GOLF Magazine: The 500 World's Greatest Golf Holes Book

There are more than half a million golf holes in the world, and GOLF Magazine spent years narrowing that field to 500. The result — The 500 World's Greatest Golf Holes by Hachette — is the kind of book that earns permanent shelf space. Not borrowed, not passed along. Kept. It lands with the authority of a publication that has been tracking the sport's best courses for decades, and it reads like the editors actually argued about every selection. For the golfer who has opinions about Augusta National's 12th or has already planned a trip around St. Andrews, this is the reference that puts those conversations on record.

The book moves hole by hole through 500 entries, each one treated with the same seriousness a wine critic might bring to a first-growth Bordeaux. You get the numbers, the history, and the context — not just a pretty picture with a caption.

• 500 expertly curated golf holes selected by GOLF Magazine editors and a panel of international experts
• 600+ lavish photographs documenting each hole's visual character, layout, and defining features
• Anecdotal "biographies" for every hole — narrative entries covering history, design intent, and what makes each one memorable
• Vital statistics accompany each hole entry: yardage, par, and course-specific data for serious reference use
• Featured section: The Eighteen — the editors' selection of the most respected and challenging holes in the world
• Top 100 holes ranking providing a structured hierarchy across all featured courses globally
• Coverage spans legendary venues including Augusta National, St. Andrews, and other marquee courses across multiple continents

Care & Keeping

To keep this Hachette golf reference book in the condition it deserves, store it flat or fully upright on a shelf — never at an angle, which stresses the spine over time. Keep it out of direct sunlight; the 600-plus photographs reproduce best when the pages haven't faded. Dust the cover periodically with a dry, soft cloth. If the jacket gets handled frequently, a clear protective sleeve is a straightforward solution. The 500 World's Greatest Golf Holes is the kind of volume that gets pulled out often enough that these small habits actually matter — this is a working golf book, not a decorative one, and treating it accordingly keeps it sharp for every conversation, every trip-planning session, every argument about which holes belong in the top eighteen.