Golfweek’s Best 2020: Top 200 Resort Golf Courses

Welcome to Golfweek’s Best 2020 list of top resort golf courses in the United States, first published in the print issue of Golfweek’s Ultimate Guide.

Welcome to Golfweek’s Best 2020 list of top resort golf courses in the United States, first published in the print issue of Golfweek’s Ultimate Guide.

The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on our 10 criteria. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings on each course are averaged to produce a final rating for each course. Then each course is ranked against other courses in the region.

We hope you enjoy poring over these rankings, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts on this Golfweek’s Best 2020: Top 200 Resort Courses list.

Each course is listed with its 2020 ranking, its location, architect(s), the year it opened and an average ranking from all the Golfweek Raters who reviewed it.

Top 200 Resort Courses 1-50

Whistling Straits (Courtesy of Destination Kohler)
Rank Course  Location Architect(s)  Year opened  Avg. rating
1 Pebble Beach Golf Links Pebble Beach, Calif. Douglas Grant, Jack Neville 1919 8.85
2 Bandon Dunes Bandon, Ore. Tom Doak 2001 8.83
3 Pinehurst
No. 2
Pinehurst, N.C. Donald Ross 1907 8.40
4 Whistling Straits (Straits) Mosel, Wis. Pete Dye 1998 8.28
5 Bandon Dunes (Old Macdonald) Bandon, Ore. Tom Doak, Jim Urbina 2010 8.28
6 Bandon Dunes (Bandon Dunes) Bandon, Ore. David McLay Kidd 1999 8.14
7 Shadow Creek North Las Vegas, Nev. Tom Fazio 1970 8.06
8 Kiawah Golf Resort (Ocean Course) Kiawah Island, S.C. Pete Dye 1991 7.90
9 Bandon Dunes (Bandon Trails) Bandon, Ore. Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw 2005 7.85
10 TPC Sawgrass
(Players Stadium)
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Pete Dye 1981 7.76
11 Spyglass Hill Pebble Beach, Calif. Robert Trent Jones Sr. 1966 7.67
12 Sand Valley (Mammoth Dunes) Nekoosa, Wis. David McLay Kidd 2018 7.59
13 Sand Valley (Sand Valley) Nekoosa, Wis. Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw 2017 7.52
14 Streamsong Resort (Red) Bowling Green, Fla. Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw 2012 7.51
15 Streamsong Resort (Black) Bowling Green, Fla. Gil Hanse 2017 7.45
16 Gamble Sands Brewster, Wash. David McLay Kidd 2014 7.45
17 Kapalua (Plantation) Lanai, Hawaii Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw 1991 7.41
18 Arcadia Bluffs (Bluffs) Arcadia, Mich. Warren Henderson, Rick Smith 1999 7.38
19 Sea Pines Resort (Harbour Town Golf Links) Hilton Head Island, S.C. Pete Dye 1970 7.34
20 Streamsong Resort (Blue) Bowling Green, Fla. Tom Doak 2012 7.32
21 Fallen Oak Saucier, Miss. Tom Fazio 2006 7.25
22 Four Seasons Resort Lanai (Manele) Lanai, Hawaii Jack Nicklaus 1993 7.25
23 Omni Homestead Resort (The Cascades) Hot Springs, Va. William S. Flynn 1923 7.21
24 Sea Island (Seaside) St. Simons Island, Ga. Charles H. Alison, Harry S. Colt, Tom Fazio, Joe Lee 1929 7.10
25 Blackwolf Run (River) Kohler, Wis. Pete Dye 1988 7.03
26 Erin Hills Erin, Wis. Dana Fry, Michael Hurdzan 2006 7.03
27 Mossy Oak GC West Point, Miss. Gil Hanse 2016 6.98
28 Forest Dunes, The Loop (Red & Black) Roscommon, Mich. Tom Doak 2016 6.98
29 Silvies Valley Ranch (Hankins) Seneca, Ore. Dan Hixson 2018 6.97
30 Mid Pines Southern Pines, N.C. Donald Ross 1921 6.97
31 The Prairie Club (Dunes) Valentine, Neb. Tom Lehman, Chris Brands 2010 6.97
32 Highland Course at Primland Meadows of Dan, Va. Donald Steel 2006 6.95
33 Silvies Valley Ranch (Craddock) Seneca, Ore. Dan Hixson 2018 6.93
34 Pinehurst No. 4 Pinehurst, N.C. Gil Hanse 2018 6.91
35 The Greenbrier (Old White TPC) White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. Charles Blair Macdonald, Seth Raynor, Lester George  1914 6.83
36 Montage Palmetto Bluff (May River) Bluffton, S.C. Jack Nicklaus  2004 6.83
37 The Dunes G&BC Myrtle Beach, S.C. Robert Trent Jones Sr. 1949 6.82
38 Pine Needles Southern Pines, N.C. John Fought, Donald Ross 1927 6.82
39 Forest Dunes (Forest Dunes/Weiskopf) Roscommon, Mich. Tom Weiskopf 2002 6.78
40 Keswick Hall & GC Charlottesville, Va. Pete Dye 2014 6.77
41 Sand Hollow (Championship Course) St. George, Utah John Fought, Andy Staples 2008 6.77
42 French Lick Resort (Pete Dye Course) French Lick, Ind. Pete Dye 2009 6.75
43 Whistling Straits (Irish) Mosel, Wis. Pete Dye 2000 6.75
44 Golden Horseshoe (Gold) Williamsburg, Va. Robert Trent Jones Sr., Rees Jones 1963 6.74
45 Caledonia Golf & Fish Club Pawleys Island, S.C. Mike Strantz 1994 6.71
46 Giant’s Ridge (Quarry) Biwabik, Minn. Jeff Brauer 2004 6.71
47 Cascata Boulder City, Nev. Rees Jones 2000 6.69
48 We-Ko-Pa (Saguaro) Fort McDowell, Ariz. Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw 2006 6.66
49 Arcadia Bluffs (South Course) Arcadia, Mich. Dana Fry, Jason Straka 2018 6.65
50 Old Waverly GC West Point, Miss. Bob Cupp, Jerry Pate 1988 6.65