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Golfweek’s Best 2022: Top public and private courses in New York

New York features the deepest lineup of elite private clubs in the United States.

Bethpage State Park’s Black Course, site of two U.S. Opens (2002, ’09) and one PGA Championship (2019) as well as the next Ryder Cup (2025) in the U.S., is the top-rated public-access golf course in New York.

Built by famed course designer A.W. Tillinghast in 1935, the Black is almost as famous for its sign on the first tee that warns players that the test they are about to face is “extremely difficult.” And besides ranking No. 1 among New York’s public courses, the Black is No. 27 on the 2002 Golfweek’s Best list for all classic courses built in the U.S. before 1960.

It’s hardly alone as a top-tier course in New York, particularly when private courses are considered. New York offers the deepest lineup of exceptional private courses in the country, and each of the top 20 private clubs in the state ranks in the top 100 on either Golfweek’s Best modern or classic lists.

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.

Also popular are the Golfweek’s Best rankings of top private courses in each state, and that list for New York’s prestigious private offerings is likewise included below.

MORE: Best Modern | Best Classic | Top 200 Resort | Top 200 Residential | Top 100 Best You Can Play

(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.

* New to or returning to 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

National Golf Links set to host Curtis Cup for the first time in 2030

The USA leads the overall series, 30-8-3.

The Curtis Cup will be contested at National Golf Links for the first time in 2030, the USGA has announced. The famed Charles Blair Macdonald design in Southampton, New York, hosted the inaugural Walker Cup in 1922, and the matches returned there in 2013.

National Golf Links will become only the fourth club to host both the Walker Cup and Curtis Cup, joining Merion Golf Club, The Minikahda Club and Quaker Ridge Golf Club.

From June 10-12, the 42nd Curtis Cup will take place at Merion for the second time.

This will be the first time a women’s USGA championship will be contested at National Golf Links, which ranks No. 5 on Golfweek’s Best Classic Courses.

The Curtis Cup, held biennially, features two teams of eight female amateur players, with one representing the United States and the other representing Great Britain and Ireland. The USA leads the overall series, 30-8-3.

After Merion next month, upcoming Curtis Cup venues include England’s Sunningdale Golf Club in 2024 and Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles in 2026.

“We’re thrilled to be able to welcome back the USGA, the R&A and some of the finest amateur players in the world,” said Michael X. McBride, chair of the Golf Committee for National Golf Links. “George Herbert Walker truly valued the camaraderie and level of play involved in team competition, and for National Golf Links to now be involved in support of the women’s amateur game is a special moment for all of us associated with the club.”

Stanford’s Rose Zhang and Rachel Heck are among those headlining this year’s U.S. Curtis Cup team, along with Amari Avery, Latanna Stone, Emilia Migliaccio, Megha Ganne, Rachel Kuehn and 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur champ Jensen Castle.

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