Golfweek’s course-rating program shines a light on the top golf courses in South Dakota.
South Dakota doesn’t have a large population: fewer than 900,000 residents. That doesn’t mean there isn’t solid golf to played there, and Golfweek’s Best shines a light on the top tracks in the Mount Rushmore State.
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.
Golf Club at Red Rock is No. 1 on the list of Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play 2020: South Dakota.
It comes as little surprise that South Dakota doesn’t have an overabundance of golf courses. With a population of under 900,000, the Mount Rushmore State has one of the least dense populations in the United States.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t worthy courses in South Dakota, of course.
Golfweek ranks courses by compiling the average ratings – on a points basis of 1 to 10 – of its more than 750 raters to create several industry-leading lists of courses, including the popular Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for facilities that allow non-member tee times. These generally are defined as courses accessible to resort guests or regular daily-fee players.
The Golf Club at Red Rock in Rapid City tops the list of Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play for South Dakota. Designed by course architect Ron Farris, Red Rock opened in 2002 and, starting at a base of 3,800 feet above sea level, features more than 200 feet of elevation changes and long views across the foothills of the Black Hills near the mouth of Red Rock Canyon.
Rapid City is also home to No. 2 on the Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for South Dakota: Hart Ranch, designed by Patrick Wyss and opened in 1984. Nos. 3 and 4 on the state list, Prairie Green and Willow Run, are both in Sioux Falls. No. 5 is back in Rapid City at Meadowbrook.
Willow Run in South Dakota (Courtesy of Willow Run)
Golfweek’s Best also ranks private courses state by state, and the top-rated layout in South Dakota of any kind is the private Sutton Bay. Built atop wide-open bluffs overlooking the Missouri River, Sutton Bay was designed by Graham Marsh and opened in 2003. The course is not only No. 1 in South Dakota, it is No. 70 on Golfweek’s Best list for all modern courses built in or after 1960 in the U.S.
Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls is the No. 2-ranked private course in South Dakota, and Dakota Dunes Country Club – just across the state line from Sioux City, Iowa – is No. 3.
Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play in South Dakota
1. Golf Club at Red Rock
Rapid City (m)
2. Hart Ranch
Rapid City (m)
3. Prairie Green
Sioux Falls (m)
4. Willow Run
Sioux Falls (m)
5. Meadowbrook
Rapid City (m)
Golfweek’s Best Private Courses 2020 in South Dakota
The 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 together to produce a final rating for each course. Then each course is ranked against other courses in its state, or nationally, to produce the final rankings.
