Golf Digest's Top 100 Public Golf Courses
That You Must Go To

Golf Digest's top 100 public golf courses are must sees! Continue reading to learn about the top public golf courses in the USA.

1. Pebble Beach (CALIF.) G. Links

One of the best public golf courses in the USA, according to golf digest, is Pebble Beach. There are amazing ocean views on holes 4th through the 10th, 17th and 18th. The 6th and 8th holes will leave you on the edge of your seat as you hit hail marys over an ocean cove on eight from atop a 75-foot-high bluff. This is a course you’ll never forget.

2. Pacific Dunes

Golf digest ranks the Pacific Dunes as number 2 on its top 100 public golf courses. This unique public golf course looks like the holes emerge from the landscape, instead of being man-made. The greens and fairways are surrounded by sand dunes and bunkers.

Panelists have stated:

• “As extraordinary a setting as you'll find anywhere, but particularly unique for a links course in the United States. What a fine, natural site for golf."
• “Doak's MacKenzie-style, blow-out bunkers are reminiscent of Cypress Point. Pacific Dunes is a joy to walk and play under any conditions! Simply the best.”

3. Whistling Straits (Straits)

Whistling Straits lands third on golf digest's top 100 courses list. This beautiful course has hosted major championships and the 43rd Ryder Cup. When people think of this public golf course, rugged windswept terrain that's sculpted along Lake Michigan is what comes to mind.

4. The Ocean Course

The Ocean Course is ranked number 4 in the top 100 public golf courses. This is another challenging golf course. Each hole is lined with sawgrass, and every green is met with difficult slopes, and every bunker borders the sand dunes. The coastal winds pose another element of strategic play. This course isn’t for the faint of heart. 

5. Shadow Creek

Shadow Creek has the reputation for the most expensive course built in America and is priced at $47 million. This unique course is an oasis in a sandy desert. When you’re on this course, it’s like you're transported to a different realm. 

Continue reading to see the rest of golf digest's top 100 public golf courses. 

6. Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort (NO. 2)

7. Bandon (ORE.) Dunes

8. Bethpage State Park (Black)

9. Erin Hills (WIS.) G. CSE. 

10. Spyglass Hill G. CSE.

11. TPC Sawgrass (Players Stadium)

12. Old Macdonald

13. Bandon (ORE.) Trails

14. Arcadia Bluffs (MICH.) G. C. 

15. (New) Sheep Ranch 

16. Blackwolf Run (River)

17. Pasatiempo G. C. 

18. Sand Valley

19. The Pete DYE CSE. At French Lick (IND.) Resort 

20. Streamsong (RED)

21. Manele Golf Course 

22. Chambers Bay

23. Kapalua (Plantation)

24. Karsten Creek G. C.

25. Harbour Town G. Links

26. Streamsong (Blue)

27. Mauna Kea G. CSE

28. The Highland Course At Primland

29. Mammoth Dunes

30. (New) Ozarks National  

31. The Omni Homestead Resort (Cascades)

32. (New) Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort (NO. 4)

33. Forest Dunes G. C. 

34. Streamsong (Black)

35. The Quarry At Giants Ridge 

36. Sea Island G. C. (Seaside)

37. The Greenbrier (The Old White) 

38. Gamble Sands G. C. 

39. (New) Black Diamond Ranch (Quarry)

40. Pronghorn Club (Nicklaus)

41. Fallen Oak 

42. Torrey Pines G. CSE. (South)

43. Golden Horseshoe G. C. (Gold)

44. The Broadmoor G. C. (East) 

45. The Prairie Club (Dunes)

46. (New) Yale G. CSE.

47. Whistling Straits (Irish) 

48. May River G. C. At Palmetto Bluff

49. Tobacco Road G. C. 

50. Sentryworld G. CSE. 

51. Cordevalle G. C. 

52. (New) Arcadia (MICH.) Bluffs (South)

53. The Links At Spanish Bay

54. The course that was here altered their guest policy and no longer qualifies as public access. 

55. PGA West (Stadium)

56. Cog Hill G. & C. C. (No. 4)

57. Wilderness Club

58. Paako Ridge G. C. 

59. The Loop At Forest Dunes G. C. (Black)

60. Mossy Oak

61. Crosswater 

62. The Classic At Madden’s Resort

63. Bay Harbor (MICH.) G. C. (Links/Quarry)

64. The Dunes G. & Beach Club 

65. Wolf Creek G. C. 

66. Red Sky G. C. (Norman)

67. Marquette (MICH.) G. C. (Greywalls) 

68. The G. Courses Of Lawsonia (Links)

69. The Wilderness A Fortune Bay 

70. Cascata

71. Wild Horse 

72. Nemacolin Woodlands Resort (Mystic Rock)

73. Pine Needles Lodge & G. C. 

74. Blackwolf Run (Meadow Valleys)

75. Old Waverly G. C.

76. Pinehurst (N. C.) Resort (No. 8)

77. Great Waters At Reynolds Lake Oconee 

78. The Loop At Forest Dunes G. C. (Red) 

79. Red Sky Ranch & GC (Fazio)

80. (New) Firestone C. C. (South)

81. Princeville Makai G. C.

82. Tetherow G. C. 

83. (New) The PFAU Course A Indiana University

84. The Virtues G. C. 

85. Caledonia G. & Fish Club

86. (New) Edgewood Tahoe G. CSE.

87. Trump National Doral Miami (Blue Monsters)

88. Quintero G. C. 

89. (New) TPC Colorado

90. World Woods G. C. (Pine Barrens)

91. (New) The Bull At Pinehurst Farms

92. Poppy Hills G. CSE. 

93. Mid Pines Inn & G. C. 

94. Bulle Rock

95. (New) Grizzly Ranch

96. (New) Kingsmill Resort (River)

97. The Prairie Club (Pines)

98. (New) Rams Hill G. C. 

99. (New) The Mclemore Club

100. (New) Spring Creek G. C. 

Learn more about golf digest's top 100 golf courses here.