Golfweek’s Best 2023: Top 200 Classic Courses in the U.S. built before 1960

Golfweek’s experts have ranked the Top 200 courses built before 1960, such as Augusta National, Pebble Beach and more.

Are you a big fan of Golden Age golf architecture? You’re in the right spot. Welcome to the Golfweek’s Best 2023 list of the Top 200 Classic Courses opened before 1960 in the United States.

Each year we publish many lists, with this Top 200 Classic Courses list among the premium offerings. Also extremely popular and significant are the lists for Top 200 Modern Courses 2023, the public-access Best Courses You Can Play in each state and Best Private Courses in each state.

The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce these rankings. The top handful of courses in the world have an average rating of above 9, while many excellent layouts fall into the high-6 to the 8 range.

To ensure these lists are up-to-date, Golfweek’s Best in recent years has altered how the individual ratings are compiled into the rankings. Only ratings from rounds played in the past 10 years are included in the compilations. This helps ensure that any course in the rankings still measures up.

Courses also must have a minimum of 25 votes to qualify for the Top 200 Modern or the Top 200 Classic. Other Golfweek’s Best lists, such as Best Courses You Can Play or Best Private, do not require as many votes. This makes it possible that a course can show up on other lists but not on the premium Top 200 lists.

Each course is listed with its average rating next to the name, the location, the year it opened and the designers. The list notes in parenthesis next to the name of each course where that course ranked in 2022.

After the designers are several designations that note what type of facility it is:

  • p: private
  • d: daily fee
  • r: resort course
  • t: tour course
  • u: university
  • m: municipal
  • re: real estate
  • c: casino

* Indicates new to or returning to this list.

Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play 2023: State-by-state rankings for public-access layouts

State-by-state rankings of the best public courses you can play in all 50 states.

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Want to play the best public-access golf courses in each state? Keep reading.

Fresh for 2023, we present the Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for the top public-access layouts in each state, as judged by our nationwide network of raters.

The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce all our Golfweek’s Best course rankings.

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 – no membership required. (There are a handful of courses on this list that some players might consider to be private, but they do allow non-hosted, non-member guest play in some limited form, normally through a local hotel or similar arrangement.)

There’s one course of particular note this year. Of the dozens of courses new to this list, only Landmand Golf Club in Homer, Nebraska, debuts in the No. 1 spot in its state. Designed by Tad King and Rob Collins, Landmand opened in 2022.

KEY: (m) modern, built in 1960 or after; (c) classic, built before 1960. For courses with a number preceding the (m) or (c), that is where the course ranks on Golfweek’s Best lists for top 200 modern and classic courses in the U.S.

* indicates new or returning to the rankings

Editor’s note: The Golfweek’s Best 2023 rankings of top private courses in each state will be published Monday, June 12. More lists, such as the top 200 Modern and top 200 Classic Courses lists for 2023, will be published in the following weeks.

More Golfweek’s Best for 2023:

10 best golf courses in Scotland

St. Andrews is spectacular, but there’s more magic at the home of golf than just The Old Course.

The golf world returns home as the 150th Open Championship will be played at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

The fans are excited, the Tour pros are excited, even the LIV golfers are allowed in on the action.

We know that most golf fans will spend the next week and more dreaming of hitting the Scottish links, so we here at Golfweek are doing everything within our power to make that dream a bit more real.

Last week we gave you some of the best U.K. golf vacations out there, but this week our focus narrows to Scotland and the 10 best courses that the home of golf has to offer.

These rankings come directly from the hundreds of Golfweek’s Best Raters for 2021 who continually evaluated courses and rated them based on our 10 criteria. They also filed a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings on each course are averaged to produce a final rating for each course.

For more of Golfweek’s Best course lists, check out the most recent selection of course rankings:

We occasionally recommend interesting products, services, and gaming opportunities. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play 2022: Top 100 U.S. public-access courses ranked

Where are the best places you can play golf in the U.S.? Our rankings of the best 100 public courses for 2022 will be your guide.

Welcome to the Golfweek’s Best 2022 list of the Top 100 Best Courses You Can Play in the U.S.

Each year we publish many lists, with this selection of public-access layouts among the premium offerings. Also extremely popular and significant are the lists for Top 200 Classic Courses, Top 200 Modern Courses, the Best Courses You Can Play State by State and Best Private Courses State by State.

The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce these rankings. The top handful of courses in the world have an average rating of above 9, while many excellent layouts fall into the high-6 to the 8 range.

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.

Each course is listed with its average rating next to the name, the location, the year it opened and the designers. Also included with many courses are links to recent stories about that layout.

KEY: (m) modern, built in 1960 or after; (c) classic, built before 1960. Also included with many courses are links to recent stories about that layout.

* Indicates new to or returning to this list.

Golfweek’s Best Private Courses 2022: State-by-state rankings of private courses

The best of the best. State-by-state rankings of the best U.S. private golf courses in 2022.

Welcome to Golfweek’s Best 2022 list of top private golf courses in the U.S., as judged by our international panel of raters.

The hundreds of members of that ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce these rankings.

All the courses on this list are private and don’t accept daily-fee or resort play.

KEY: (m) modern, built in 1960 or after; (c) classic, built before 1960. For courses with a number preceding the (m) or (c), that is where the course ranks on Golfweek’s Best lists for top 200 modern and classic courses in the U.S. Also included with many courses are links to recent stories about that layout.

* indicates new or returning to the rankings

Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play 2022: State-by-state rankings for public-access layouts

Where are the best places you can play golf in all 50 states? Our state-by-state rankings of the best public courses for 2022 will be your guide.

Looking to peg it up at the best public-access golf courses in each state? We have you covered.

With this 2022 list of Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play, we present the top public-access courses in each state, as judged by our nationwide network of raters.

The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce these rankings.

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.

KEY: (m) modern, built in 1960 or after; (c) classic, built before 1960. For courses with a number preceding the (m) or (c), that is where the course ranks on Golfweek’s Best lists for top 200 modern and classic courses in the U.S. Also included with many courses are links to recent stories about that layout.

* indicates new or returning to the rankings

Editor’s note: The Golfweek’s Best rankings of top private courses in each state will be published Monday, June 6.

Golfweek’s Best Classic Courses 2022: From Pebble Beach to Pinehurst, the top 200 golf courses built before 1960

Golfweek’s raters have ranked the top 200 courses built in the United States before 1960, such as Augusta National, Pebble Beach and more

Welcome to the Golfweek’s Best 2022 list of the Top 200 Classic Courses before 1960 in the United States.

Each year we publish many lists, with this Top 200 Classic Courses list among the premium offerings. Also extremely popular and significant are the lists for Top 200 Modern Courses, the Best Courses You Can Play State by State and Best Private Courses State by State.

The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce these rankings. The top handful of courses in the world have an average rating of above 9, while many excellent layouts fall into the high-6 to the 8 range.

To ensure these lists are up-to-date, Golfweek’s Best in recent years has altered how the individual ratings are compiled into the rankings. Only ratings from rounds played in the past 10 years are included in the compilations. This helps ensure that any course in the rankings still measures up.

Courses also must have a minimum of 25 votes to qualify for the Top 200 Modern or the Top 200 Classic. Other Golfweek’s Best lists, such as Best Courses You Can Play or Best Private, do not require as many votes. This makes it possible that a course can show up on other lists but not on the premium Top 200 lists.

Each course is listed with its average rating next to the name, the location, the year it opened and the designers. The list also notes in parenthesis next to the name of each course where that course ranked in 2021. Also included with many courses are links to recent stories about that layout.

After the designers are several designations that note what type of facility it is:

• p: private
• d: daily fee
• r: resort course
• t: tour course
• u: university
• m: municipal
• re: real estate
• c: casino

* Indicates new to or returning to this list.

Editor’s note: The 2022 Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses list for the top 200 layouts built after 1960 in the U.S. was published Monday, May 23. The Best Courses You Can Play lists and the Best Private Courses lists will follow over the next two weeks. 

Wynn Golf Club: How much does it cost, how to book a tee time

Wynn has one of the highest costs of a daily-fee course in the United States.

Wynn Golf Club, right behind the Wynn Las Vegas hotel and casino, fits perfectly into its brash surroundings on the Strip. It’s as Vegas as Vegas can be when it comes to golf course architecture.

Much of the course is brand new, despite golf having been played on the site since 1952 when it became the Desert Inn Golf Club. 

Steve Wynn purchased the resort in 2000, and the Tom Fazio-designed Wynn Golf Club opened in 2005. But that layout was shuttered in 2017 as the operators of the adjacent Wynn Las Vegas hotel and casino considered other uses for the ridiculously valuable land on which the course sits, and the resort lost millions of dollars in revenue from green fees and other golf-attributable casino earnings. 

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After scrapping plans to build a lagoon on the site with new hotel rooms and restaurants, Fazio and his son, Logan, were called to breathe fresh life into the abandoned track. Wynn Golf Club reopened in October 2019 with eight new and 10 refurbished holes, playing to a par of 70 at 6,722 yards. 

As far as playing Wynn Golf Club, you don’t have to know someone who knows someone. You just have to have some disposable income.

Tee times can be made by resort guests 90 days in advance, and general public play is open with 30-day advanced bookings. But be ready to fork over the cash: green fees are $550.

Wynn has one of the highest costs of a daily-fee course in the U.S. and while that sounds prohibitively expensive for many players, there are plenty of guests at the Wynn hotel and casino who spin through a lot more on the slot machines in less time than it takes to play a round of golf.

Brian Hawthorne, the resort’s executive director of golf operations, said there’s a lot of value baked into that fee when considering the location on the Strip as well as an all-inclusive experience that includes forecaddie and rental clubs if needed.

“And if you keep somebody from gambling for four and a half hours, we might be saving people money,” he said with a laugh.

So while that kind of green fee is not for every golfer, Hawthorne is right. As he said, “There’s different price points for every type of customer,” and many of the luxury resort’s guests simply aren’t worried about price. This is, after all, a Forbes Five-Star property that uses Rolls-Royce limos to whisk preferred guests back and forth to the airport.

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Open or closed: Golfweek’s Best top 25 resort courses

Amid the international coronavirus pandemic, more than half the top 25 courses on Golfweek’s Best list of resorts are temporarily closed.

After weeks of trying to keep their courses open during the international coronavirus pandemic, more than half the top 25 courses on Golfweek’s Best list of resort tracks have shuttered their operations temporarily or plan to this week.

Several of these resorts, stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific, have posted to their websites or sent emails that operations have been halted. At others, the courses remain open while the hotel operations have ceased or been dramatically curtailed, and some are maintaining full operations.

Several of the top 25 are northern courses that have not started their golf seasons yet and as of now are still planning to open when their seasons begin.

Related: Live look at Pebble Beach, Bandon Dunes and more

The situation is fluid and likely to change for some of these resorts that do remain open. Several of the courses that have closed have posted that they plan to reopen in April or May. Following are details on each.

 

1. Pebble Beach Golf Links

Pebble Beach, California (pictured atop this story)

CLOSED

Reopens April 17. The entire resort is closed.

 

2. Bandon Dunes (Pacific Dunes)

Bandon, Oregon

CLOSING

The resort will suspend operations March 26 and plans to reopen April 6.

 

3. Pinehurst (No. 2)

Pinehurst, North Carolina

OPEN

The courses remain open, but all lodging operations have ceased. Limited to-go dining is available.

 

4. Whistling Straits (Straits)

Mosel, Wisconsin

CLOSED, OUT OF SEASON

The courses are scheduled to open in April as weather permits, but all lodging and dining at Destination Kohler is closed.

 

No. 7 on Old MacDonald at Bandon Dunes

5. Bandon Dunes (Old Macdonald)

Bandon, Oregon

CLOSING

The resort will suspend operations March 26 and plans to reopen April 6.

 

6. Bandon Dunes (Bandon Dunes)

Bandon, Oregon

CLOSING

The resort will suspend operations March 26 and plans to reopen April 6.

 

7. Shadow Creek

North Las Vegas, Nevada

CLOSED

MGM has ceased all casino and entertainment options until April 16.

 

8. Kiawah Golf Resort (Ocean Course)

Kiawah Island, South Carolina

OPEN

The resort has modified its services and dining availability, but the courses are open. The pro shops are closed, with booking and check-in being handled remotely.

 

9. Bandon Dunes (Bandon Trails)

Bandon, Oregon

CLOSING

The resort will suspend operations March 26 and plans to reopen April 6.

 

10. TPC Sawgrass (Players Stadium)

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

OPEN

The Players Championship was canceled, but the golf courses are open for play.

 

No. 3 at Spyglass Hill (Ben Jared/PGA Tour)

11. Spyglass Hill

Pebble Beach, California

CLOSED

Part of the resort at Pebble Beach, which reopens April 17.

 

12. Sand Valley (Mammoth Dunes)

Nekoosa, Wisconsin

CLOSED FOR SEASON

The resort plans to open its two courses April 24 as planned after standard winter closures.

 

13. Sand Valley (Sand Valley)

Nekoosa, Wisconsin

CLOSED FOR SEASON

The resort plans to open its two courses April 24 as planned after standard winter closures.

 

14. Streamsong Resort (Red)

Bowling Green, Florida

OPEN
Group caddies are mandated instead of normal carrying caddies to promote maintaining a recommended distance between people.

 

15. Streamsong Resort (Black)

Bowling Green, Florida

OPEN
Group caddies are mandated instead of normal carrying caddies to promote maintaining a recommended distance between people.

 

Gamble Sands (Courtesy of Gamble Sands)

16. Gamble Sands

Brewster, Washington

OPEN

The course opened earlier than planned after a mild winter.

 

17. Kapalua (Plantation)

Lanai, Hawaii

CLOSING

The course will close March 25 and plans to reopen April 30.

 

18. Arcadia Bluffs (Bluffs)

Arcadia, Michigan

CLOSED FOR SEASON

The course will open as planned April 1 after the winter season.

 

19. Sea Pines Resort (Harbour Town Golf Links)

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

OPEN

The course is open, but the Inn and Club at Harbour Town has been closed through April 16. The PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage Classic was canceled.

 

20. Streamsong Resort (Blue)

Bowling Green, Florida

OPEN
Group caddies are mandated instead of normal carrying caddies to promote maintaining a recommended distance between people.

 

No. 18 at Fallen Oak (Courtesy of Fallen Oak)

21. Fallen Oak

Saucier, Mississippi

CLOSED

The Beau Rivage Resort and Casino has ceased all operations temporarily, including golf.

 

22. Four Seasons Resort Lanai (Manele)

Lanai, Hawaii

CLOSED

The resort has shuttered all operations until April 30.

 

23. Omni Homestead Resort (Cascades)

Hot Springs, Virginia

CLOSED FOR SEASON

The Cascades Course is scheduled to open as planned May 1 after the winter season. This Omni property is still open, but eight others have closed.

 

24. Sea Island (Seaside)

St. Simons Island, Georgia

CLOSED

The resort is closed until May 15.

 

25. Blackwolf Run (River)

Kohler, Wisconsin

CLOSED, OUT OF SEASON

The courses are scheduled to open in April as weather permits, but all lodging and dining at Destination Kohler is closed.

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Make it count: Streamsong part of growing trend with destination tournaments

BOWLING GREEN, Fla. – First-tee jitters are real. Doesn’t matter if it’s the U.S. Open, a city championship, a high school match or even a two-day team event that’s meant to be a vacation. When most players step up to that opening drive with a …

BOWLING GREEN, Fla. – First-tee jitters are real. Doesn’t matter if it’s the U.S. Open, a city championship, a high school match or even a two-day team event that’s meant to be a vacation. When most players step up to that opening drive with a little something on the line, the internal butterflies take flight. 

That’s kind of the whole point of competition, of having to add up all those numbers and post the result on a scoreboard for all to see. It brings a whole new level of interest, even for 30-handicappers who spend four hours doing a lot of math to figure out where they are getting strokes. 

“Competition gives people the chance to do something they can’t do every day,” said Scott Wilson, director of golf at Streamsong in Central Florida. “Normal golf is every day, stroke play or match play depending on what you do within your foursome, and it’s fine, great. But with competition, now all the sudden you have something to play for. It suddenly matters even more.”

Streamsong, which boasts three courses among the top 20 on Golfweek’s Best 2020 list of top resort courses (see page 40), gives recreational players five great chances a year to stick their peg in the ground and experience real competition. With the resort’s Spring Classic, Summer Classic, Fall Classic, Holiday Cup and Family Cup, anybody can get their competitive juices flowing while enjoying a vacation at a top destination. 

Streamsong Blue (Courtesy of Streamsong Resort/Laurence Lambrecht)

Streamsong’s events are part of a larger trend, with ever-increasing teams of players traveling long distances to premium resorts to do more than sample the links – they want to play with something on the line. It’s not a new concept, but there are more opportunities than ever. Even resorts such as Bandon Dunes in Oregon and Destination Kohler in Wisconsin, both of which offer four highly ranked courses, offer multiple opportunities throughout their golf seasons to ratchet up a buddies trip or family retreat to another level. 

Basically, these events are like a classic member-guest tournament, but because they are at resorts instead of private clubs, nobody has to be a member. Check just about any top resort’s website to find such events, but try to book early, as they often fill up quickly. Wilson said most of Streamsong’s events feature 80 to 100 players. 

“We started with four events and we’ve grown to five, and we probably could have several more,” Wilson said. “Most of the folks are local, and by that I’ll say Southeast U.S., but there’ve been times people have come from California or Oregon and up in the Northeast to play with their families and friends. It’s been great.”

Top-ranked golf courses surely are part of the draw – Streamsong’s events are played on a mix of the resort’s Red, Black and Blue courses, which were built by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, Gil Hanse, and Tom Doak, respectively. The remote courses – about 90 miles southwest of Orlando and 50 miles west of Tampa – rank as Nos. 2, 3 and 4 on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for public-access tracks in Florida.

Overall winners of Streamsong’s events receive packages to return and defend their title, and of course there are social events, trophies, prizes and bragging rights for various flights. Wilson’s staff uses a mix of formats – scramble, shamble and four-ball, for example – for its two-day events, some of which include two rounds and others three rounds.

“Any day of the week, any of the three courses could be a person’s favorite,” Wilson said. “And that’s the beauty of doing it over two or three courses, depending on the tournament – you get to see a lot of great golf. …” 

“And it’s not just stroke play. These are all just a little different, not your ordinary tournament. It just creates interest outside of normal golf. These have just been a lot of fun.”  

Streamsong Black (Courtesy of Streamsong Resort/Laurence Lambrecht)

 

Streamsong’s 2020 events

Spring Classic: March 22-25; 54 holes of four-ball stroke play on the Blue, Black and Red; $439 single occupancy per night, $339 per person double occupancy per night

Family Cup: June

Summer Classic: August

Fall Classic: October

Holiday Cup: December

Check streamsongresort.com for exact dates and formats as they are announced.

Pricing: To be determined based on event. (The price for the recent Holiday Cup was $685 per player for two night’s double occupancy in the resort’s hotel, two rounds of golf, plus a welcoming party, luncheon, putting contest and more. It was $908 for single occupancy.) Some events use carts, and others are walking only.