(CNN) — While daunting greens and tempting fairways around the globe conspire to dash the dreams of many a player, there are others that, no matter how frustrating, you have to marvel at.
Here are 18 beautiful golf holes from around the globe that turn their courses from great to magnificent.
Have your own favorites? Leave us a comment. Otherwise start planning your worldwide fantasy golf vacation right here.
1. 1st hole -- Doonbeg Golf Club, Ireland
Doonbeg is a premier golf course in a gorgeous location.
567 yards, par 5
The most beautiful opening hole in the world, a gentle par five that plays slightly downhill to a green surrounded on three sides by towering dunes. From the fairway the Atlantic Ocean can be glimpsed through gaps in the dunes.
2. 2nd hole -- Saujana Golf & Country Club, Malaysia
The Saujana Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is stunning at sunset.
204 yards, par 3
Two hundred yards over a jungle filled valley to a three-tier green surrounded by bunkers and more jungle. Malaysia's toughest hole. Deadly but beautiful. Jungle golf at its very best.
3. 5th hole -- The Abaco Club, Bahamas
The Abaco Club is a Caribbean paradise with great views and a climate to match.
312 yards, par 4
Every course needs a drivable par four and this one, with the turquoise waters of Winding Bay all along the left-hand side, is a classic. Don't let the heavenly setting distract you from your game.
4. 7th hole -- Kauri Cliffs Golf Club, New Zealand
The view from the 7th hole on the Kauri Cliffs Golf Course is spectacular.
220 yards, par 3
The spectacular panoramic view from this hole takes in small rocky islets and larger, lush green islands in the vast Pacific Ocean that begins beneath the cliff just right of the green.
5. 13th hole -- Trump International Golf Club, Grenadines
498 yards, par 5
The jewel in any golfing crown, this hole provides 360-degree views of the Atlantic, the Caribbean and the neighboring Grenadine Islands. Never mind the golf, this one is perfect in all sorts of ways.
6. 4th hole -- Anahita Golf Club, Mauritius
The Anahita Golf and Spa Resort is situated by the water.
564 yards, par 5
A stunning par five at the best course on the paradise island of Mauritius. The green has nothing but the Indian Ocean behind it. Magnificent.
7. 5th hole -- Clearwater Sanctuary Golf Resort, Malaysia
402 yards, par 4
Clearwater Sanctuary s set on a nature reserve reverberating with peace and tranquillity. This dogleg right hole leaves you with a second shot over a lily-filled pond to a green shaded by majestic rain trees behind it. After your shot to the green, get the camera out.
8. 13th hole -- Canyon Course, Blue Canyon Country Club, Thailand
390 yards, par 4
Teeing off over water, this hole then doglegs sharp right around a canyon uphill to a shallow green. With a forest along the left of the fairway, beauty and danger are everywhere.
9. 7th hole -- Pebble Beach Golf Links, California, United States
California-based Pebble Beach Golf Links is surrounded by rugged coast.
109 yards, par 3
The shortest par three in Major championship golf, with the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean pounding onto the rocks behind.
10. 9th hole -- Gary Player Country Club, Sun City, South Africa
The Gary Player Country Club is named after retired South African golfer Gary Player.
595 yards, par 5
A long par five framed by the South African bush where the strong and brave can risk going for the picturesque island green in two.
11. 9th hole -- Turnberry Golf Club, Scotland
This Trump-owned Scottish golf course is one of the country's finest.
454 yards, par 4
With a professional tee perched 50 feet above breaking Irish Sea waves and a famous lighthouse to the left, the raw beauty of this hole represents the very best that links golf has to offer.
12. 12th hole -- Augusta National Golf Club, Georgia, United States
The Augusta National Golf Course opened in 1933, but attracted controversy as the club had no African-American members until 1990 -- and no women until 2012.
155 yards, par 3
Always seen on TV during the Masters, the narrow green, fronted by a deep pond, is flanked front and back by deep bunkers, and framed from behind by red and purple azaleas. Frequently voted the most beautiful par three in golf.
13. 13th hole -- Red Course, Royal Dar Es Salam Golf Club, Morocco
383 yards, par 4
A gentle dogleg left down a perfect fairway between forests of cypress, palm, eucalyptus and cork-oak trees. A truly lovely hole on one of Africa's most beautiful courses.
14. 6th hole -- San Lorenzo Golf Club, Portugal
421 yards, par 4
From the tee the view is stunning, with the Ria Formosa nature reserve, then golden beaches and then the Atlantic Ocean stretching out in front of you. The best golf view in Portugal.
15. 17th hole -- Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland
The Old Course in St Andrews is one of the oldest courses in the world, and is known as the "Home of Golf".
455 yards, par 4
The toughest hole at the "Home of Golf," with a narrow green sandwiched between a fiendish pot bunker and a road, all framed by the Royal & Ancient clubhouse and picturesque town of St. Andrews.
16. 16th hole -- Cypress Point Club, California, United States
The Cypress Point Country Club in Monterey, California is a private golf club in California.
231 yards, par 3
Featuring a 200-yard carry over Pacific Ocean waves crashing against the rocks to a green on a promontory encircled by bunkers. If this doesn't take your breath away nothing will.
17. 18th hole -- Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, Dubai, UAE
The Dubai Creek Golf and Marina Yacht Club is situated on Dubai's waterfront.
430 yards, par 4
With the magnificent Dubai Creek along the left and a second shot over a lake to a green set in front of the world's most stunning clubhouse, this hole is one of the most splendid in the Middle East.
18. 18th hole -- Lemuria Golf Resort, Praslin Island, Seychelles
The Lemuria Golf Course in the Seychelles overlooks three beaches.
520 yards, par 5
From a tee perched several hundred feet above the fairway and providing panoramic views across the Indian Ocean to numerous other islands, this hole is a worthy 18th as it plunges down to a fairway carved through rainforest and then to a green fronted by a lake.
Tony Smart is a lifelong golf fanatic and journalist who's been lucky enough to play golf all over the world.
Editor's note: This article was previously published in 2011. It was reformatted and republished in 2017.
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