The Toughest Courses on Golf YouTube, Ranked by Real Scores
2026-11-15 · Courses
Every golfer has heard that Oakmont is brutal and Royal County Down is a beast. But how hard do the world's famous courses actually play for good golfers with a camera crew in tow? We've logged thousands of rounds from golf YouTube, so we can answer that with real scores.
For every course that five or more of the YouTubers on our leaderboard have played a full round on, we worked out two things: the average score to par, and how far over their own handicaps the creators played there. The second one is the fairer test, because it allows for who turned up: a course only plus handicaps have played can look easy on raw scores alone.
The toughest courses on golf YouTube
Ranked by how many shots over their own handicaps the creators played:
- 1Olympic Club (Lake)17.3over
- 2Royal Portrush13.1over
- 3Oakmont13over
- 4Dubai Creek12.5over
- 5Royal County Down12.2over
- 6Dubai Hills12over
- 7Hazeltine National11.8over
- T8Streamsong Red11.7over
- T8Pinehurst No. 211.7over
- 10Bethpage Black11.3over
The full numbers
| # | Course | YouTubers | Avg score | Over their handicap | Best round |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Olympic Club (Lake) | 5 | +19.2 | +17.3 | Brad Dalke, +3 |
| 2 | Royal Portrush (Dunluce) | 16 | +16.1 | +13.1 | Wesley Bryan, −2 |
| 3 | Oakmont | 21 | +12.6 | +13.0 | Paige Spiranac, −3 |
| 4 | Dubai Creek | 7 | +17.6 | +12.5 | Andy Carter, +4 |
| 5 | Royal County Down | 13 | +15.1 | +12.2 | Wesley Bryan, level |
| 6 | Dubai Hills | 5 | +19.3 | +12.0 | Peter Finch, +2 |
| 7 | Hazeltine National | 7 | +9.6 | +11.8 | Kyle Berkshire, +2 |
| T8 | Streamsong Red | 6 | +16.3 | +11.7 | Timmy Jordan, −1 |
| T8 | Pinehurst No. 2 | 8 | +16.0 | +11.7 | Matt Fryer, +1 |
| 10 | Bethpage Black | 14 | +13.9 | +11.3 | Wesley Bryan, −5 |
Every full round we've logged as of 3 November 2026; nine-hole rounds are left out. "Over their handicap" is each round's score to par less the player's current handicap, averaged.
Olympic Club: the hardest of all
Only five creators have played a full round at the Olympic Club's Lake Course in San Francisco, but every one of them got beaten up. They averaged 19 over par, more than 17 shots worse than their handicaps. Even Brad Dalke, the best golfer on our leaderboard, could only manage 3 over. Tight, tree-lined and sloping, it's a US Open course for a reason.
The links that bite: Portrush and County Down
Portrush, Northern IrelandRoyal Portrush, Dunluce LinksCreators16Avg+16.1Best−2Two Northern Irish links are in the top five. Royal Portrush, home of the 2025 Open, has been played by 16 creators, averaging 16 over, 13 shots worse than their handicaps. Wesley Bryan's 2 under is the standout. Royal County Down, often ranked the best course in the world, is close behind: 13 creators, 15 over on average, and nobody has broken par. Wesley again has the best round, level par.
Wind is the big factor on both. A calm day at a links and a windy day are two different golf courses, and plenty of these rounds were filmed in the wind.
Oakmont: the most played tough course
Pennsylvania, USAOakmont Country ClubCreators21Avg+12.6Best−3Oakmont is the one everyone wants to try: 21 creators have taken it on, more than any other course on this list. The average round is 12.6 over par, 13 shots over handicap. Only one creator has beaten par there, and it's not who you might guess: Paige Spiranac shot 3 under, the best round at Oakmont by any golf YouTuber we track.
Bethpage Black, Pinehurst and Hazeltine
New York, USABethpage BlackCreators14Avg+13.9Best−5Bethpage Black, with its famous warning sign, lives up to it: 14 creators, nearly 14 over par on average. Wesley Bryan's 5 under is one of the best rounds at any course on this list. Pinehurst No. 2 and its upturned greens cost creators almost 12 shots over handicap, and at Hazeltine, a Ryder Cup venue, Kyle Berkshire's 2 over is the best of seven tries.
The famous ones that play easier
Some big names aren't as scary as they look. TPC Sawgrass, island green and all, has been played by 21 creators, averaging under 6 over par, about 8 over handicap. Royal Troon (16 creators) and Shinnecock Hills (21) play tough but fair, at around 9 and 10 over handicap.
And where do they go low? Courses like The Tribute in Texas and Palm Beach National see creators play within a shot or so of their handicaps, and Brad Dalke has shot 9 under at The Tribute.
Florida, USATPC Sawgrass
Lowest roundJames Nicholas67−539 rounds by golf YouTubers
New York, USAShinnecock Hills Golf ClubLowest roundJames Nicholas69−128 rounds by golf YouTubers
Troon, ScotlandRoyal Troon
Lowest roundBrad Dalke69−217 rounds by golf YouTubers
CoursesShinnecock Hills: How Golf YouTubers Scored
CoursesCourse leaderboards: how YouTubers scored at famous coursesHow we worked it out
We took every full 18-hole round on our record and grouped them by course, counting only courses at least five different YouTubers have played, so one bad day doesn't decide a ranking. For each round we took the score to par and subtracted the player's current handicap, to show how much harder than normal they found it, then averaged those for the course. It's a rough measure: it doesn't know which tees were played or what the weather was, but across a dozen or more rounds it tells you a lot.
Playing a famous course? Show every shot
A round at a course like these deserves to look the part. The Score Graphics Generator makes a graphic for every shot from your scorecard, with the hole, par and yardage, and a hole info card before each hole.