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.
We put together a summary from the pros as they reflect on a little quality time in this Pacific paradise.
The courses, while picturesque, are now tame by PGA Tour standards, as evidenced by consecutive weeks with scores so low they’ve been breaking records.
And the travel is intense, with players often making a journey of 4,000 miles or more, needing to build substantial cushions into their schedule to account for a massive plane ride over nothing but Pacific Ocean blue waters.
So do trips to Kapalua’s Plantation Course in Maui, site of last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions on the PGA Tour, and Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, site of this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii, still resonate with PGA Tour pros who frequently enjoy the game to the world’s most scenic backdrops?
Absolutely.
Kapalua was designed by the team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and is the top-ranked public-access layout in Hawaii. Waialae is near the state’s only major metropolis and offers plenty of nightlife and cultural opportunities on top of the amazing views.
Still, we put together a summary from the pros as they reflect on a little quality time in this Pacific paradise.
The field full of winners didn’t disappoint in the first Tour event of 2022.
The PGA Tour’s return to competition this week featured a 38-player field full of winners and the boys didn’t disappoint.
It came down to the 72nd hole at the Plantation Course at Kapalua, where world No. 1 Jon Rahm and Australians Cam Smith and Matt Jones all broke the 30-under mark while vying for the title.
Smith stood on the par-5 18th tee at 33 under with a one-shot lead over playing partner Rahm and a two-shot advantage over Jones, who was in the group ahead. Jones made birdie to tie Rahm at 32 under, who like Smith found the fairway off the tee. Both players just missed the green with their approaches, but each still had a putt for eagle. Smith did well to lag his putt inside five feet and put the pressure on Rahm, who just missed his eagle attempt by a foot. The Spaniard tapped in for birdie to reach 33 under, leaving Smith a three-and-a-half footer for the win at 34 under, a new scoring record on Tour.
The win is Smith’s fourth on the PGA Tour, and continues an interesting trend of alternating victories between New Orleans and Hawaii. His first win was the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 2017 with Jonas Blixt. His second came at the 2020 Sony Open in Hawaii. He then again won the Zurich last year with fellow Aussie Marc Leishman before his win this week at Kapalua.
Cameron Smith will look to keep his lead in the third round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Saturday morning from Kapalua.
Cameron Smith will look to keep his lead in the third round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Saturday from the beautiful Plantation Course at Kapalua. He is sitting at 9-under going into the weekend only two shots ahead of Daniel Berger and Jon Rahm, who are hot on his heels at -7.
This should be a great day of action that you won’t want to miss, here’s everything you need to know to follow the action today, including Featured Groups & Holes.
ESPN+ will have exclusive coverage in the mornings and will also have coverage in the afternoons. You can follow all the action here with expanded and extended coverage for PGA Tour Live. Click for more details.
Saturday, January 8:
Marquee Groups: 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET; Featured Groups & Holes: 8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET, all available on ESPN+
Sunday, January 9:
Marquee Groups: 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET; Featured Groups & Holes: 8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET, all available on ESPN+
PGA Tour Odds and Betting Lines
PGA Tour odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds last updated Thursday at 12:00 p.m. ET.
Cameron Smith (+180)
Jon Rahm (+320)
Daniel Berger (+650)
Want some action on the PGA Tour? Place your legal sports bets on this game or others in CO, IN, NJ, and WV.
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The PGA Tour will open up their 2022 season on Thursday when the Sentry Tournament of Champions gets underway from Kapalua in Maui.
The PGA Tour will open up their 2022 season on Thursday when Round 1 of the Sentry Tournament of Champions gets underway from the beautiful Plantation Course at Kapalua. We’re expected to see some of the top golfers in the game including fan favorites Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, and Jon Rahm just to name a few.
Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups, and Holes.
ESPN+ will have exclusive coverage in the mornings and will also have coverage in the afternoons. You can follow all the action here with expanded and extended coverage for PGA Tour Live. Click for more details.
Thursday, January 6
Marquee Groups: 7:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET; Featured Groups & Holes: 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET, all available on ESPN+.
Friday, January 7:
Marquee Groups: 7:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET; Featured Groups & Holes: 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET, all available on ESPN+
Saturday, January 8:
Marquee Groups: 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET; Featured Groups & Holes: 8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET, all available on ESPN+
Sunday, January 9:
Marquee Groups: 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET; Featured Groups & Holes: 8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET, all available on ESPN+
PGA Tour Odds and Betting Lines
PGA Tour odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds last updated Thursday at 12:00 p.m. ET.
Want some action on the PGA Tour? Place your legal sports bets on this game or others in CO, IN, NJ, and WV.
We recommend interesting sports viewing/streaming and betting opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.
Everything you need to know for the first round of the 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions.
The PGA Tour is back in action this week and kicks off the 2022 calendar year in paradise.
A 38-player field loaded with winners tees it up on Thursday at Kapalua’s Plantation Course for the first round of the 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions. Marquee pairings to watch include the All-American duo of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, Aussies Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith, Zurich Classic teammates Sam Burns and Billy Horschel and more.
Check out the tee times and TV info for the opening round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions. All times are listed in Eastern Standard Time.
You can watch Golf Channel for free on fuboTV. All times ET.
Thursday, Jan. 6
TV
Golf Channel: 6-10 p.m.
Radio
SiriusXM: 4-10 p.m.
STREAM
ESPN+: 3:15-10 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 7
TV
Golf Channel: 6-10 p.m.
Radio
SiriusXM: 4-10 p.m.
STREAM
ESPN+: 3:15-10 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 8
TV
Golf Channel: 6-10 p.m.
Radio
SiriusXM: 5-10 p.m.
STREAM
ESPN+: 3:15-10 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 9
TV
Golf Channel: 6-8 p.m. NBC: 4-6 p.m.
Radio
SiriusXM: 3-8 p.m.
STREAM
ESPN+: 1:30-8 p.m.
We recommend interesting sports viewing and streaming opportunities. If you sign up to a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.
The top 200 resort courses in the U.S. stretch from Pebble Beach and Bandon Dunes to Whistling Straits and Pinehurst.
Welcome to Golfweek’s Best 2022 list of top resort golf courses in the United States.
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, cumulative rating. Then each course is ranked against other courses in the region.
This list focuses on the golf courses themselves, not the resorts as a whole or other amenities. Each golf course included is listed with its average rating from 1 to 10, its location, architect(s) and the year it opened.
The PGA Tour follows the sun to some of the most beautiful spots around and is currently swinging through a series of our favorite islands.
The famed island green at the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, may be the best known island on the PGA Tour, but it’s not the only one. In fact, the PGA Tour enjoys its own island swing.
Bermuda (October), Bahamas (December) … it sounds like a Beach Boys song including all the island paradises where the Good Ship PGA Tour drops anchor to spend a week and play 72 holes. This week: St. Simons Island, Georgia, for the RSM Classic.
Jimmy Buffett would enjoy the Tour’s island fever, hopping to the Riviera Maya in Mexico (October), Puerto Rico (March) and places such as the Dominican Republic (March). When it’s sweater weather for much of the contiguous 48 states in January, the Tour heads to Maui and Oahu and returns for stops along the eastern seaboard at Ponte Vedra Beach and Hilton Head Island in March and April, respectively. And this list doesn’t even include the British Isles because, well, you get the idea: These guys are living the dream.
After all, island time is the best time. Here’s a closer look at these island destinations.
Jon Rahm is breaking in 13 new Callaway golf clubs as well as a Callaway ball. He’s also sporting TravisMathew apparel at Kapalua.
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Jon Rahm kicked off his new year by announcing a switch to Callaway.
At the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua this week, Rahm is using 13 new Callaway clubs as well as a Callaway ball. He’s also sporting TravisMathew apparel.
Rahm says when he played his first round with his new gear at Silverleaf Golf Club in Scottsdale, he shot a course-record 59. This is his first week using the new gear in competition.
“What people might not know is I basically got fitted and did a lot of work quite earlier than they thought, than people would think,” he said after his second-round 66. He is T-10 at 10 under, four shots back of tournament leader Harris English.
The golf bag of Jon Rahm during the first round of the 2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions at the Kapalua Plantation Course on January 07, 2021 in Kapalua, Hawaii. Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
“So I already had a valuable set of clubs for after Augusta. And then as soon as Augusta was done I didn’t take any time off. I went straight to San Diego and spent three days, a lot of hours in the Callaway center hitting a lot of shots, just making sure everything’s dialed in.”
According to Callaway, Rahm was planning to use prototype woods and irons, Callaway JAWS Forged wedges and a Callaway Chrome Soft X golf ball. While he is not expected to start 2021 using an Odyssey putter, he has been testing different models and is expected to add one to his bag in the coming weeks.
“When I went home I was really confident with everything. The only thing for me was going to be what clubs I put into play, and I did not expect that the only one not being Callaway was going to be the putter. But I’m still adjusting to it. I think the biggest thing to get used to is the golf ball. One thing is hitting shots at home and the other one is hitting shots here.
“I live in Arizona, not much air density, everything looks pretty straight. Come here to Hawaii, humid and windy. I have to get used to how the ball reacts in the wind and I think that’s what a lot of yesterday was and it’s still going to take a little bit of getting used to. But based on today and how I’m playing, I would say I’m pretty close.”
The Callaway golf ball played by Jon Rahm at the 2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions in Kapalua, Hawaii. Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
He added that the Callaway ball is similar to what he was using before.
“The thing to remember is it’s a new golf ball. It’s a little bit different to the one I had before even though it’s as close as it can probably possibly be. … the TaylorMade golf ball, it’s a ball that will launch a little bit higher with less spin. You could almost say it’s almost a little bit more of a one-dimensional ball, right? Even if you’re into the wind, you can hit it pretty much a stock shot and it’s going to go through the wind, which is great in some situations.
“The new Callaway one, it’s pretty much the same, but inside the 8-iron it launches a little bit lower with a touch more spin, which gives me a lot more to play with in short irons. And I would say in some of those shots into the wind, in cross-wind, I need to get used to controlling the spin, but I’ve been doing a good job so far. Obviously, I hit some bad ones like everybody else. But I’ve hit some beautiful shots the last two days on 10 into the wind, a couple good wedge shots, the one on 9, 16 yesterday was a great shot as well. I mean, I’ve hit some good ones. So even though I’m still learning, I’m still trying to get better and it’s just all in a really good spot.”
Golfweek’s David Dusk contributed to this article.
Justin Thomas is coming off his most consistent year yet, but says he has lofty goals for this year beginning in Hawaii.
When Justin and Mike Thomas arrived for Christmas Eve dinner at Tiger Woods’s house, he and his dad, fresh off their victory at the PNC Championship a week earlier, sported their red victory belts around their waist like a pair of WWF tag-team champions.
“We would expect them to do the same thing,” Justin Thomas said. “Charlie (Woods) just kind of laughed when he saw us and Tiger (Woods) just said, ‘Well done, well played.’ And you know, it was all in good fun. But they fully expected it, I think.”
No word on whether Thomas anticipated his favorite gift from the holiday season.
“My parents got me a popcorn machine, which is really cool,” he said. “I have a pretty sweet man cave at my house upstairs and they got me, like, one of the old school kind of rolling popcorn machines. So, we’ll be making our own popcorn now.”
My yearly #11 at Kapalua appreciation post. Can’t believe we’re about to get things going again! 2021 LFG 👊🏽 @ Kapalua Golf Course Plantation Course https://t.co/A9Lrjg91zX
As the calendar flipped and the PGA Tour resumes this week in Maui, Hawaii, it’s easy to expect Thomas to pick up right where he left off, which has been the first page of the leaderboard as of late. He has finished T-12 or better in each of his last six starts, dating back to a T-2 at the 2020 Tour Championship. Add in the fact that the Tour’s two Hawaii events have been among his favorite hunting grounds. The defending champion and two-time winner of the Sentry Tournament of Champions has been a force to be reckoned with at Kapalua’s Plantation Course. Thomas isn’t sure why he doesn’t experience some rust after one of the longer layoffs of his season, but coming to the Hawaiian islands – he’s also been a force at the Sony Open of Hawaii, shooting 59 en route to victory – certainly puts him in a different frame of mind.
“I always get up early with the time change here and I play, go out and play early, and then I pretty much hang by the pool and the beach the rest of the afternoon, and there’s not any other tournaments I do that the rest of the year,” he said.
Thomas is coming off a season that by most any measure was exceptional, but Thomas has set high standards for himself and knows that there is room for improvement, especially at the majors.
“It was my most consistent year I’ve had, but it definitely wasn’t as many wins as I feel like I could have and should have had, especially in some big events,” he said. “I feel like I didn’t play well over the weekend or on Sundays and that’s something that I feel like I’ve been able to assess and figure out a little bit what it was, and hopefully when I get in those situations going forward I’ll handle them a lot better.”
Thomas nearly squandered the title at Kapalua a year ago when he blew a two-stroke lead with three holes to go. He was fortunate to salvage a playoff against the previous two winners of the event, Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele, before prevailing with a birdie on the third playoff hole.
And, so, Thomas will attempt to become the first repeat winner of the event since Geoff Ogilvy turned the trick in 2010. Thomas enters the week rested, armed with a new Titleist driver and golf ball in his arsenal and playing in one of his happy places.
“D.J. and I talked about it yesterday,” Thomas said, “you can put us two on a list of we’ll never turn this place down if we have the opportunity to come here. It’s an unbelievable place to start the year, it’s so relaxing, it’s enjoyable, and it’s a great tournament to have the opportunity to start your year off with a victory.”
