Highest ranking: No. Augusta National Golf Club - Augusta, Georgia Cypress Point Club - Pebble Beach, California Shinnecock Hills Golf Club - Southampton, New York Oakmont Country Club - Oakmont, Pennsylvania Merion Golf Club (East Course) - Ardmore, Pennsylvania National Golf Links of America - Southampton, New York Pebble Beach Golf Links - Pebble Beach, California Previous ranking: No. 13, 2011-12. Public play on each alternates on a daily basis. Bend, Ore. / 541-388-2582 / tetherow.comDavid McLay Kidd (2008)7,293 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 56.7729A decade after David McLay Kidd established his architectural reputation with the original Bandon Dunes course, he returned to Oregon, settled in Bend and built another dazzling course, Tetherow. Highest ranking: No. Highest ranking: Current. Given the name, many conclude Sand Valley is a combination of Nebraskas Sand Hills Golf Club and New Jerseys famed Pine Valley, but Sand Valley has its own personality, with some dual fairways, deep sand spits, perched greens and even a hidden punchbowl putting surface.100 Greatest Public History: Highest (and previous) ranking: No. The final three holes circle near the James River, including the par-3 17th that plays on a bluff above the water. Williamsburg, Va. / 800-648-6653 / colonialwilliamsburg.comRobert Trent Jones (1963) / Rees Jones (R.1997 & 2016)6,817 Yards, Par 71 / Points: 58.7427Back in 1966, Golden Horseshoe was ranked among America's 200 Toughest Courses by Golf Digest. To best utilize ocean frontage, Tom Doak came up with a unorthodox routing that includes four par 3s on the back nine. Public can mean different things when it comes to golf. From the 6,400-yard white markers, however, you'll breeze though an 18. Tower, Minn. / 800-992-4680 / golfthewilderness.comJeff Brauer (2004)7,207 Yards, Par 72 | Points: 57.3412In 2005, The Wilderness at Fortune Bay won America's Best New Upscale Public Course, a year after architect Jeff Brauer won the same award for No. 25.More about this course , Pinehurst, N.C. / 800-487-4653 / pinehurst.comGil Hanse & Jim Wagner (2019)7,227 yards, par 72 / Score: 59.4574. 29, 2014-15. Where the Bluffs Course is a feast for the eye, the South Course is a treat for the intellect. Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of SentryWorld. The Loop is part of the Forest Dunes resort, which also contains No. Previous ranking: No. 9, 2009-14. Arcadia Bluffs has been overshadowed by No. According to Golf Digest, Wisconsin is home to two of the Top 10 ranked courses you can play in this country and four of the Top 20, fully 20% of each. A standout is its 13th, a drivable par 4 that's nearly as wide as it is long, with three alternate routes to a 100-yard-wide green.100 Greatest Public History: Ranked since 2005. 33 Forest Dunes, a fine Tom Weiskopf design. 63. Highest ranking: No. It now genuinely serves as a country club for the day.100 Greatest Public History: Ranked since 2011. For putting surfaces, Fazio built crowned greens with greenside swales, intended as a salute to Donald Ross and Pinehurst No. Still others are edged by manmade irrigation lakes or natural desert washes. 22, 2005-06. Because many holes were blasted from rock, some holes have fields of boulders in the rough and all water hazards are bulkheaded with stacked stone. Its called Greywalls because of all the granite rock outcroppings that edge some holes and squeeze others, like the short par-4 fifth, and because the rock provides the rugged topography over which this course scampers up and plunges down. Bluffton, S.C. / 866-706-6565 / palmettobluff.comJack Nicklaus (2004)7,171 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 58.3870Built some 35 years after nearby Harbour Town Golf Links, May River is an interesting contrast in Jack Nicklaus's portfolio. The No. 3 among Best New Private Courses in 1989 and was the site of Juli Inkster's only U.S. Women's Open win, in 1999. Mission Hills (World Cup), China. / 308-537-7700 / playwildhorse.com Dan Proctor & Dave Axland (1999) 6,955 yards, Par 72 / Points: 57.2343 Proctor and Axland, two of the country's best golf course shapers (they've worked on many Coore & Crenshaw projects) also team on occasion to build high-quality, low-profile, low-budget daily-fee layouts. Highest ranking: No. Article: Golf Digest Top 100 US Golf Courses 2021-2022. Highest ranking: No. (Rumor has it Coore located a hole outside the property line and owner Mike Keiser reluctantly bought that additional parcel.) Previous ranking: No. In the horse-drawn-carriage neighborhood of Pinehurst No. / 406-889-6501 / wildernessclubmontana.comBrian Curley & Nick Faldo (2009)7,207 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 57.7787Sitting far closer (just eight miles) from the Canadian border than from any major city in Montana, Wilderness Club was an ill-timed residential development venture a decade ago, and thus the once-private club now accepts outside play, much of it from day-trip Canadians. 2? 23.More about this course , Streamsong, Fla. / 863-428-1000 / streamsongresort.comTom Doak (2012)7,176 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 59.7721We suspect many a discussion will occur in Streamsong's 19th hole comparing the merits of both the Tom Doak-designed Blue Course and Coore and Crenshaw-designed Red Course (ranked No. Jason Livy View: List Index Map See It For Yourself Need help booking a trip? For subsequent rankings, weve separated the two into conventional 18-hole candidates. 13.More about this course , Photo Credit: Nile Young Photography/Courtesy of Arcadia Bluffs GC, Bandon, Ore. / 888-345-6008 / bandondunesgolf.comBill Coore & Ben Crenshaw (2020)6,636 yards, par 72 / Points: 61.5402. Melbourne's third oldest golf club returns to the Top 100 Courses fold for the first time since 2000 on the strength of several holes redesigned by Graeme Grant, a conversion to Santa Ana couch fairways and bentgrass greens plus a smart approach to tree management. / 888-285-5375 / bullerock.comPete Dye (1998)7,375 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 56.4285This great course is built on the old Blenheim Farm, which had been the home of many thoroughbred race horses. 62. 100 Greatest Public History: Since 2015-16. Highest ranking: No. Told to route the course to preserve as many trees as possible, Hills made the brawny Virtues course wander gracefully from ridge top to valley, testing every shot with uphill, downhill and sidehill lies. 82. 5.More about this course , Photo Credit: Courtesy of Shadow Creek GC, 800-487-4653 / pinehurst.comDonald Ross (9 1902 /Donald Ross & Walter Travis (A.9 1907)Donald Ross (R.1935)7,588 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 63.9639In 2010, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw led a team that descended on Pinehurst No. / 877-805-4657 / fallenoak.comTom Fazio (2006)7,487 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 58.8847Although it didn't get built for another 15 years, Fallen Oak was first conceived in the early 1990s by Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn soon after Tom Fazio had completed Shadow Creek. The holes are either very long or tantalizingly gettable. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Trump National Doral. (May 2021 - May 2023) GOLF DIGEST Top 100 PUBLIC Golf Courses in AMERICA: The list that Joe Q. What did they expect? Top 25 public Texas golf courses in 2020 Wilderness Golf Course Lake Jackson The Links at Land's End Yantis Tierra Verde Golf Club Arlington Squaw Valley Golf Course - Apache Links Course Glen Rose The Old at White Bluff Golf Club Whitney Hideout Golf Club Brownwood Moody Gardens Golf Course Galveston La Cantera Resort - The Resort Course Pebble Beach / 831-625-1513 / poppyhillsgolf.comRobert Trent Jones Jr. (1986)7,002 Yards, Par 71 | Points: 56.4317When originally built, Poppy Hills had unpopular perched greens framed by massive containment mounds. Designed by Jack Nicklaus and ushering in a new era of golf in China, the World Cup course at Mission Hills was named one of the most influential golf courses in the world in 2008. Stillwater, Okla. / 405-743-1658 / karstencreek.com Tom Fazio (1994) 7,449 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 59.9734 Karsten Creek, winner of Golf Digest's Best New Public Course title in 1994, was developed by Oklahoma State University and thus is also often at the top of rankings of the best collegiate courses in America. The topography, bunkering and green entrances are all so compelling that its barely noticeable that each serves two purposes. Pete Dye and his companions have twice played the course from those tees in less than three-and-a-half hours, on foot. In the last decade, the club (which also has a Fazio-designed 18) began allowing public play on its Nicklaus track. Cabot Cliffs. Courtesy Mammoth Dunes There are seven courses in. 45. Over the decades the tree-lined South Course, still a demanding tournament venue, has gained the respect of the best players who appreciate its unambiguous demands and ability to identify the best ball-strikers. 38. Now its accessible to the public, who can reserve rooms and rounds through new stay and play packages. New owners rechristened the club McLemore and brought in Rees Jones and Georgia native Bill Bergin to remodel the course. 100 Greatest Public History: Ranked from 2003 through 2012. Actually, that's the sanitized version of what he called it. 35, 2015-16. The course concludes with Dye's favorite finish, a gambling par-5 16th, a 17th over water (in this case, 205 yards) and a now-strong par-4 18th. 25 The Quarry at Giant's Ridge, also in northern Minnesota. Previous ranking: No. 17, 2011-12. California (9) 1. Farmington, Pa. / 800-422-2736 / nemacolin.comPete Dye (1995)7,550 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 57.2019Mystic Rock is one of the more curious courses Pete Dye ever designed, with mostly oval greens and rectangular bunkers. 01 Crystal Downs Frankfort, Michigan 24 10 10 1 5.5 02 Oakland Hills (South) Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 54 38 34 2 5 03 Kingsley Club Kingsley, Michigan 99 85 3 5 04 Dunes Club New Buffalo, Michigan 4 5 05 Meadowbrook Country Club Northville, Michigan 5 4.5 06 Forest Dunes (The Loop - Black) Roscommon, Michigan 6 4.5 07 Forest Dunes (Weiskopf) Previous ranking: No. As with all courses in the TPC network, TPC Colorado was designed with an eye toward hosting professional events (it hosts a tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour), and at the mile-high altitude that mandates the ability to stretch out to 8,000 yards or more. 1. Highest ranking: No. 31. Courses in italics are scheduled to played this year. (He lived along its sixth fairway during his last years.) Myrtle Beach / 855-409-2177 / thedunesclub.netRobert Trent Jones (1949) / Robert Trent Jones (R.1959)7,450 Yards, Par 72 | Points: 57.6094Its ocean-side dunes are mostly covered with turfgrass and mature trees now, but when Robert Trent Jones built The Dunes back in the late 1940s, the property was primarily windswept sand dotted with lagoons. It hosted Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, an annual event on the PGA Tour, until 2020. Perhaps its appearance on Americas 100 Greatest Public will change that.100 Greatest Public History: Ranked since 2017-18. Location: ShenZhen, China. Shadow Creek plays like a musical composition in three movements, with alternating heavy beats and light moments, building to a resounding crescendo. (RELATED: The best courses in every state). 1-50 Martis Camp. PEBBLE BEACH GOLF LINKS (Jack Neville and Douglas Grant 1919/H. 77. Hanses and Wagners new iteration ties No. The course design by veteran British architect Donald Steel is austere in its green contours and bunkering, as if not to overpower the setting.100 Greatest Public History: Ranked since 2011. 11.More about this course , Bandon, Ore. / 888-345-6008 / bandondunesgolf.comTom Doak & Jim Urbina, with George Bahto, Bradley Klein,Karl Olson & Mike Keiser (2010)6,944 Yards, Par 71 / Points: 62.3008When it opened in 2010, we predicted Old Macdonald would eventually become the most popular course at Bandon Dunes Resort, mainly because it has wide fairways and generous greens. Wynn wanted Fazio to design a similar course for his Beau Rivage casino hotel on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. With a routing that features 10 holes on Lake Oconee, Jack and his associate Jim Lipe worked hard to vary the encounters with water. 100 Greatest Public History: Ranked since 2003. Those seven holes (6 & 7, 10 & 11 and 16 through 18) are lined with tall pines and cedars and bring to mind a collection of holes in the Colorado Rockies. 2, on whose restoration crew Franz had worked. Highest ranking: No. Previous ranking: No. BlackHorse Golf Club Cypress This 36-hole course is wedged inside the BlackHorse Ranch community, about 35 minutes northwest of downtown Houston. 157 on our exclusive Second 100 Greatest ranking in 2021.100 Greatest Public History: Ranked since 2003. It's not just the greatest meeting of land and sea in American golf, but the most extensive one, too, with nine holes perched immediately above the crashing Pacific surfthe fourth through the 10th plus the 17th and 18th. For consistency across our platforms, we have omitted Point O' Woods but kept the rest of the ranking intact. 4. And the Nicklaus design is worthy of high praise. 2 Pacific Dunes, ever since it finished second to it in the Best New Upscale Public Course race of 2001. Our Connecticut Best In State Rankings were last updated in December 2020. Highest ranking: No. The par-3 seventh has another explanation entirely. Fox Chapel Golf Club. 20). Havre de Grace, Md. Another concession to resort golfers: The greens are big but simple, with few complex contours.100 Greatest Public History: Ranked 2003-08 & 2015-present. The late golf writer Charlie Price, who lived on the island, took one look at it and dubbed it a "waste bunker." Highest ranking: No. 2 courses subtler stateliness. Previous ranking: No. Golf design is about transforming land. Highest ranking: No. In all, 30 states are represented. Its very inventive design also demands some aerial play, too. 54, 2015-16. USE OF AND/OR REGISTRATION ON ANY PORTION OF THIS SITE CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE OF OURVISITOR AGREEMENT(UPDATED 1/6/23),PRIVACY AND COOKIES NOTICE(UPDATED 1/4/23) ANDCALIFORNIA PRIVACY NOTICE. Spread across an open, windswept plateau, using many of the same greensites, Coore managed to triangulate the holes in such a way that nine now touch the cliff edge along the Pacific Ocean. Previous ranking: No. A century-old stone aqueduct brings water from the top of a rain-soaked volcano down to a pond that sits 800 feet above the course. Highest ranking: No. Previous ranking: No. And there are three easier courses at Cog Hill for high handicappers. The Stanwich Club at Greenwich competes a trio of top-drawer golf courses for the Constitution State. Roscommon, Mich. / 989-275-0700 / forestdunesgolf.com Tom Doak (2016) 6,704 Yards, par 70 / Points: 57.7615 The idea of a reversible golf course is as old at the Old Course at St. Andrews, and golf architect Joel Goldstrand built a series of nine-hole reversible courses for small clubs in Minnesota, Iowa and North Dakota back in the 1980s. Both touch repeatedly on the wetlands of namesake May River.100 Greatest Public History: Ranked since 2009. Previous ranking: No. Previous ranking: No. 56. 81. / 888-402-1101 / theprairieclub.comGraham Marsh (2010)7,403 Yards, Par 73 / Points: 56.3556Not as pure a Nebraska sandhills experience as sister Dunes Course, which is ranked No. Golf Cars . Between fairways and tree lines, they established vast bands of native hardpan sand dotted with clumps of wiregrass and scattered pine needles. Previous ranking: No. But among them, the River Course at Kingsmill Resort continues to stand out and remains a strong expression of Dyes early design period, more in the mode of Harbour Town than Sawgrass. Highest ranking: No. 45, the Pines Course has just 11 holes playing in the tumbling prairie topography. This includes several traditionally private clubs that now offer limited stay-and-play packagesif you really want to play them, theres a way. Eureka, Mont. Highest ranking: Current. Stevens Point, Wis. / 715-345-1600 / www.sentryworld.comRobert Trent Jones Jr. (1982)7,145 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 58.2029The lush, tree-lined SentryWorld won Golf Digest's first-ever Best New Public award in early 1984, but never made our 100 Greatest Public ranking until this year, as the highest-ranking newcomer. 23 on "America's Top 100 Public Courses" list by Golf Digest. Golfers' Choice January 7, 2021 In Santa Cruz, Pasatiempo is the best Alister Mackenzie course that is open to the public in the U.S. and made the 2021 Golfers' Choice Top 50 in the U.S. Jason Scott Deegan/Golf Advisor It has twice been ranked among America's 100 Greatest, from 1995 to 1998 and from 2005 to 2006. Opens were played on consecutive weeks at No. Come one, come all: Here are GOLF's Top 100 Courses You Can Play, 2021-22 By: GOLF's Course Raters and Ran Morrissett, Architecture Editor May 4, 2021 For the first time our ranking. 36.More about this course . 10, 2005-12. Less heralded are his courses from the 1970s. 12, 2011-12. 55, 2015-2016. Cuban, Evan Schiller, Jon Cavalier, Andy Johnson/The Fried Egg, Larry Lambrecht and others courtesy of the courses. 10.More about this course , Photo Credit: Courtesy of Pebble Beach Company, Ponte Vedra Beach / 904-273-3235 / tpcsawgrass.comPete Dye (1980)7,245 Yards, Par 72 | Points: 62.5002TPC's stadium concept was the idea of then-PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman. 43, 2007-08. Wolcott, Colo. / 866-873-3759 / redskygolfclub.comGreg Norman (2003)7,480 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 57.4345There are two 18s at Red Sky Ranch, one by Greg Norman, the other designed by Tom Fazio, No. There are numerous tips of the hat to TPC originator Pete Dye, including a fair smattering of sod-faced pot bunkers dotted throughout the fairways, but the design pulls from many sources. Previous ranking: No. The Resort at Glade Springs (Stonehaven) T147. Wild Horse is perhaps their finest, laid out on the southern edge of the Nebraska sand hills and patterned after the great Sand Hills Golf Club to the northwest, which both Proctor and Axland helped build. 66, 2009-10. "We popped the hills at Poppy Hills," says Trent Jr. A new feature are sandy naturalized areas and pine straw off the fairways instead of manicured rough, part of a concerted effort to significantly reduce water consumption.100 Greatest Public History: 2017 to current. Bend, Ore. / 866-372-1003 / pronghornresort.com Jack Nicklaus (2003)7,379 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 58.9293When it first opened, Pronghorn was strictly private and its Nicklaus Course was ranked second by Golf Digest among America's Best New Private Courses of 2004. Photo Credit: Brian Oar/courtesy of Four Seasons, University Place, Wash. / 253-460-4653 / chambersbaygolf.comRobert Trent Jones, Bruce Charlton & Jay Blasi (2007)7,585 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 60.1416By the time Golf Digest named Chambers Bay as America's Best New Public Course of 2008, the USGA had already awarded the course the 2010 U.S. Eatonton, Ga. / 800-800-5250 / reynoldslakeoconee.com/Jack Nicklaus (1992)7,436 yards, Par 72 / Points: 57.0965Early in his design career, Jack Nicklaus said he would design resort courses differently than championship ones. 24.More about this course , Kohala Coast, Hawaii / 808-882-5400 / maunakeabeachhotel.comRobert Trent Jones (1965) / Rees Jones (R.2008)7,370 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 59.7842The immediate thrill at Mauna Kea is its iconic par-3 third, a daunting tee shot over an ocean cove that's a great substitute for those unable to gain an invitation to tackle the 16th at Cypress Point. Highest (and previous) ranking: No. Nashport, Ohio / 740-763-1100 / thevirtuesgolfclub.comArthur Hills (1999)7,243 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 56.7315Course designer Arthur Hills called The Virtues (formerly known as Longaberger) "probably as beautiful as piece a property as I've had to work with." Borrego Springs, Calif. / 760-767-3500 / ramshill.comTom Fazio (2008)7,232 yards, Par 72 / Score: 56.3556. Pine Needles, just down the highway in Southern Pines, often gets overlooked. Lemont, Ill. / 866-264-4455 / coghillgolf.comDick Wilson (1965)7,554 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 57.7972Some tour pros were critical of Rees Jones's remodeling of Cog Hill No. Bandon, OR. Most greens are ringed by random lumps, bumps and hollows, what Dye calls his "grenade attack architecture." 906-225-0721 / golfgreywalls.comMike DeVries (2005)6,828 Yards, Par 71 / Points: 57.4242A decade before architect Mike DeVries created the world-class Cape Wickham GC in Australia, he produced an equally compelling design in Michigans Upper Peninsula, a second 18 for Marquette G.C. To make The Bull equally attractive, Team Nicklaus went full commando with the design, using all the available assets of the 400-acre site to build broad meadow holes in the meadows, tightrope holes through the woods, and shorties along and across the winding Onion River. The five opening holes, in Pine Valley-like sand dunes, are an all-too-brief encounter with the Pacific seacoast. 14.More about this course , 800-494-8666 / arcadiabluffs.comRick Smith & Warren Henderson (2000)7,300 Yards, Par 72 / Points: 61.5764Can a 100 Greatest course be a sleeper? Highest ranking: No. Previous ranking: No. Each course is listed with its 2021 ranking, its location, architect (s), the year it opened and an average ranking from all the Golfweek Raters who reviewed it.