Pennsylvania is full of highly ranked private clubs, while Pete Dye left his imprint at the top of the state’s public-access golf scene.
Want to play the best public-access golf courses in Pennsylvania? The legacy of legendary architect Pete Dye has you covered. Want to play the best private courses in the Keystone State? You have some of the top classic layouts in the country from which to choose, but for most of us, good luck getting a tee time at those ageless beauties.
Dye designed Mystic Rock at Nemacolin, a sprawling resort 90 minutes southeast of the Pittsburgh airport. Mystic Rock opened in 1995 and underwent an expansive renovation in 2021 by longtime Dye associate Tim Liddy. Built on beautifully rolling terrain, Mystic Rock is No. 1 in the state on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for public-access layouts. It also ties for No. 10 among all courses owned or operated in conjunction with casinos in the U.S.
Nemacolin is also home to Shepherd’s Rock designed by Dye and the No. 5 public-access course in the state.
On the private side, Oakmont Country Club and Merion Golf Club steal much of the limelight, each having hosted multiple national championships. But they are hardly alone as outstanding private clubs in Pennsylvania. Each of the top 20 private courses in the state ranks among the top 150 on either Golfweek’s Best Modern or Classic course lists, with 1960 being the year that splits those two prestigious lists.
Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with that of top public-access courses in each state among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.
(m): Modern course, built in or after 1960 (c): Classic course, built before 1960
Note: If there is a number in the parenthesis with the m or c, that indicates where that course ranks among Golfweek’s Best top 200 modern or classic courses.
One resort dominates the rankings of best public-access golf courses in Oregon.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort dominates the top of the Golfweek’s Best public-access course rankings in Oregon, with layouts designed by Tom Doak (Pacific Dunes, Old Macdonald), Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw (Bandon Trails, Sheep Ranch) and David McLay Kidd (Bandon Dunes). No other destination in the United States offers so many highly ranked layouts as Bandon Dunes.
Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with that of top public-access courses in each state among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.
(m): Modern course, built in or after 1960 (c): Classic course, built before 1960
Note: If there is a number in the parenthesis with the m or c, that indicates where that course ranks among Golfweek’s Best top 200 modern or classic courses.
Both the top-rated public and private courses in Ohio have a long history of hosting top-tier competitions.
Both the top-rated public-access and private courses in Ohio enjoy a rich history of top competitions.
Firestone Country Club’s South Course, which tops the list for public-access layouts in the state, has hosted three PGA Championships, several PGA Tour events including the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational for many years, and the Senior Players Championship. In large part a private club, Firestone offers tee times to public golfers who book a stay-and-play package. And the South Course isn’t alone, as Firestone’s two other courses also rank among the best public-access layouts in the state.
On the private side, Muirfield Village hosts the annual Memorial Tournament on the PGA Tour. Operated by Jack Nicklaus, the club has also hosted the 1987 Ryder Cup, the 1992 U.S. Amateur, the 1998 Solheim Cup, the 2013 Presidents Cup an the 1986 U.S. Junior Amateur.
Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with that of top public-access courses in each state among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.
(m): Modern course, built in or after 1960 (c): Classic course, built before 1960
Note: If there is a number in the parenthesis with the m or c, that indicates where that course ranks among Golfweek’s Best top 200 modern or classic courses.
Wide-open skies and a river valley add to the scene at the No. 1-rated public course in North Dakota.
The Links of North Dakota, opened in 1995 near the small city of Ray, is the top-rated public-access golf course in North Dakota. Built by Stephen Kay on bluffs above Lake Sakakawea – part of the Missouri River – the Links of North Dakota features panoramic scenery that includes the river valley and rolling hillsides.
Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with that of top public-access courses in each state among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.
Many Florida golf courses suffered in Hurricane Ian, and now comes a potential double whammy with Nicole.
ORLANDO – Tropical Storm Nicole, forecast to become a hurricane before making landfall somewhere Wednesday night or early Thursday morning in South Florida, threatens to bring potentially damaging high winds and heavy rains to hundreds – possibly thousands – of golf courses along the eastern coast of the U.S.
The storm was over the Bahamas on Wednesday morning with sustained winds of 70 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 10 a.m. report. It was forecast to reach the U.S. somewhere just north of West Palm Beach near the golf hot spot of Jupiter, home to many golf professionals. The storm is then forecast to cross Florida toward a region just north of Tampa and into the Gulf of Mexico before curving to the northeast into Georgia.
The storm’s projected path is likely to change slightly, as most tropical systems do, making it difficult to predict exactly which specific areas will be greatly impacted. And while most attention is – and should be – focused on any potential human toll and the threat of general property damage, there definitely will be impacts to a Florida golf industry that already suffered greatly from Hurricane Ian in September.
The National Hurricane Center’s 10 a.m. Wednesday projections for the path of Tropical Storm Nicole, which is forecast to become a hurricane before reaching Florida on Nov. 9 or Nov. 10 (Courtesy of the National Hurricane Center)
While Ian blasted Fort Myers and Florida’s southern Gulf Coast before crossing the state headed northeast, Nicole threatens to head northwest, crossing Ian’s path somewhere south of Orlando. While the greatest damage to golf courses is likely near landfall, there exists a serious threat where this week’s storm crosses paths with Ian’s track, making for a forbidding “X marks the spot” of potential flooding, tree damage and temporary closures in the center of the state.
In all, there are more than 1,200 courses in Florida. Except for those in the Panhandle to the northwest, few Florida course operators will escape some level of impact – ranging from a simple loss of tee time sales all the way to suffering catastrophic damage – from either Ian or Nicole. Because of Florida’s great amount of courses, more than one in 12 courses in all of the United States was impacted just by Ian.
Florida has hundreds of golf courses along Nicole’s projected path. Just among Golfweek’s Best ranking of top public-access courses in Florida, the storm’s landfall could impact PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens and its No. 8-ranked Champion Course (site of the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic each year) as well as the resort’s other courses; PGA Golf Club’s 14th-ranked Wanamaker Course and 21st-ranked Dye Course in Port St. Lucie; Trump National Doral Miami’s Blue Monster (No. 15); Turnberry Isle’s Soffer Course (No. 16) in Aventura; possibly the waterfront Crandon Park (No. 19) at Key Biscayne; and The Breakers’ Rees Jones layout (No. 22) in West Palm Beach.
Among top-ranked private courses in Florida near the projected landfall are No. 1 Seminole in Juno Beach; No. 4 John’s Island Club’s West Course in Vero Beach; No. 5 Indian Creek in Miami Beach; No. 6 The Bear’s Club in Jupiter; No. 9 McArthur in Hobe Sound; No. 10 Loblolly in Hobe Sound; No. 12 Medalist in Hobe Sound; No. 13 Pine Tree in Boynton Beach; No. 14 Trump International in West Palm Beach; No. 16 High Ridge in Lantana; and No. 19 Country Club of Florida in Village of Golf. Those are just the courses ranked in the top 20 among Florida’s private clubs – there are dozens more private courses near projected landfall.
Golf carts at Sanibel Island’s The Dunes Golf & Tennis Club caught fire Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022, several weeks after Hurricane Ian passed by. The Dunes suffered significant damage when Ian slammed in Southwest Florida on Sept. 28. (Photo by Mike Dopslaff/Special to USA Today Network)
As Nicole crosses the Florida peninsula, the projected path takes it just beyond Streamsong Resort, home to three highly ranked courses. As Nicole nears Tampa, it is likely to halt play in this week’s LPGA Pelican Women’s Championship at the private Pelican Golf Club in Belleair near the coast west of Tampa. Just down the street from Pelican is Belleair Country Club, where a major restoration is underway of that club’s Donald Ross-designed West Course. Farther north of Tampa, work is underway on a renovation to the two courses at World Woods, which recently was rebranded as Cabot Citrus Farms.
The storm’s effects already were felt with Wednesday-morning squalls north of the projected path near Orlando, where some courses are still recovering from Ian’s massive rainfall. Some courses in this area are still repairing washed-out bunkers and haven’t completely dried out more than a month after Ian passed not far to the south.
Anyone with golf travel plans this week to Florida should check with their air carrier to see if cancelations are in effect, as several airports in the Sunshine State have closed or will close Wednesday, with potential reopenings yet to be determined. Orlando International Airport announced it will close at 4 p.m. Wednesday, and several regional airports in Central Florida likewise have announced closures. Palm Beach County Airport in South Florida also announced a closure Wednesday morning. Other closures and extended delays are likely around the state.
As Nicole turns north after passing Tampa, its nearly 1,000-mile projected path will take it over central Georgia between Atlanta and Augusta, then into South Carolina and north along the Appalachian Mountains through North Carolina, Virginia, beyond Washington DC and toward New York before passing back into the Atlantic Ocean. With heavy rains likely and severe flooding possible, that projected path will hamper operations and possibly cause damage at more than a thousand golf courses along the way.
Even for golf courses that don’t suffer severe damage from floods, many layouts in year-round golf environments already have begun winterizing efforts, such as spreading rye grass that could be washed away in heavy rains. Results potentially include the expense of reseeding and a downturn in seasonal turf conditioning.
In Florida, the most likely damage will be downed trees and flooding. Many courses along Nicole’s projected path already are suffering from saturated ground in the wake of Ian, making it even more likely that root systems of trees are weakened and trees can topple. Not even counting the dozens of courses that suffered Ian’s greatest damage near Fort Myers, many others are still working to repair bunkers that were wrecked by more than a foot of rain in a 24-hour period – several courses just south of Orlando still have standing water along fairways from Ian.
Most course superintendents along the projected path will spend Wednesday and Thursday readying their courses for the rain and wind, moving loose items and even taking down signage. But there’s only so much that can be done – it’s impossible to board up a whole golf course. The days preceding a hurricane or tropical storm in Florida are always an uncomfortable period of scrambling, waiting, watching weather reports and hoping for the best.
New York features the deepest lineup of elite private clubs in the United States.
Bethpage State Park’s Black Course, site of two U.S. Opens (2002, ’09) and one PGA Championship (2019) as well as the next Ryder Cup (2025) in the U.S., is the top-rated public-access golf course in New York.
Built by famed course designer A.W. Tillinghast in 1935, the Black is almost as famous for its sign on the first tee that warns players that the test they are about to face is “extremely difficult.” And besides ranking No. 1 among New York’s public courses, the Black is No. 27 on the 2002 Golfweek’s Best list for all classic courses built in the U.S. before 1960.
It’s hardly alone as a top-tier course in New York, particularly when private courses are considered. New York offers the deepest lineup of exceptional private courses in the country, and each of the top 20 private clubs in the state ranks in the top 100 on either Golfweek’s Best modern or classic lists.
Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with that of top public-access courses in each state among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.
(m): Modern course, built in or after 1960 (c): Classic course, built before 1960
Note: If there is a number in the parenthesis with the m or c, that indicates where that course ranks among Golfweek’s Best top 200 modern or classic courses.
See photos of the complete rethinking of the Riverside Course at Atlanta Athletic Club.
Architect Tripp Davis has completed a renovation to the Riverside Course at Atlanta Athletic Club that includes entirely new playing surfaces and the rerouting of six holes.
Northeast of Atlanta in John’s Creek along the Chattahoochee River, the private club had three goals in the renovation: update infrastructure from tee to green to allow for heightened playing conditions, accentuate the Riverside terrain in a more natural way and enhance the playing interest and enjoyment.
A major part of the job included rebuilding and repositioning tees, green and bunkers. Davis also reshaped areas to improve drainage that goes along with a new irrigation system. Fairways were sand-capped and replanted with Zorro Zoysia, the primary roughs covered with Tiftuf Bermudagrass and the farther reaches of the rough seeded with a fescue blend. Some trees were also removed.
Holes No. 3, 4, 5, 12, 13 an 14 were rerouted to make better use of the land, Davis said.
“I wanted the visual perspective the golfer has while playing to be more interesting, which on this site meant getting the ground to flow with and embrace the overall landscape,” Davis said in a media release announcing completion of the project. “With the great trees, the rolling land, distinct ridge lines and the river, it is such a majestic site, and we wanted the golf course to look and feel like it is just a part of that. Rerouting the holes was a vital part of this. …
“Riverside can be set up to be a very enjoyable course for the membership on a daily basis, but we instilled design elements that will allow high-level events to test the best players in the game. We can grow the rough a little, speed up the greens and use a variety of tougher hole locations to present a complete test. … Riverside now has a more classic feel and playing quality, like a 1920s-era course that hasn’t been touched, which is exactly what we were trying for. I am incredibly pleased with how the work turned out. In fact, it is better than I thought it could be. While we certainly tweaked small details, we did not change much from the original basic plan we developed. It all just fit.”
The Riverside Course was site of the 1990 U.S. Women’s Open won by Betsy King and the stroke play rounds for the 2014 U.S. Amateur. The club is also home to the Highlands Course, which has hosted numerous national championships. The club was founded in 1898 in Atlanta but moved to its current site in 1967.
“Tripp has done an excellent job reimagining Riverside by making better use of the land, creating a unique style and making the course both fun and interesting to play,” John Stakel, board member and chairman of the Riverside Renovation Committee at the club, said in the media release. “The infrastructure work will allow our director of agronomy, Lukus Harvey, to dial in playing conditions, notably allowing the course to play firmer and faster most of the year.”
Check out the photos of the renovated course below.
Paako Ridge leads the ranking of Golfweek’s Best public-access golf courses in Nevada.
Paako Ridge, designed by Ken Dye in 2000 and expanded to 27 holes in 2005, is the top-rated Golfweek’s Best public-access golf course in New Mexico, providing players a perfect opportunity to blast long drives across a high desert layout.
That’s a good thing, because even though Paako Ridge is situated in thin air at 6,500 feet of elevation, the main 18-hole layout can be stretched to 7,562 yards. And besides being No. 1 in the state, Paako Ridge ties for No. 126 for all modern courses built in the U.S. since 1960.
Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with that of top public-access courses in each state among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.
(m): Modern course, built in or after 1960 (c): Classic course, built before 1960
Note: If there is a number in the parenthesis with the m or c, that indicates where that course ranks among Golfweek’s Best top 200 modern or classic courses.
New Jersey’s private courses shine as brightly as any state, with Pine Valley leading the way.
New Jersey is famous for its private golf clubs, with each of the top 15 on Golfweek’s Best list of private courses in the state ranked among either the top 200 modern or classic courses in the United States. Pine Valley Golf Club tops the list in the state, as well as being No. 1 on the Golfweek’s Best ranking of classic courses built before 1960 in the U.S.
But don’t discount the state’s public-access offerings. There are plenty of solid offerings that don’t require an initiation fee.
Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with that of top public-access courses in each state among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.
(m): Modern course, built in or after 1960 (c): Classic course, built before 1960
Note: If there is a number in the parenthesis with the m or c, that indicates where that course ranks among Golfweek’s Best top 200 modern or classic courses.
Tom Doak lays out the Holy Grail of golf design, and it might not be what you think.
INVERNESS, Scotland – What do you get when you hand over some 150 acres of prime waterfront land in the Scottish Highlands to American golf architect Tom Doak? Not even Doak is sure yet.
But Cabot – the rapidly expanding Canadian company that started with the highly acclaimed Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs in Nova Scotia – is betting Doak’s work will be worth an overseas flight for traveling golfers.
Cabot acquired Castle Stuart Golf Links and its eponymous 18-hole layout near Inverness, Scotland, in June with development plans that include a second course and luxury cabins just minutes away from the Inverness airport. The property has been rebranded Cabot Highlands. Ben Cowan-Dewar, CEO and co-founder of Cabot, has hired Doak to build the second 18 with plans to break ground in 2023 and a possible soft opening sometime in 2024.
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“We’ve got to get the routing done first,” quipped Doak with a laugh as he met with a small group of American and Canadian golf writers in October at Castle Stuart.
Cabot has expanded rapidly in recent years. The company took off in 2012 in Nova Scotia with Cabot Links, a Rod Whitman design that ranks No. 2 on Golfweek’s Best list of modern Canadian courses. That course was joined in 2015 by Cabot Cliffs, a Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw design that ranks No. 1 on that modern Canadian list.
In the Caribbean, a Coore and Crenshaw design at Cabot St. Lucia is slated to open in 2023. In Canada, the company announced last year the development of Cabot Revelstoke in British Columbia, which will feature a Whitman design scheduled to open in 2024. And in Florida, Cabot has purchased the former World Woods, rebranded it Citrus Farms and is having its two courses renovated with a planned reopening in 2023.
The second course at Cabot Highlands will mark the first time Doak has worked with Cowan-Dewar, but Doak has established himself as one of the premium designers of his era. His course credits, either solo or in combination with other designers, include 12 courses on Golfweek’s Best list of the top 200 modern courses built since 1960 in the U.S., including four in the top 10. He also laid out five of the top 50 Golfweek’s Best modern international courses, including three of the top five on that list.
Gil Hanse and Mark Parsinen designed the original 18 at Castle Stuart in Scotland, now named Cabot Highlands. (Golfweek)
Doak met the handful of writers, including this author, at Cabot Highlands’ clubhouse, then led the group on a tour of some of the property where the new course will be constructed. It’s a stunning site alongside the Moray Firth, a huge bay that is fed from a river that flows through nearby Inverness with waters from Loch Ness.
The original 18 at Cabot Highlands, built by Gil Hanse and Castle Stuart founder Mark Parsinen (who died in 2019), sits high upon cliffs overlooking the Moray Firth with some of the most dramatic golf views in Scotland. That course opened in 2009 and ranks No. 4 on Golfweek’s Best list of modern courses in Great Britain and Ireland. It has hosted the Scottish Open four times.
Doak’s parcel is lower, stretching from the clubhouse, past a 400-year-old castle that gave the property its original name and down a ridge toward the water. The rolling site has been farmed with the land smoothed over as it descends toward the coast, which means Doak’s team likely will move a lot of earth to create interesting internal contours – similar to the original layout at Castle Stuart.
Doak said the new course won’t quite be a true out-and-back routing with nine holes in one direction and nine coming back, but it likely will be close to that with a few redirections along the way. Parsinen originally planned to build a course by Arnold Palmer on the site, but those plans have been replaced.
Doak spoke candidly about the opportunities, challenges and thrill of building on the site and in Scotland in general. He also spoke openly about several of his other projects around the world and how he approaches the lofty expectations that come with building on such a beautiful site. Lengthy excerpts of that conversation are included below.
