⛳Teams

Golf has no franchises. In their place stand clubs that own courses and stage championships, and the sport's power structure rests largely on these institutions and the bodies they created. The Masters is owned by a single private club, Augusta National, which sends the invitations and even writes its own rules. The Open Championship began at St Andrews in 1754 under the R&A, which still rotates among roughly ten links venues in Britain and Ireland; the U.S. Open, founded in 1894 when five clubs formed the USGA, returns to the courses that built the game, from Oakmont to Shinnecock Hills. Players come and go, but the courses remain — the one constant that lets generations be compared on the same holes.

The twelve clubs below were chosen by hosting record, history and the influence of the course itself. They span three Scottish links, one English venue, American private clubs and public courses, and one Australian Sandbelt representative. All twelve are compared on the same four measures: men's major championships hosted, years since founding, championship yardage and number of courses in the club or complex. Figures are as of the end of the 2025 season. Yardages vary slightly from event to event, so the most recent championship setup is used and rounded.