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.
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.
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 experts have ranked the Top 200 courses built since 1960, such as Bandon Dunes, Whistling Straights, TPC Sawgrass, Kiawah and more.
Welcome to the Golfweek’s Best 2022 list of the Top 200 Modern Courses built in or after 1960 in the United States.
Each year we publish many lists, with this Top 200 Modern Courses list among the premium offerings. Also extremely popular and significant are the lists for Top 200 Classic 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 Classic Courses list for the top 200 layouts built before 1960 in the U.S. will be posted Wednesday, May 25. The Best Courses You Can Play lists and the Best Private Courses lists will follow over the next two weeks.
The hand dryers in the loos are pretty fancy, too.
Those of you keen on the history of cherished, triumphant edifices will probably know that the Eiffel Tower was originally intended as a temporary exhibit when it started to get rattled up back in 1887.
And look at it now? Still plonked there as a majestic beacon for patriotism, resistance, romance and long bloomin’ queues of camera-clicking tourists. Now, we’re not saying the old portakabin clubhouse at Dundonald Links — which sits less than an hour southwest of Glasgow, Scotland — was anything remotely like this grand Parisian pile but, having stood as a stopgap facility for almost two decades at the Ayrshire venue, it too became something of a treasure.
“People had a real soft spot for it and by the end, we thought it would just about have listed status,” said Dundonald Links general manager, Ian Ferguson, with a reflective chuckle as he looked back on a hardy make-shift assembly which has welcomed some of the world’s best golfers in both the men’s and women’s Scottish Opens.
“It was actually quite emotional when they took it away. They took it off in sections, from one end to the other, and you could see it disappear day by day to the point where you could glimpse the exposed hand dryers in the loos. As much as people loved it, there were others who didn’t. Some people wouldn’t bring a corporate event here as it just wasn’t as grand as some other places so we had to move on.”
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The portakabin is no more but in its place has emerged the bricks, mortar and shimmering fixtures and fittings of a fully operational and permanent clubhouse. The hand dryers in the loos are pretty fancy, too.
As part of a major, multi-million pound investment by new owners, Darwin Escapes, Dundonald, which was sold by Loch Lomond a couple of years ago, is now ready to return to the big stage of championship golf again with the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open coming back to this neck of the woods in 2022 and 2023.
With the prize fund of the championship rocketing to $2 million next year, this is a terrific time to be involved with a tournament that is going from strength to strength.
“The business model here is pretty straightforward,” added Ferguson, after a VIP night of lavish, glass-clinking indulgence that would’ve made Nero envious. “We are catering for golf tourism from all over the world and want to get people to stay, play, eat, drink and have a good time. But we definitely are a tournament venue and we made sure that what we designed and developed would fit in with significant championships.”
The addition of an abundant cluster of delightfully appointed lodges around the premises clearly has benefits for the stay-and-play side of things but, from a championship perspective, there are added advantages.
Mi Hyang Lee of Korea, winner of the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open, plays her second shot at the 18th hole as she finishes her final round at Dundonald Links Golf Course on July 30, 2017 in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
Golf got used to operating in tightly controlled bubbles during the Covid pandemic. Fingers crossed, we don’t go back to all that palaver but, amid ongoing uncertainty, resurgences, spikes and variants you never know what the future holds. Whatever happens, Dundonald is well placed to cope and cater for any radical changes in operational procedures and protocols.
“It lends itself to these changed times,” added Ferguson. “If we did have to go back to that tournament bubble, it’s now easy to create that isolation here and you can comply with whatever regulations are in place at that point.”
Having staged the Women’s Scottish Open three times from 2015, while hosting the men’s championship in 2017, Dundonald is certainly no stranger to showpiece occasions. “If the European Tour [now the DP World Tour] would like to come back we would be very keen to talk to them,” added Ferguson.
For the time being, the focus is on the Women’s Scottish Open and a stellar cast that will arrive for an event that takes place the week before a historic AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield.
“Having the Women’s Scottish Open here for the next two years adds huge value and it’s a great morale booster for all the staff to work towards,” said Ferguson. “Who knows? Dundonald could become the home of the event.”
As for the dearly departed portakabin?
“It will always have cult status,” smiled Ferguson.
