courses that make a strong argument for a golf trip to France. The Châteaux is a heathland-inspired course with firm, fast turf and risk-reward decisions throughout. Vignes weaves through pines and heather in a more intimate setting that rewards precision over power. Off the course, the Médoc's wine estates are on the doorstep – Cabot runs guided vineyard excursions with tastings at several châteaux. The 79 rooms all look out onto the courses, and Bordeaux airport is 20 minutes if you’re hurrying back.

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On a 215-hectare estate just a mile from the coast, Finca Cortesín is the Costa del Sol at its most refined. Inside, antique wood-carved doors open into suites with 4m-high ceilings and Travertine marble bathrooms. Outside, an 18-hole championship course winds through olive trees, distracting with sweeping sea views as its demanding greens and carefully placed bunkers challenge any level of player. There’s a Jack Nicklaus Academy on site for those who want to leave playing better than they arrived. Spain's only snow cave spa and a beach club with a 35m infinity pool all enhance a pervading sense of exclusivity. Hard to believe Málaga airport is only 50 minutes away.

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By offering golf in its purest form – no carts, natural terrain, changeable weather – Bandon Dunes has become one of the most revered golf destinations in America. It's also on the Oregon coast, which puts it a long flight and a regional connection away from the UK. Rodeo Dunes is being built on the same principles by the same team, on 4,000 acres of towering sand dunes on Colorado's eastern plains. The Rocky Mountains are on the horizon but Denver – with its direct UK flights – is less than an hour away. We’ve been told public tee times for its two courses will become available to book soon, ahead of the full resort opening in 2027. When the time comes, you’ll be playing at altitude here, so longest drive records will absolutely be under threat.

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Greece and golf haven’t always belonged in the same sentence. Costa Navarino is changing that. In the southwestern Peloponnese – a surprisingly green corner that many never reach – there are no fewer than four courses around the ancient bay of Navarino, taking in landscapes of sea, canyon, grove and hills. The hotel offering has grown to match the golf: low slung and high end, the biophilic Mandarin Oriental is the best of them, with its own beach for downtime. Fly direct to Kalamata, then it’s under an hour’s drive to the resort.

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An hour and a half south of Lisbon, past rice fields and cork forests, Comporta has become the most talked-about destination on the Portuguese coast – a laid-back surf town where famous designers are starting to open boutique hotels. On the edge of the Sado Estuary Nature Reserve, the Dunas course arrived in 2023 to immediate international acclaim; Torre, Sergio Garcia's debut as a course architect, followed in 2025. Neither course has a permanent clubhouse yet – this is still a destination in the making – but that is precisely the reason to visit now. Fly to Lisbon, and take your pick of accommodation from Sublime Comporta or Quinta da Comporta.

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