Golf is a sport for everyone on these top-ranked courses
Golf is a sport for everyone, but too many times it seems that the best places to play are restricted by privacy and membership barriers born in the “country club” era of exclusivity.
The good thing is plenty of the designers of the nation’s great private courses have also fashioned tracks that welcome all players. If golfers have the inclination and the cash needed for the respective green fee, they can play courses routed by the likes of legendary architects like Pete Dye (whose name is mentioned the most in the following list), Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, and Robert Trent Jones, Jr, et al.
Our list of the best public course in each state was compiled by picking the brains and opinions of noted golf professionals, course architects, journalists, and – mostly – golfers. While it’s always fun to be on the golf course, it’s even better to play really good ones, and our panelists know their stuff.
It was a surprise to see that more than a fourth of the courses listed below (29, in fact) were established in 1980 or later, and that 16 of those have opened since the turn of the 21st century. Eight of the courses on the list welcomed their first golfers prior to 1930, so there’s plenty of representation from the Golden Age of course architecture here, as well.
This list (which is the first of a three-part series) includes courses golfers have seen on broadcasts as hosts of PGA Tour events, as well as a state park course, plenty of resort tracks, a course managed by a company that’s was once owned by the President of the United States, and even a nine-hole facility.
Alabama
FarmLinks at Pursell Farms
Location: Sylacauga
Established: 2003
Located about an hour southeast of Birmingham this course is a living laboratory for the game of golf. It’s routed over and through dramatic and rolling countryside with plenty of elevations changes and corridors framed by huge stands of trees. The course, designed by the renowned team of Hurzdan-Fry, is owned by the Pursell family, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of controlled-release fertilizers, many of which are used on golf courses.
Alaska
Chena Bend Golf Course
Location: Fort Wainwright
Established: 1942
Chena Bend Golf Course, set on a U.S. Army post outside Fairbanks, is home to the farthest north military golf course in the nation. Designed by Jerry Matthews, the course is nestled between the east end of Fort Wainwright airfield and the Chena Bend River, and has a short season for play, between May and September.
Arizona
We-Ko-Pa (Saguaro)
Location: Fort McDowell, Arizona
Established: 2006
The Saguaro Course, one of two spectacular tracks here, combines distinctive desert-golf traits with the timeless traditions of golf course design. Designed by the team of Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, it’s built for walking with greens situated near to the next tee. It follows the natural movement of the land and the architects didn’t move much dirt, with playing corridors wider when compared to target-golf design.
Arkansas
The Ridges at Village Creek
Location: Wynne
Established: 2012
Located atop Crowley’s Ridge, a unique landform in Northeast Arkansas, in Village Creek State Park, this 27-hole course is the newest on The Natural State Golf Trail and was designed by Andy Dye. The rolling terrain creates dramatic changes in elevation amid a beautiful backdrop of hardwood forests, with water in play in 12 holes.
California
Spyglass Hill Golf Course
Location: Pebble Beach
Established: 1966; Renovated: 1996.
Many people consider this course a combination of Pine Valley and Augusta National, two of the world’s greatest tracks. Originally designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., the first five holes are routed in dunes along the Pacific; the rest run through Monterrey pines and cypress trees up and down the hills. Might be the best course in America to never hold a major championship.
Colorado
Redlands Mesa Golf Club
Location: Grand Junction
Established: 2001
This course, set in western Colorado in the northern edge of the Grand Mesa, is routed beneath the slopes of jagged and in the shadow of the towering pink and red sandstone face of the Colorado National Monument. Designed by Jim Engh, the track sports stunning, dramatic vistas throughout, as well as 11 elevated tees and 37 bunkers and can occasionally overwhelms the senses.
Connecticut
Lake of Isles (North Course)
Location: North Stonington
Established: 2005
The Rees Jones-designed layout gives guests of the Foxwoods Resort Casino a true challenge which features rolling terrain, island greens and tees and extraordinary views from every hole. Lake of Isles is in picturesque southeastern Connecticut. This track might have the most forced carries of any you’ll ever play, but the test is worth it as it’s a shot maker’s delight.
Delaware
Bayside Resort Golf Club
Location: Shelbyville
Established: 2005
The course here offers an unforgettable experience with dramatic views and a dramatic design. A Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, it features stunning holes along the Assawoman Bay coastline and winds through magnificent pine forests. There are three distinctly different golf experiences here, with some holes richly tree-lined, others winding through marshland and some boasting wide-open fairways.
Florida
TPC Sawgrass (Players Stadium Course)
Location: Ponte Vedra Beach
Established: 1980; Renovated: 1983, 1985, 1988, 2006 and 2016
This course, famed for its deadly island-green 17th hole, is big in every scale and rightfully so as it was designed by Pete and Alice Dye to host the “fifth” major on the PGA Tour, The Players Championship. It is a truly balanced course, as golfers find a selection of short, medium and long holes within the categories of par 3s, par 4s and par 5s; both right- and left- doglegs, and a routing laid out so no two consecutive holes ever play in the same direction.
Georgia
Sea Island Golf Club (Seaside Course)
Location: St. Simons Island
Established: 1929; Renovated: 1974 and 1999
This track, originally designed by Harry S. Colt and redesigned by Tom Fazio, combines its beautiful natural setting with a links-style golf course that is both challenging and fun. The beautifully manicured fairways and greens are bordered by sweeping dunes mixed with native grasses, wildflowers, and clamshell bunkers.
Hawai’i
Princeville Makai Golf Club (Prince Course)
Location: Kauai
Established: 1990; Renovated 2010
Since undergoing an extensive $6 million renovation by Robert Trent Jones Jr., this course has soared to the top of almost all of golf’s respected rankings. Immaculate conditions and six ocean front holes, combined with amazing “Aloha Spirit,” make the track a true Hawaiian golf adventure.
Idaho
Circling Raven Golf Club
Location: Worley
Established: 2003
The crown jewel of Gene Bates’ designs, this course features solid holes, a stout challenge, and no gimmicks. An amenity of the fantastic Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort, this is a “players” course, all spread out over 600 acres so you feel like you have the entire expanse to yourself. There’s a little bit of everything here, with a drivable par 4, a split fairway par 4, and one of the toughest par 3s you’ll ever play.
Illinois
Cog Hill Golf and Country Club (No. 4)
Location: Lemont
Established: 1964; Renovated: 2008
Given the nickname “Dubsdread” due to its substantial difficulty, this course is a perfect example of what championship golf is all about and is the pinnacle of public golf in Chicagoland. Created by Dick Wilson to be a challenge for even the best level of golfers, the entire round is a combination of pleasure and pain that will leave you battered, bruised, and with a giant smile on your face in the end.
Indiana
French Lick Resort (Dye Course)
Location: French Lick
Established: 2009
This championship course is routed on one of Indiana’s highest elevation points and has narrow, immaculate fairways and rugged, intense terrain. The track has gained national acclaim for its 40-mile panoramic views of the southern Indiana countryside, three man-made lakes, its “volcano” bunkers and a variety of elevation changes.
Iowa
Spirit Hollow Golf Resort
Location: Burlington
Established: 2000
The terrain on which this course is routed is varied and elevation changes abound. More than 15,000 trees line the ample fairways, and natural streams meandering throughout the course provide water on eleven holes. The track, designed by Rick Jacobson, is framed by the Mississippi River Valley and off the beaten path in southeast Iowa.
Kansas
Firekeeper
Location: Mayetta
Established: 2011
This is the first signature course credited to four-time PGA Tour winner Notah Begay III, the only full-blooded Native American on the tour, and was designed in partnership with Jeff Brauer as an amenity to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation’s casino resort. The course it is free of residential bustle, with tees close to the last green, and a routing that’s easy to follow.
(End of part 1 of 3)
