Golfweek’s experts have ranked the Top 200 courses built since 1960, such as Bandon Dunes, Whistling Straits and more.
Want to play the great modern golf courses in the U.S.? From Hawaii to Boston, we have you covered. So welcome to the Golfweek’s Best 2023 list of the Top 200 Modern Courses built in or after 1960 in the United States.
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.
There’s one course of particular note this year. Landmand Golf Club in Homer, Nebraska, debuts the highest of the courses new to this list, climbing into a tie for 26th. Designed by Tad King and Rob Collins, Landmand opened in 2022. It and the Sheep Ranch at Bandon Dunes are the only courses to have opened since 2020 to rank among the top 200.
Each course is listed with its average rating next to the name, then 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:
Visions of sugar plums? We’re guessing you’ll have visions of your next golf trip in your head tonight. These lists will help.
Sure, the kiddos are said to have sugar plums dancing in their heads tonight, but we know what will be bouncing around in yours — a future golf trip.
For the final days of 2022, we’ve been offering up a snapshot of the top 10 stories from each of Golfweek’s most popular sections, including travel, the PGA and LPGA tours, instruction and fitness. Here’s what we’ve already counted down.
Today, we’re focusing on one of our most important areas — golf course lists. The tracks featured in these lists are from all around the globe.
Here’s a look at the top 10 golf course lists, as clicked on by you:
David McLay Kidd says there might be a touch more challenge around the greens on his new course at Gamble Sands.
Gamble Sands in Brewster, Washington, jumped onto golf’s map over the past decade with its David McLay Kidd-designed course, a wide-open 18 that ranks as the No. 1 public-access layout in the state and No. 46 among all modern courses in the U.S. Built aside a working apple and cherry farm, Gamble Sands plays firm and fast over fescue and sand to wide fairways and giant greens.
For years Kidd and the Gebbers family, who own the remote resort and adjacent orchards, have been in discussions about adding a second course. That time has arrived.
Still unnamed, a new 18-hole course is part of a full resort expansion that includes nearly doubling the first-rate Inn at Gamble Sands that is frequently reached after a short flight from Seattle to Wenatchee followed by an hour’s drive up Highway 17.
Kidd told Golfweek the project is well underway, with permits in place and the starting points of construction decided. He and his crew will break ground this fall, then it’s off to the races next year, he said, with a planned grand opening in the summer of 2025.
The new course will be built just north of the existing 18 and the resort’s par-3 course, QuickSands, another Kidd creation that opened last year. Like the original 18, the new layout will overlook the Columbia River with scenic mountain views stretching for miles.
No. 1 of the QuickSands par-3 course at Gamble Sands (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)
“It’s a sort of dramatic piece of land,” Kidd said of his plans for the second course. “There’s a little more to do than with the first course because they farmed it, so we’ve got to kind of rehab it back to the wild scrub of the high desert. But once we get all that done, I expect it to be a really good complement to the first one.”
The first course was a prime example of the Scottish designer’s new ethos, he has said, one that has evolved over the past decade.
After bursting onto the golf scene with his Bandon Dunes layout in Oregon in 1999, Kidd began building other courses with a greater emphasis on difficulty. That approach didn’t always work out, and he shifted gears to open Gamble Sands in 2014 with a focus on fun for any level of golfer on layouts across which it’s difficult to lose a ball. Sometimes-immense fairways over thrilling terrain, big greens, bouncy shots, feeder slopes, extreme playability – those became his talking points, and golfers flocked to Gamble Sands as well as his Mammoth Dunes course at Sand Valley in Wisconsin.
Kidd also recently signed on to build GrayBull in the Nebraska Sandhills, and he said that course might feature a touch more challenge than at several of his most wide-open layouts of recent years. Golfers can expect a bit of the same at the new course at Gamble Sands, he said, but he was adamant he isn’t returning his focus to resistance to scoring.
“The first course (at Gamble Sands), I think a good golfer goes out on the first one and thinks they can take on par, even though most of the time they don’t,” Kidd said. “I think on this one, we’re planning on having it put up a little more resistance just so we have a little different offering. It’s on the drawing board right now, and we’ve been talking about slightly smaller greens, maybe some more contours around putting surfaces, fairway widths are probably very similar. We’ll see how it all shakes out.”
The view from the lodge at Gamble sands, across the giant putting course to snow-capped mountains in the distance (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)
Saying the new greens might be “slightly smaller” than the original 18 at Gamble Sands means they probably will still be quite large – it’s not uncommon to face 100-foot putts on the first course. It’s all part of the fun, similar to Tom Doak and Jim Urbina’s Old Macdonald at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort – you might hit a green in regulation, but now what?
Even with initial plans in place, Kidd knows things are likely to change as the build progresses. Nothing is set in stone.
“You know, all of this stuff happens in the ground,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what I say or what we draw, all of the creativity actually happens when you’re there, in the ground with your crew. Your ideas spark from one person to another, and things start to form in front of your eyes and take on a life of their own.”
And there’s more on the drawing board: The lodge at Gamble Sands, which features large and luxurious rooms overlooking the Columbia River Valley and a giant putting course, will be expanded from a current 37 rooms to 73. The resort also plans to add a new restaurant.
“All of us here at Gamble Sands are truly excited for the next step in the evolution of the golf resort,” Tory Wulf, project manager at Gamble Sands, said a release announcing the news. “Our team has worked hard to enhance the experience on and off the golf course since opening in 2014. The second full-length rendition by David McLay Kidd and his team will be fun to watch take shape and I’m sure even ‘funner’ to play.”
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.
Two stunning layouts in Nova Scotia top the list of Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses in Canada.
Welcome to Golfweek’s Best rankings of the Top 25 Modern Courses in Canada – built in or after 1960 – as determined by Golfweek’s Best Raters for 2021 (pictured atop this story: Cabot Cliffs).
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 to produce a final rating for each course. Then each course is ranked against other courses in Great Britain and Ireland to produce the final rankings.
Golfweek also ranks top Classic Courses in Canada, and the 2021 version of that list will be made available next week. For more on top courses outside the U.S., check out the following lists:
Listed with each course below is its average rating, location, designers and year opened. Private clubs include a p, daily fee courses have a d, and resort courses are marked with an r.
Golfweek’s Best looks at the elite clubs in each state to determine which states have the greatest public access or private courses in U.S.
So, where’s the best golf in the United States? Turns out, it’s almost everywhere, as evidenced by this year’s Golfweek’s Best rankings of great courses. From Hawaii to New York, South Florida to northern Michigan, fantastic layouts – new and old – are sprinkled across a diverse landscape.
But an analysis of the new Golfweek’s Best rankings does of course show that some states are sprinkled a little more densely with top tracks. And to answer that question about the location of best golf, we must follow with another question: What type of golf do you prefer?
The Golfweek’s Best rankings are categorized in many ways, from public-access layouts on the Best Courses You Can Play lists for each state, to the top 100 private clubs. Want to play a great modern course? The states that show up most on that list are very different than the states with the most top classic courses, with 1960 serving as the demarcation between those categories.
(Fair warning, this story has enough ranking talk to make a golfer’s head spin like a balata ball struck by square grooves. Don’t worry, each of the lists discussed is displayed on these pages.)
Various states score highly on some of the lists, not so much in others. And for some golfers who haven’t closely followed the evolving golf scene over the past 20 years, there certainly might be some surprises.
For a fun comparison, we averaged the ratings of the top five public-access courses in each state to compile a list of states where a traveling golfer has the best chance to play a great track. We also compared states’ representation on a separate but similar list, the top 100 Best Courses You Can Play in the U.S.
While sunny stalwarts such as California and Florida rank highly on the list that compares each state’s top five public-access courses, it’s Oregon that steals the show with an average rating of 8.00 for the top five tracks. And largely on the strength of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort (pictured atop this story is Bandon Dunes’ Old Macdonald) and the newer Silvies Valley Ranch, the Beaver State places eight layouts among the top 100 Best Courses You Can Play in the U.S.
Erin Hills in Wisconsin (Courtesy of Erin Hills/Paul Hundley)
Then what might be another surprise for some: Wisconsin is second on the list that compares the top five public-access courses in each state. The Badger State has become a must-see golf destination over the past 20 years despite a shorter-than-normal golf season. Whistling Straits, Sand Valley, Erin Hills and a handful of others have powered the climb in the rankings, and Wisconsin has eight courses among Golfweek’s Best top 100 courses you can play.
California ranks third in our data that compares each state’s top five public-access courses, no surprise there, thank you very much Pebble Beach and other coastal stars. And California tops the list of 100 Best Courses You Can Play in the U.S., showing incredible depth with 10 courses.
What’s not a surprise is New York’s domination of the list of Golfweek’s Best Private Courses, with Long Island the jewel in the crown. Again averaging the top five courses as ranked on the state-by-state list for top private tracks, New York beats out California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Georgia for the top spot for elite private clubs.
Shinnecock Hills in New York (David Cannon/Getty Images)
The disparity in New York’s private and public-access golf is certainly interesting. When comparing the ratings of the top five courses in each state, public versus private, the Empire State’s private courses are leaps and bounds ahead of its public-access courses – certainly no surprise to most golfers in the state. The top five private courses in the state average an astonishingly high 8.82 rating on Golfweek’s 10-point scale, while the top five public-access courses average 6.76.
The gulf between private and public is greater only in neighboring New Jersey. The top five private courses in the Garden State average an 8.11 rating, while its top five public-access tracks average a 6.03 rating.
Another interesting comparison is a state’s placing on the Golfweek’s Best classic and modern lists. Not surprising is that New York leads the country with 32 of the top 200 classic courses in the U.S., followed by Pennsylvania and California. But New York doesn’t fare so well on the modern list, with only four courses ranked among the top 200. Clearly the best available sites in the bustling state were taken before 1960, which is in line with the fact that early golf in the U.S. was developed mostly in the Northeast.
Florida tops the list of top 200 modern courses with 19 while placing only five tracks on the top 200 classic list. California is second on the modern list, followed by South Carolina, Arizona and Texas. Golf apparently expanded into warm states at a similar rate as did the availability of air conditioning in and after the 1960s.
Which still leaves the initial question: Where to go for great golf?
One state pops up in the top five of each of the lists discussed here: California. The Golden State is No. 1 on the list of top 100 Best Courses You Can Play in the U.S with 11 courses on that list. It also ranks No. 2 when comparing the top five private courses in each state (8.43 average rating), No. 2 on the top-200 modern list (16 courses), No. 3 when comparing the top five public-access courses in each state (7.55 average rating) and No. 3 on the top-200 classic list (18 courses).
So, for sure, California has it all: public, private, classic and modern. But there’s one more combination of rankings worth checking out: each state’s combined representation on the top 200 modern and classic lists. Based on the strength of its private clubs, New York has a combined 36 courses on those lists. California ranks second (34), followed by Florida (24), Pennsylvania (22), New Jersey (21), Massachusetts (20) and North Carolina (20). In all, 44 states have at least one course on either the top 200 classic or modern lists.
One other thing is also for sure: There’s great golf to be found at all points on the compass, as evidenced on the many lists in this issue. All you have to do is look, and to know what type of golf you are looking for.
The original Bandon Dunes course at the Oregon resort (Courtesy of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort)
States ranked by elite public-access courses
This list was compiled by averaging the ratings, on a scale of one to 10, of the top five public-access layouts in each state on the Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list:
1. Oregon, 8.00
2. Wisconsin, 7.56
3. California, 7.55
4. Florida, 7.34
5. North Carolina, 7.17
6. South Carolina, 7.11
7. Michigan, 6.94
8. Hawaii, 6.92
9. Washington, 6.92
10. Virginia, 6.77
11. New York, 6.76
12. Nevada, 6.70
13. Mississippi, 6.65
14. Nebraska, 6.65
15. Arizona, 6.55
16. Minnesota, 6.47
17. Texas, 6.46
18. Utah, 6.43
19. Georgia, 6.40
20. Colorado, 6.39
21. Missouri, 6.38
22. Arkansas, 6.30
23. Indiana, 6.29
24. Alabama, 6.29
25. North Dakota, 6.28
26. Massachusetts, 6.27
27. Tennessee, 6.22
28. Illinois, 6.21
29. New Mexico, 6.20
30. Pennsylvania, 6.16
31. West Virginia, 6.12
32. Maine, 6.09
33. New Jersey, 6.03
34. Idaho, 6.03
35. Ohio, 6.02
36. Connecticut, 6.01
37. Vermont, 5.97
38. Oklahoma, 5.94
39. Montana, 5.92
40. Maryland 5.91
41. Louisiana, 5.90
42. Iowa, 5.85
43. Kansas, 5.77
44. South Dakota, 5.75
45. New Hampshire, 5.69
46. Wyoming, 5.69
47. Rhode Island, 5.49
48. Kentucky, 5.47
49. Delaware, 5.15
50. Alaska, 5.06
Pebble Beach in California (Courtesy of Pebble Beach)
Each state’s share of the Top 100
Best Courses You Can Play
This list shows how many courses each state has on the Top 100 list for public-access courses in the United States. Only 32 states are represented on the list, with 18 states having no courses on the list.
1. California, 10
2(t). Florida, 8
2(t). Oregon, 8
2(t). Wisconsin, 8
5. North Carolina, 7
6. South Carolina, 6
7(t). Hawaii, 4
7(t). Michigan, 4
7(t). Virginia, 4
7(t). Washington, 4
11(t). Arizona, 3
11(t). Mississippi, 3
11(t). New York, 3
11(t). Nevada, 3
15(t). Colorado, 2
15(t). Georgia, 2
15(t). Minnesota, 2
15(t). Missouri, 2
15(t). North Dakota, 2
15(t). Nebraska, 2
15(t). Texas, 2
22(t). Alabama, 1
22(t). Illinois, 1
22(t). Indiana, 1
22(t). Massachusetts, 1
22(t). Maryland, 1
22(t). New Jersey, 1
22(t). New Mexico, 1
22(t). Oklahoma, 1
22(t). Tennessee, 1
22(t). Utah, 1
22(t). West Virginia, 1
Bethpage Black in New York (Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports)
States ranked by the Classic list
These 31 states have courses among Golfweek’s Best list for top 200 Classic courses built before 1960, and they are ranked below by number of courses on that list:
1. New York, 32
2. Pennsylvania, 19
3. California, 18
4. Massachusetts, 17
5. New Jersey, 13
6(t). Illinois, 11
6(t). North Carolina, 11
8. Ohio, 10
9. Michigan, 9
10. Connecticut, 8
11. Georgia, 6
12. Florida, 5
13(t). Maryland, 4
13(t). Minnesota, 4
13(t). Rhode Island, 4
13(t). South Carolina, 4
13(t). Texas, 4
18. Wisconsin, 3
19(t). Colorado, 2
19(t). Iowa, 2
19(t). Kansas, 2
19(t). Missouri, 2
19(t). Tennessee, 2
24 (t). Alabama, 1
24(t). Kentucky, 1
24(t). Nebraska, 1
24(t). Oklahoma, 1
24(t). Oregon, 1
24(t). Virginia, 1
24(t). Vermont, 1
24(t). West Virginia, 1
The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Florida (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
States ranked by the Modern list
These 42 states have courses among Golfweek’s Best list for top 200 modern courses built in or after 1960, and they are ranked below by number of courses on that list:
1. Florida, 19
2. California, 16
3. South Carolina, 15
4(t). Arizona, 10
4(t). Texas, 10
6(t). Georgia, 9
6(t). North Carolina, 9
6(t). Oregon, 9
9. New Jersey, 8
10. Michigan, 7
11(t). Hawaii, 6
11(t). Virginia, 6
11(t). Wisconsin, 6
14(t). Minnesota, 5
14(t). Washington, 5
16(t). Colorado, 4
16(t). New York, 4
16(t). Nebraska, 4
16(t). Ohio, 4
20(t). Idaho, 3
20(t). Illinois, 3
20(t). Indiana, 3
20(t). Massachusetts, 3
20(t). Mississippi, 3
20(t). Nevada, 3
20(t). Oklahoma, 3
20(t). Pennsylvania, 3
20(t). Tennessee, 3
29(t). Alabama, 2
29(t). Utah, 2
29(t). West Virginia, 2
32(t). Arkansas, 1
32(t). Connecticut, 1
32(t). Kansas, 1
32(t). Kentucky, 1
32(t). Maryland, 1
32(t). Missouri, 1
32(t). Montana, 1
32(t). New Mexico, 1
32(t). Rhode Island, 1
32(t). South Dakota, 1
32(t). Wyoming, 1
Winged Foot’s West course during the 2006 U.S. Open in New York (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
States ranked by elite private clubs
This list was compiled by averaging the ratings, on a scale of one to 10, of the top five private layouts in each state as ranked by Golfweek’s Best (Alaska has no courses on that list):
