Author: John Gilrain

PGA Tour 2025: Scheffler’s Charge Heats Up

Scottie Scheffler: In Pursuit of History

After Scottie Scheffler’s historic 2024 campaign coming on the heels of a 2023 season where he posted 17 Top-10’s in 23 starts, including 2 wins, a runner-up at The PGA and 2 more major Top-10’s, the inevitable Jack and Tiger comparisons began to sprout.

The notion that Scheffler could mount a serious challenge to the career numbers accumulated by the two greatest players in history, however, still seemed nothing more than fantasy.

With his powerful start to the 2025 season, including a Top-5 at The Masters in April, a PGA Championship victory in May, and his win at The Memorial two weeks ago, the odds that Scheffler will etch his name among the 5 greatest players of All-Time when his career comes to a close have increased dramatically—and matching or even surpassing Tiger and Jack have become a real possibility.

The Beginning

Scottie came out on the PGA Tour in the Fall of 2019 at 23 years old after a year on the Korn Ferry Tour, where he recorded 10 Top-10’s in 20 starts with 2 wins. He was fast out of the gate, recording 4 Top-10s and 2 Top-20’s in his first 9 events without missing a cut, and it looked like he was getting ready to roll with a 3rd place finish at the American Express Championship in late January of 2020—and then the pandemic hit and blew everything up.

As COVID began to sweep across the country, Scottie missed the cut in 2 of the next 5 events he played without recording a Top-10—until the Tour closed completely with cancellation of The Players Championship.

When the season resumed amid a shut-down world devoid of live fans, Scottie missed the cut in 3 of the first 4 events, and just as he started to get going again with Top-5 finishes at the PGA and Tour Championships, he was forced to withdraw from the rescheduled U.S. Open in September after a positive COVID test.

Tiger was 21 when he started his pursuit of Jack with a two-year head start on Scottie. He had already won 2 major championships along with 13 Tour wins by the time he was 23, so Scheffler had a lot of ground to make up if he hoped to catch him–even before the Pandemic put him that much deeper in the hole.

Scottie Starts To Roll

Scheffler began to find his footing again in 2021 with Top-10’s in 3 of the 4 Majors, and then started rolling in ’22 with his first career win at the WM Phoenix Open in February, followed by a T10 at the Genesis, wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Dell Match Play Championship in March, and his first major championship victory at The Masters in April.

In 2023 Scottie throttled up further with 17 Top-10 finishes in 23 starts, including a T2 at The PGA Championship, 3rd at The U.S. Open, a T-10 at The Masters—and 2 more wins including back-to-back in Phoenix and a dominating victory at The Players Championship.

Back To Back Wins at the Players

While it would seem almost impossible to surpass 2023, the season Scheffler put together in 2024 stands among the greatest in history, with 16 Top-10’s in 19 starts without missing a cut and 7 wins including a second Masters championship, back-to-back wins at The Players, a T8 at the PGA and a T7 at The Open Championship.

The Chase Begins

Thus far in 2025 Scottie has recorded 9 Top-10’s in 12 starts without missing a cut, including a 4th at The Masters and his third major championship at the PGA.

While it may seem that Scottie is a long way behind Jack’s 18 major titles and Tiger’s 15, keep in mind that Scheffler is only 28 years old and only now entering his prime.

Including this week’s U.S. Open, Scottie will have 46 more major championships by the time he reaches 40 years old, and if he maintains his current pace will add 7 more majors for a total of 10—putting him solidly among the top 5 greatest of all time.

Keep in mind though that the projection of 10 major wins through 40 does not take into account that Scottie has elevated his performance each year, and if his current trajectory continues, 10 may well be a pretty conservative number (and both Jack and Tiger added an additional major after 40 years old as well).  

Should Scottie win this weekend at Oakmont, his winning percentage at the majors will move up from 14.3% to 18.2%–pretty darn close to Jack and Tiger. 

The U.S. Open is always one of the best weeks of the year for golf, and watching Scheffler set his sights on history is guaranteed to make for compelling theater.

If you’re looking for great golf where you are or where you’re going, the GolfDay Search Engine makes it easy to find the best courses and a better bang for your buck.

Share this Article:

Top 25 Private Golf Clubs-Michigan 2025

Crystal Downs: Alistair Mackenzie classic

Some of the best public golf in the country can be found in Michigan, including fantastic resorts like Forest Dunes, Arcadia Bluffs and Treetops–but nothing beats membership at a high-end golf club for the quintessential golf experience, and MI has a great many classic courses to choose from. Discover the best options with our guide to the Top 25 Private Clubs-Michigan 2025.

In addition to superb design, limited play at a top private club pretty much guarantees that course conditions will always be great, and you can also say goodbye to the 5-hour round.

25 private clubs in Michigan received a GolfDay rating of 90 or higher, and just over 75 were rated at 80 or better—so there’s a pretty good chance that the perfect club for you is not very far away.     

We’ve included our Top 25 below, or you can spin through all of the private courses in Michigan listed by GolfDay Rating. Clubs are listed on the basis of GolfDay Rating, and include a link to the club website, the year founded, course architect(s), current USGA course and slope ratings, a link to course description (where available) as well as a link to Google Maps for each location.

The Michigan Top 25 include eight original Donald Ross designs, beginning with Oakland Hills (#1), as well as Detroit Golf Club (#8) and Muskegon Golf Club (#15).

Donald Ross: 8 designs in the Top 25

H.S. (Harry) Colt and C. H. (Charles) Alison, among the greats of classic golf course architecture, designed The Country Club of Detroit (#4) and Orchard Lake CC (#5). Harry Colt also did the original design at Bloomfield Hills CC (recently restored by Mike DeVries, who also crafted the wonderful layout at Kingsley Club–#6).

Dr. Alistair MacKenzie

In addition, Michigan is home to Crystal Downs Country Club (#2), an Alistair MacKenzie design that is perennially among the Golf Digest Top 100 courses in The U.S.

Tom Doak: Modern-day Classic at Lost Dunes

Tom Doak (Renassance Golf), a Michigan native who is widely regarded as one the great modern golf course architects, crafted Lost Dunes Golf Club (#3) in Bridgman. In addition, Tom recently completed High Point Golf Club in Williamsburg, which has opened to rave reviews. 

To view courses by location, use the GolfDay Search Engine and select “where you are” or where you plan to be (by entering the city or zip code). You can also refine your search and save time by adding a description and the features you are looking for.   

Oakland Hills Country Club
  1. Oakland Hills Country Club/Bloomfield Hills
  • Founded: 1916
  • Holes: 36 (2 Eighteen-Hole Courses)
  • Course Architects: Donald Ross/Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Arthur Hills/Rees Jones/Gil Hanse
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    South:      77.1 Rating/148 Slope
    North:      74.5 Rating/145 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 100
  • Location
Crystal Downs Country Club
  1. Crystal Downs Country Club/Frankfort
  • Founded: 1926
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Alister MacKenzie/Perry Maxwell/Geoffrey Cornish/Brian Silva
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 72.9 Rating/143 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 100
  • Location
Lost Dunes Golf Club
  1. Lost Dunes Golf Club/Bridgeman
Country Club of Detroit
  1. Country Club of Detroit/Grosse Pointe Farms
  • Founded: 1897
  • Holes: 27 (Eighteen-Hole Course and Nine-Hole Par 3
  • Course Architects: H. S. Colt/C. H. Alison/Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Bruce Matthews/Jerry Matthews/Arthur Hills/Geoffrey Cornish/Brian Silva/Tom Doak/Keith Foster/Kevin Hargrave
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.3 Rating/137 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 95.5
  • Location
Orchard Lake Country Club
  1. Orchard Lake Country Club/Orchard Lake
  • Founded: 1926
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: H. S. Colt/C. H. Alison/Wilfrid Reid/William Connellan/William Diddel/Arthur Hills/Keith Foster/Kevin Hargrave
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.0 Rating/135 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 95.0
  • Location
Kingsley Club
  1. Kingsley Club/Kingsley
Bloomfield Hills Country Club
  1. Bloomfield Hills Country Club/Bloomfield Hills
  • Founded: 1909
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: H. S. Colt/Donald Ross/Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Arthur Hills/Mike DeVries/Frank Pont
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 72.9 Rating/134 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.0
  • Location
Detroit Golf Club
  1. Detroit Golf Club/Detroit
  • Founded: 1899
  • Holes: 36 (2-Eighteen Hole Courses)
  • Course Architects: Donald Ross/Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Arthur Hills/Tom Doak/Bruce Hepner/Tyler Rae
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    North:       73.8 Rating/131 Slope
    South:       69.4 Rating/126 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.6
  • Location
Meadowbrook Country Club
  1. Meadowbrook Country Club/Northville
  • Founded: 1916
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Willie Park, Jr./Harry Collis/Jack Daray/Bruce Matthews/Jerry Matthews/Arthur Hills/Andy Staples
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.3 Rating/142 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.5
  • Location
Indianwood Golf & Country Club
  1. Indianwood Golf & Country Club/Lake Orion
  • Founded: 1925
  • Holes: 36 (Eighteen-Hole Course and Six Hole Spieth Lower 40)
  • Course Architects: Wilfrid Reid/William Connellan/Arthur Hills/Bob Cupp/Jerry Pate
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 76.7 Rating/145 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.1
  • Location
Blythefield Country Club
  1. Blythefield Country Club/Belmont
  • Founded: 1928
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: William Langford/Theodore Moreau/Bruce Matthews/Jerry Matthews/Chris Wilczynski
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.3 Rating/140 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.6
  • Location
Red Run Golf Club
  1. Red Run Golf Club/Royal Oak
  • Founded: 1914
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Willie Park, Jr./Emil Loeffler/John McGlynn/Clinton Robinson/Raymond Hearn/Bruce Hepner
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.0 Rating/140 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.2
  • Location
Muskegon Country Club
  1. Muskegon Country Club/Muskegon

       RedWater Golf

  • Founded: 1908
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Donald Ross/Bruce Matthews/Jerry Matthews/Bruce Matthews III
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.0 Rating/139 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.0
  • Location
TPC Michigan
  1. TPC Michigan/Dearborn

       Invited Club Management

Lochmoor Club
  1. Lochmoor Club/Grosse Pointe Woods
  • Founded: 1917
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Walter Travis/H. S. Colt/C. H. Alison/Larry Packard/Arthur Hills/Paul Albanese
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.0 Rating/133 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.8
  • Location
Barton Hills Country Club
  1. Barton Hills Country Club/Ann Arbor
Dearborn Country Club
  1. Dearborn Country Club/Dearborn
  • Founded: 1923
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Donald Ross/Clinton Robinson/Jerry Matthews/Bruce Matthews III
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 72.8 Rating/134 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.6
  • Location
Franklin Hills Country Club
  1. Franklin Hills Country Club/Franklin
  • Founded: 1927
  • Holes:
  • Course Architects: Donald Ross/Arthur Hills/Ron Prichard/Tyler Rae/Bruce Hepner
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.1 Rating/133 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.4
  • Location
Western Golf & Country Club
  1. Western Golf & Country Club/Redford
  • Founded: 1926
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Donald Ross/Larry Packard/Arthur Hills/Bruce Matthews III
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.2 rating/140 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.4
  • Location
St. Clair Golf Club
  1. St. Clair Golf Club/St. Clair
Cascade Hills Country Club
  1. Cascade Hills Country Club/Grand Rapids
  • Founded: 1921
  • Holes: 27 (Eighteen-Hole Regulation Course and Nine Hole Par 3)
  • Course Architects: Jack Daray/David Gill/Larry Packard/Bruce Matthews/Jerry Matthews/Bruce Matthews III
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.7 Rating/142 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.3
  • Location
Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club
  1. Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club/Grand Blanc
  • Founded: 1957
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: James Harrison/Ferdinand Garbin/Joe Lee/Chris Wilczynski
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.5 rating/136 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.3
  • Location
Point O’ Woods Golf & Country Club
  1. Point O’ Woods Golf & Country Club/Benton Harbor
  • Founded: 1958
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Michael Benkusky
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.1 Rating/140 Slope
  • Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.2
  • Location
Thousand Oaks Golf Club
  1. Thousand Oaks Golf Club/Grand Rapids

       RedWater Golf

The Dunes Club
  1. The Dunes Club/New Buffalo

       KemperSports

  • Founded: 1990
  • Holes: 9
  • Course Architect: Dick Nugent/Jim Urbina/George Waters
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 37.8 Rating/148 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 89.8
  • Location

The GolfDay private club rating is based on a variety of criteria, including the stature of the architect(s) who did the original design(s), updates that have been done on the course(s), the variety of courses located at the property, USGA Course and Slope Ratings, current local and national rankings by Golf Digest, as well as club longevity and prestige.

Share this Article:

All Time Top 100: PGA Championship 2025

Quail Hollow Club, NC

There will be eighteen players among the All-time Top 100 golfers teeing it up for the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow this weekend in Norh Carolina. Jack and Tiger (1 and 2 on the list) set the career standard with 18 and 15 major championship wins respectively, marks that would seem impossible to reach.

Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm have put up numbers that come as close to Jack and Tiger as just about anyone ever has. In the end, however, it comes down to performance at the major championships—and the clock is ticking.

Rory (#14), is 35 years old and just recorded his 5th major championship victory at The Masters in April. Jon Rahm (#50), is 30 years old with 2 major championships under his belt, while Scottie Scheffler (#55), also has 2 major wins–but at 28 he’s the youngest of this powerhouse group with the best chance to make a run at Jack and Tiger.

While Tiger won 14 of his 15 major championships by the age of 32 (the exception being his famous 2019 Masters victory at the age of 43), Jack won 6 majors after he turned 35.

Considering that all 3 of these players are extremely fit, there is every reason to believe that each will continue to perform at a high level well into their 40’s.

Rory still has time

Rory

Having secured the career grand slam at Augusta National in April, ending a 10-year major championship drought, has the dam now been broken for Rory and will major championships begin to fall like rain? His talent is such that it has often seemed the only way for McIlroy to lose is when he beats himself (you need a super computer to calculate the number of putts that Rory has missed inside of 10 feet in the major championships alone).

If Rory were to play at close to his maximum level through age 46 (when Jack won his last major championship), there is no question he can win more than a few additional majors—but will those putts now begin to drop with more regularity? Regardless, McIlroy will end his career among the Top-10 greatest ever to play the game–and that’s pretty much guaranteed.

Scheffler: Moving up fast

Scottie

Scheffler’s 2024 season stacks up with Jack’s great ’72 season, and even stands up close to Tiger’s unbelievable year in 2000 when he won 3 majors. So far in 2025, Scottie hasn’t missed a cut through 9 events with 6 Top-10’s, including a win and a Top-5 at The Masters.

Scotties 2024 season was among the greats

Although Scottie is only is only 28, he will need to keep his foot firmly on the gas week-in and week-out as Jack and Tiger did, but particularly so at the majors—starting this weekend at The PGA (Tiger already had 8 majors wins by the time he was 28, and Jack had 7).

Needs to kick it up at the majors

Jon Rahm

Jon Rahm put up Tiger-like numbers when he played on the PGA Tour, and he dominates the LIV circuit, but his performance at the majors has not been particularly stellar since his departure.

In his final year on the PGA Tour (2023), Jon had a win at The Masters, a T2 at The Open Championship and a T10 at the U.S. Open. Since joining LIV, Rahm has recorded just 1 top-10 (T7 at the Open Championship last year).

Until there is a resolution between the PGA Tour and LIV, Jon’s only opportunities to climb the All-Time Top 100 list will come at the major championships—so he needs be have his A-game on display this weekend.

Reigning U.S. Open and PGA Champions

Bryson and Xander

In the last 5 major championships, Bryson DeChambeau (#89) has recorded a win (’24 U.S. Open), a runner-up (’24 PGA), a T-5 (’25 Masters) and a T-6 (’24 Masters). Bryson is also at the top of the 2025 LIV standings, and he’s coming off a win in South Korea–so he’s ready to roll.

Expect Bryson to be among the leaders come Sunday at Quail Hollow.

Although Xander (#66) has had a slow recovery from the rib cage injury he suffered early in the year, he continued his consecutive cut streak through 7 events (now at 59) and recorded a Top-10 at The Masters.

After breaking out with 2 major wins in 2024 and coming off a final round 66 at The Truist Championship last week, look for Xander to be in contention this weekend.

All-Time Top 100 at the 2025 PGA Championship

Phil Mikelson                #9
Rory McIlroy                 #14
Dustin Johnson           #29
Sergio Garcia               #32
Adam Scott                   #36
Justin Rose                  #40
Jon Rahm                      #50
Scottie Scheffler          #55
Jordan Spieth              #59
Brooks Koepka           #59
Jason Day                     #59
Justin Thomas             #65
Xander Schauffele      #66
Hideki Matuyama       #74
Collin Morikawa          #81
Ricky Fowler                #89
Bryson DeChambaeu   #89
Cameron Smith           #100

If you’re looking for great golf where you are or where you’re going, the GolfDay Search Engine makes it easy to find the best courses and a better bang for your buck.

Share this Article:

Toughest Golf Courses: U.S. Public Top 40

The Pfau Course: Indiana University

If you’ve put in the range time and your game is razor sharp, take a spin through our Top 40 toughest golf courses open to public play. Tracks have been ranked on the basis of  USGA course and slope rating from the tips with a GolfDay Rating of 90 or higher (Resort courses not included).  

Jack Nicklaus designs are always a difficult test, and 7 of his toughest are among our Top 40 including Emerald Hills (#7) and Old Corkscrew (#8) in Florida, Bayside Resort Club (#10) in Delaware and Old Work (#12) in Montana.

Nicklaus: Crafting Tough Tracks

In addition to renovations at Bethpage Black prior to the 2002 U.S. Open, assuring an even stiffer test on a course that Tillinghast built for maximum difficulty, Rees Jones also laid out Echelon (#15) in Georgia and updated already tough Robert Trent Jones, Sr. tracks at The Dunes (#19) in SC and Duke University (#38) in NC.

Rees Jones and Pete Dye

5 of our Top 40 are Pete Dye creations, including the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech (#14), Pound Ridge (#20) in NY, and Bull Rock (#22) in Maryland.

Tom Fazio (with renovations by Andrew Green) contributed a brute with Karsten Creek at Oklahoma State, and the duo of Steve Smyers and Fuzzy Zoeller laid out The Pfau Course at Indiana University—hands down the toughest University course in the country.

While these difficult tracks are spread throughout 23 states, New York is home to the most with 5, including The Links at Greystone (#24), Saratoga National (#33) and Seven Oaks at Colgate University–in addition to Bethpage Black and Pound Ridge.

Check out the GolfDay Top 500 public courses, and when you want to find the best courses near you or where you plan to be, click the GolfDay Search Engine and save a lot of time and aggravation.

Bethpage State Park, NY
  1. Black Course
    Bethpage State Park/Farmingdale, NY
  • Holes: 90 (5-Eighteen Hole Courses)
  • Course Architects: A. W. Tillinghast/Francis Duane/Devereux Emmet/Alfred Tull/Rees Jones/Desmond Muirhead
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Black:        77.5 Rating/155 Slope
    Blue:          72.3 Rating/130 Slope
    Green:       70.2 Rating/129 Slope
    Red:           74.4 Rating/133 Slope
    Yellow:      69.6 Rating/120 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Driving Range and Putting Green.
  • Course Descriptions
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 100
  • Location
The Pfau Course
  1. The Pfau Course/Bloomington, IN
    Indiana University
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Steve Smyers/Fuzzy Zoeller
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 80.2 Rating/155 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Double Sided Grass Driving Range with Targets, Wedge Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 100
  • Location
RainDance National Golf Course, CO
  1. RainDance National Golf Course/Windsor, CO
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Harrison Minchew/Fred Funk
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 79.9 Rating/155 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Double-sided Grass Driving Range with Targets (Funk Yard), Wedge Range, Expansive Putting and Chipping Green with Bunkers (G.O.A.T Ranch).
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 96.4
  • Location
Karsten Creek Golf Club, OK
  1. Karsten Creek Golf Club/Stillwater, OK
    Oklahoma State University
Royal New Kent Golf Club, VA
  1. Royal New Kent Golf Club/Providence Forge, VA
TPC Treviso Bay, FL
  1. TPC Treviso Bay/Naples, FL
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Steve Smyers/Fuzzy Zoeller
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 77.3 Rating/153 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Grass Wedge Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker, Indoor Golf Simulator with TrackMan Technology.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 99.1
  • Location
Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course), CA
  1. South
    Torrey Pines Golf Course/San Diego, CA
  • Holes: 36 (2 Eighteen Hole Courses: North/South)
  • Course Architects: William F. Bell/David Rainville/Stephen Halsey/Jack Daray, Jr./Rees Jones
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    North:                                             75.8 Rating/134 Slope
    South:                                             78.8 Rating/148 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 100
  • Location
The Club at Emerald Hills, FL
  1. The Club at Emerald Hills/Hollywood, FL
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Robert von Hagge/Bruce Devlin/Charles Ankrom/Jack Nicklaus
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 78.6 Rating/148 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.5
  • Location
Old Corkscrew Golf Club, FL
  1. Old Corkscrew Golf Club/Estero, FL
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Steve Smyers/Fuzzy Zoeller
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 76.6 Rating/151 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 95.6
  • Location
Dragonfly Golf Club, CA
  1. Dragonfly Golf Club/Madera, CA
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Gary Roger Baird
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 78.6 Rating/144 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Lighted and Covered Grass Driving Range with Target Greens, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.6
  • Location
Bayside Resort Golf Club, DE
  1. Bayside Resort Golf Club/Selbyville, DE
Purgatory Golf Club, IN
  1. Purgatory Golf Club/Noblesville, IN
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Ron Kern
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 78.3 Rating/148 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers (2).
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.3
  • Location
Old Works Golf Course, MT
  1. Old Works Golf Course/Anaconda, MT
  • Holes: 21
  • Course Architects: Jack Nicklaus
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 76.4 Rating/153 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker and 3 Hole “Little Bear” Practice Course.
  • GolfDay Rating: 98.1
  • Location
Eagles Nest Golf Club, SC
  1. Eagles Nest Golf Club/Little River, SC
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Gene Hamm
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 78.2 Rating/147 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.6
  • Location
Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech, VA
  1. Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech/Radford, VA
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Tom Clark/Dan Schlegel/Pete Dye
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 77.3 Rating/145 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 95
  • Location
Echelon Golf Club, GA
  1. Echelon Golf Club/Alpharetta, GA
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Rees Jones/Steve Weisser
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 77.2 Rating/149 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers (2).
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 95.8
  • Location
Mystic Creek Golf Club, AR
  1. Mystic Creek Golf Club/Eldorado, AR
Coyote Springs Golf Club, NV
  1. Coyote Springs Golf Club/Coyote Springs, NV
    RedHawk Golf and Resort
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Jack Nicklaus
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 76.8 Rating/149 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Expansive Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Accommodations
  • GolfDay Rating: 97.5
  • Location
Golf Club of Houston (Tournament Course), TX
  1. Tournament
    Golf Club of Houston/Humble, TX
  • Holes: 36 (2 Eighteen Hole Courses: Tournament/Member
  • Course Architects: Rees Jones/David Toms/Greg Muirhead/Jim Hardy/Peter Jacobsen
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Tournament:                                76.4 Rating/148 Slope
    Member:                                         76.5 Rating/138 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Double Sided Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers, Wedge Range (Member Only)
  • Course Description
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 99.2
  • Location
The Dunes Golf & Beach Club, SC
  1. The Dunes Golf & Beach Club/Myrtle Beach, SC
Pound Ridge Golf Club, NY
  1. Pound Ridge Golf Club/Pound Ridge, NY
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Pete Dye/Perry Dye
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.9 Rating/148 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets (weekends)/Mats (Weekdays), Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.1
  • Location
White Bluff Golf Club (New Course), TX
  1. New Course
    White Bluff Golf Club/Whitney, TX
  • Holes: 36 (2 Eighteen Hole Courses: New/Old)
  • Course Architects: Bruce Lietzke
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    New:                                              75.5 Rating/147 Slope
    Old:                                                74.0 Rating/141 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets Greens, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 97.0
  • Location
Bulle Rock Golf Club, MD
  1. Bulle Rock Golf Club/Havre de Grace, MD
Prestwick Country Club, SC
  1. Prestwick Country Club/Myrtle Beach, SC
    Myrtle Beach Golf Trail
The Links at Greystone, NY
  1. The Links at Greystone/Walworth, NY
    New York Golf Trail
American Dunes Golf Club, MI
  1. American Dunes Golf Club/Grand Haven, MI
Jimmie Austin Golf, OK
  1. Jimmie Austin Golf Club/Norman, OK
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Perry Maxwell/Press Maxwell/Bob Cupp/Tripp Davis
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 77.9 Rating/142 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 99.5
  • Location
Crumpin-Fox Club, MA
  1. Crumpin-Fox Club/Bernardston, MA
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Roger Rulewich
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.1 Rating/147 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets and TopTracer Technology, Putting and Chipping Greens.
  • Course Description
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.6
  • Location
Eagle Eye Golf Club, MI
  1. Eagle Eye Golf Club/Bath, MI
  • Holes: 36 (Eighteen Hole Championship Course and Eighteen Hole Putting Course (Little Hawk)
  • Course Architects: Pete Dye/Chris Lutzke
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.5 Rating/146 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers. Range Balls included with full Greens Fee.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 97.6
  • Location
Beaufort Club, NC
  1. Beaufort Club/Beaufort, NC
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Bob Moore
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.4 Rating/146 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets and Putting Green. Range Balls included with Greens Fee.
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.4
  • Location
Stonewall Orchard Golf Club, IL
  1. Stonewall Orchard Golf Club/Grayslake, IL
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.0 Rating/150 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Wedge Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers.
  • Course Description
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.7
  • Location
Colbert Hills Golf Course, KS
  1. Colbert Hills Golf Course/Manhattan, KS
    Kansas State University
  • Holes: 27 (Eighteen- Hole Course and Nine-Hole Par 3)
  • Course Architects: Jeffrey Brauer/Jim Colbert
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 77.6 Rating/143 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Wedge Range with Fairway Bunker, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 98.0
  • Location
Brickshire Golf Club, VA
  1. Brickshire Golf Club/Providence Forge, VA
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Tom Clark/Curtis Strange
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.3 Rating/148 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.4
  • Location
Saratoga National Golf Club, NY
  1. Saratoga National Golf Club/Saratoga Springs, NY
    New York Golf Trail
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Roger Rulewich
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.3 Rating/144 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets and Fairway Bunker, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • GolfDay Rating: 97.7
  • Location
Gold Mountain Golf Club, WA
  1. Olympic
    Gold Mountain Golf Club/Bremerton, WA
    City of Bremerton
  • Holes: 36 (2 Eighteen-Hole Courses)
  • Course Architects: Ken Tyson/John Harbottle III
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Olympic:              74.9 Slope/148 Slope
    Cascades:            73.4 Rating/134 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Wedge Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 100
  • Location
Seven Oaks Golf Club, NY
  1. Seven Oaks Golf Club/Hamilton, NY
    Colgate University
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Ron Forse
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.5 Rating/145 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets and Putting Green.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 95.7
  • Location
Old Greenwood Golf Club, CA
  1. Old Greenwood Golf Club/Truckee, CA
    Tahoe Mountain Club
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Jack Nicklaus
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.5 rating/144 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Extensive 5 Acre Facility including Two-Tiered Driving Range with Targets and Fairway Bunker, Wedge Range, Putting and Chipping Greens and Keith Lyford Golf Academy.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 98.3
  • Location
Palouse Ridge Golf Club, WA
  1. Palouse Ridge Golf Club/Pullman, WA
    Washington State University
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Robert Muir Graves/John Harbottle III
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.5 Rating/144 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Double Sided Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.8
  • Location
Duke University Golf Club, NC
  1. Duke University Golf Club/Durham, NC
    Duke University
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Rees Jones
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.2 Rating/145 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Expansive Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 96.7
  • Location
Great River Golf Club, CT
  1. Great River Golf Club/Milford, CT
    Sacred Heart University
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Tom Fazio
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.6 Rating/146 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Driving Range with Targets (Mats-Monday/Tuesday, Grass Irons only-Wednesday/Thursday, Full Grass Friday-Sunday), Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers (3).
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.1
  • Location

The GolfDay Resort Rating is based on a variety of criteria, including the stature of the architect who did the original design, updates that have been done since the course was built, the variety of courses located at the property, USGA Course and Slope Ratings, current local and national rankings by Golf Digest and Golfweek (as well as other authoritative sources), the quality and diversity of practice facilities, general course conditioning and current course reviews, as well as the quality of accommodations and level of service.

Share this Article:

LIV Golf: 2025 Power Rankings Through Mexico

Joaquin Neimann: 3 wins already in 2025

With the first six events of the 2025 LIV season having been completed, it’s looking more and more like a three-horse race between Jon Rahm, Joaquin Niemann and Bryson DeChambeau—although there are three more major championships still to play that can tip the scales in a big way, and LIV is sending 11 members to to the PGA Championship in May.

With the USGA now considering LIV performance for a spot in the U.S. Open field, Niemann’s 3 wins will have him teeing it up at Oakmont in June as well.

Keep in mind that twelve LIV members are included among the All-Time Top 100 Players, starting with Phil at #9.

Jon Rahm: LIV Points Leader

Jon Rahm holds a razor thin lead in the LIV Power Rankings with a Top-10 finish in every event (including a runner up and 2-Top 5’s), while Niemann has won three of the first six (bringing Joaquin to 5 career LIV wins–tying him with Brooks Koepka for the all-time lead).

Bryson DeChambeau is just behind them with a runner-up, a Top-5 and 2-Top-10’s—plus his outstanding performance at The Masters.

Bryson DeChambeau: T5 at Augusta

LIV Power Ranking Update

Players are rated and ranked on the basis of events played, average finish, wins, runner up, Top-5 and Top-10 finishes–as well as performance at the major championships.

Top 5

No. 1 Jon Rahm: 69.7 Rating 

  • LIV Average Finish: 5.3 (#1)
  • Performance Profile: Runner-up at Riyadh, Top-5’s at Singapore and Mexico, Top-10 at Adelaid, Hong Kong and Miami
  • Masters Finish: Top-20 (14)

No. 2 Joaquin Niemann: 69.5 Rating

  • LIV Average Finish: 13.5 (#5)
  • Performance Profile: Wins at Adelaid, Singapore and Mexico
  • Masters Finish: Top-30 (29)

No. 3 Bryson DeChambeau: 63.8 Rating

  • LIV Average Finish: 10.2 (#3)
  • Performance Profile: Runner-up at Mexico, Top-5 at Miami and Top-10’s at Riyah and Singapore
  • Masters Finish: Top-5 (5)
Only 23 Years old, Puig lights it up

No. 4 David Puig: 56.2 Rating

  •  LIV Average Finish: 9.8 (#2)
  • Performance Profile: Top 5’s at Adelaid and Singapore and a Top-10 at Riyadh.
  • Masters Finish: Did Not Play

No. 5 Lucas Herbert: 55.8

  • LIV Average Finish: 12.2 (#4)
  • Performance Profile: Runner-up at Mexico, Top-5’s Riyadh and Hong Kong
  • Masters Finish: Did Not Play

Notables

Phil Mickelson (No. 11): Looks like Phil has decided to start playing some golf again with a T-5 at Hong Kong and a T-10 at Miami. Although he missed the cut at Augusta National, there were more than a few flashes of the old Phil—don’t be shocked if he’s hanging around on the weekend at Quail Hollow in a couple of weeks. 

Brooks Koepka (No. 18): Other than a runner-up at Singapore and a T-10 at Adelaide, Brooks has been pretty much sleeping through the ’25 LIV season. With the PGA Championship right around the corner you might have expected him to be honing his game in Mexico—but after birding two of the first three holes in the first round, Brooks played 5 over the rest of the way and disappeared to a distant 30th.

Still, it’s hard to imagine he won’t show up to play at Quail Hollow and try to bag his 6th major championship.

Sebastian Munoz: Number 6

Sebastian Munoz (No. 6): Sebastian had a terrific first year with LIV in 2023 with 4 Top 5 finishes including a runner-up to end the year at No. 12, but 2024 was a disappointment with just 3 Top-10’s as he slid to 20th.

He’s back on track in 2025 with a runner-up at Riyadh, a Top-5 at Singapore and a pair of Top-10’s (Hong Kong and Mexico).

All-Time LIV Wins
Brooks Koepka:                     5
Joaquin Niemann:               5
Cam Smith:                             3
Dustin Johnson:                   3
Talor Gooch:                          3
Jon Rahm:                              2
Bryson DeChambeau:       2

Jack Nicklaus Golf Club, Incheon, South Korea

2025 LIV Schedule

Korea: Jack Nicklaus Golf Club, South Korea (May 2-4)

DC: Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Washington, DC (June 6-8)

Dallas: Maridoe Golf Club, Carrollton, Texas (June 27-29)

Andalucia: Real Club Valderrama, Cadiz, Spain (July 11-13)

 Looking for a great track or planning a golf trip–find everything you need with the GolfDay Search Engine.

Share this Article:

Top 35 Municipal Courses-U.S. 2025

TPC Harding Park

More and more events on the PGA Tour schedule have been hosted at municipal venues in recent years, including four of the first fourteen events this year–The Farmers and The Genesis at Torrey Pines in California, The Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale, and the Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park.

The Black Course at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, NY (#1 on our top 35), has hosted the U.S. Open Championship twice (2002 and 2009), a PGA Championship (2019) and will be the site of the 2025 Ryder Cup in the Fall.  

Torrey Pines South Course (#3) was selected for the 2008 and 2021 U.S. Open, Chambers Bay (#5) in University Place, WA held the 2005 Open, and TPC Harding Park in San Francisco was the site of the 2020 PGA Championship.

So, we have compiled out list of the Top 35 Municipal Courses in the United States.

The Architects

Robert Trent Jones Sr.

Robert Trent Jones, Sr. designed 8 of our Top-35, 6 of which can be found along the RTJ Golf Trail in Alabama—including Cambrian Ridge (#7) and Grand National (#9). RTJ also designed the courses at Incline Village (#8) near Lake Taho in NV (renovated by Robert Trent Jones II) as well as the courses at Tanglewood Park (#19) in North Carolina.   

Jack Nicklaus weighed in with design at two of the Top-35 (#10–Bally’s in NY, and #27—Breckenridge in Colorado). Jack also did a complete re-design of North Palm Beach Country Club in 2006 (#20)

Jack Nicklaus

Donald Ross is also represented among the Top 35, with 2 North Carolina courses—Monroe Country Club (#31) and Mooresville Golf club (#34).

You can also click Top US Municipal Courses for the Top-200 (includes City and County owned courses, as well as State and National Park golf facilities)—shown by GolfDay Rating.

To view courses by location, use the GolfDay Search Engine and enter the city where you plan to be.

Bethpage State Park, NY
  1. Bethpage State Park/Farmingdale, NY

      New York State Parks

  • Holes: 90 (5 Eighteen Hole Regulation Course: Black/Blue/Green/Red/Yellow)
  • Course Architects: A. W. Tillinghast/Francis Duane/Devereux Emmet/Alfred Tull/Rees Jones/Desmond Muirhead
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Black:                                    77.5 Rating/155 Slope
    Blue:                                      72.3 Rating/130 Slope
    Green:                                   74.4 Rating/133 Slope
    Red:                                       74.4 Rating/133 Slope           
    Yellow:                                  69.6 Rating/120 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Driving Range and Putting Green.
  • Course Description
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 100.0
  • Location
Torrey Pines, CA
  1. Torrey Pines/San Diego, CA

      City of San Diego

  • Holes: 36 (2-Eighteen Hole Courses: North/South)
  • Course Architects: William F. Bell/David Rainville/Stephen Halsey/Jack Daray, Jr./Rees Jones
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    North:                          75.8 Rating/134 Slope
    South:                          78.8 Rating/148 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Descriptions
  • GolfDay Rating: 100.0
  • Location
Gold Mountain Golf Club, WA
  1. Gold Mountain Golf Club/Bremerton, WA

      City of Bremerton

  • Holes: 36 (2-Eighteen Hole Courses: Olypmic/Cascades)
  • Course Architects: Ken Tyson/John Harbottle III
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Olympic:                                74.9  Rating/148 Slope
    Cascades:                              73.4 Rating/134 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Wedge Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Descriptions
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 100.0
  • Location
TPC Harding Park, CA
  1. TPC Harding Park/San Francisco, CA

      City of San Francisco/PGA Tour Properties

  • Holes: Eighteen Hole Regulation Course (TPC) and Nine Hole Executive Course (Fleming)
  • Course Architects: Willie Watson/Sam Whiting/Jack Flemming/Chris Gray
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Olympic:                                 74.9  Rating/148 Slope
    Cascades:                                73.4 Rating/134 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Driving Range with Targets and Toptracer Technology, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker (Chipping Green and Bunker closed on Wednesdays).
  • Course Description-TPC
  • Course Description-Fleming 9
  • GolfDay Rating: 100.0
  • Location
Chambers Bay, WA
  1. Chambers Bay/University Place, WA

      Pierce County/KemperSports

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Robert Trent Jones, Jr.
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.3 Rating/139 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Driving Range with Targets (Grass April-October/Mats November-March, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker. Range Balls included with Greens Fee.
  • Course Description
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 99.2
  • Location
TPC Scottsdale, AZ
  1. TPC Scottsdale/Scottsdale, AZ

      City of Scottsdale/PGA Properties

  • Holes: 36 (2 Eighteen Hole Courses: Stadium/Champions)
  • Course Architects: Tom Weiskopf/Jay Morrish/Phil Smith/Randy Heckenkemper
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Stadium:                                  74.7 Rating/142 Slope
    Champions:                            73.2 Rating/135 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Descriptions
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 98.9
  • Location
Cambrian Ridge, AL
  1. Cambrian Ridge/Greenville, AL

      Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail/SunBelt Golf

  • Holes: 36 (3 Nine Hole Regulation Courses: Loblolly/Sherling/Canyon and Nine Hole Par 3 “Short Course”)
  • Course Architects: Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Roger Rulewich
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Loblolly:                                 37.0 Rating/142 Slope
    Sherling:                                 37/5 Rating/135 Slope
    Canyon:                                   37.3 Rating/152 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Descriptions
  • GolfDay Rating: 98.8
  • Location
Incline Village, NV
  1. Incline Village/Incline Village, NV

      Incline Village and Crystal Bay/General Improvement District

  • Holes: 36 (Eighteen Hole Regulation Course (Championship) and Eighteen Hole Executive Course (Mountain))
  • Course Architects: Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Robert Muir Graves/Robert Trent Jones, Jr./Kyle Phillips
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Championship:                               73.6 Rating/144 Slope
    Mountain:                                            59.3 Rating/105 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker
  • Course Description-Championship
  • Course Description-Mountain
  • GolfDay Rating: 98.2
  • Location
Grand National, AL
  1. Grand National/Opelika, AL

      Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail/SunBelt Golf

  • Holes: 54 (2 Eighteen Hole Regulation Courses (Links/Lake) and Eighteen Hole Par 3 Course (Short Course)
  • Course Architects: Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Roger Rulewich
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Links:                                      75.2 Rating/142 Slope
    Lake:                                       73.8 Rating/132 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 98.1
  • Location
Bally’s Golf Link at Ferry Point, NY
  1. Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point/Bronx, NY

      City of New York/Bally’s Corporations

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Jack Nicklaus
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 76.1 Rating/141 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker and Michael Breed Golf Academy. Range Balls included with Greens Fee.
  • Course Description
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 97.8
  • Location
The Highlands of Elgin, IL
  1. The Highlands of Elgin/Elgin, IL

      City of Elgin

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Larry Packard/Dick Nugent/Ken Killian/Keith Foster/Arthur Schaupeter
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.7 Rating/139 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker and Michael Breed Golf Academy. Range Balls included with Greens Fee.
  • Video Tour
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 97.6
  • Location
Rockwind Golf Course, NM
  1. Rockwind Golf Course/Hobbs, NM

      City of Hobbs/Rockwind Community Links

  • Holes: 27 (Eighteen Hole Regulation Course and Nine Hole Par 3 Course (L’il Rock)
  • Course Architect: Andy Staples
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Links:                                      73.3 Rating/130 Slope
    Li’L Rock:                               25.9 Rating/72 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description-Eighteen Hole
  • Course Description/Scorecard- Li’l Rock
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 97.3
  • Location
Magnolia Grove, AL
  1. Magnolia Grove/Mobile, AL

      Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail/SunBelt Golf

  • Holes: 54 (2 Eighteen Hole Courses (Falls/Crossings) and Eighteen Hole Par 3 Course)
  • Course Architects: Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Roger Rulewich
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Falls:                                        74.6 Rating/130 Slope
    Crossings:                               73.7 Rating/139 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 97.1
  • Location
Capitol Hill, AL
  1. Capitol Hill/Prattville, AL

      Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail/SunBelt Golf

  • Holes: 54 (2 Eighteen Hole Courses (Falls/Crossings) and Eighteen Hole Par 3 Course)
  • Course Architects: Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Roger Rulewich
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Judge:                                      78.5 Rating/147 Slope
    Legislator:                               76.5 Rating/149 Slope
    Senator:                                   77.4 Rating/132 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 97.1
  • Location
Riverdale Golf Course, CO
  1. Riverdale Golf Courses/Brighton, CO

      Adams County

  • Holes: 36 (2 Eighteen Hole Courses: Dunes/Knolls)
  • Course Architects: Pete Dye/Perry Dye
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Dunes:                         73.0 Rating/136 Slope                       
    Knolls:                         70.9 Rating/125 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description-Dunes
  • Course Description-Knolls
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 96.2
  • Location
Ross Bridge, AL
  1. Ross Bridge/Hoover, AL

      Renaissance Birmingham/Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Roger Rulewich/Bobby Vaughn
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 78.4 Rating/147 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 96.1
  • Location
Laurell Hill Golf Club, VA
  1. Laurell Hill Golf Club/Lorton, VA

      Fairfax County Park Authority

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Bill Love/Matt Lohmann
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.6 Rating/146 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range Target Greens, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 96.1
  • Location
The Fort Golf Course, IN
  1. The Fort Golf Course/Indianapolis, IN

      Pete Dye Golf Trail/Indiana State Parks

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Pete Dye/Tim Liddy
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.0 Rating/143 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 95.7
  • Location
Tanglewood Park, NC
  1. Tanglewood Park/Clemmons, NC

      Forsyth County/Brown Management

  • Holes: 54 2 Eighteen Hole Courses (Championship/Reynolds) and Eighteen Hole Par 3 Course
  • Course Architects: Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Roger Rulewich/Allan MacCurrach/Robert Trent Jones, Jr./Richard Mandell
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Championship:                     74.5 Rating/139 Slope
    Reynolds:                                73.2 Rating/136 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Lighted Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 95.4
  • Location
Oxmoor Valley, FL
  1. Oxmoor Valley/Birmingham, AL

      Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail/Sunbelt Golf

  • Holes: 2 Eighteen Hole Regulation Courses: Ridge/Valley and Nine Hole Par 3 “The Back Yard”
  • Course Architects: Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Roger Rulewich
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Ridge:                                     74.3 Rating/141 Slope           
    Valley:                                     75.6 Rating/147 Slope
    Practice Facilities: Driving Range (Mats-Monday through Friday/Grass Saturday-Sunday), Putting and Chipping Greens.
  • Course Descriptions
  • GolfDay Rating: 95.3
  • Location
Bryan Park Golf Club, NC
  1. Bryan Park Golf Club/Browns Summit, NC

      City of Greensboro/Pinnacle Golf Management

  • Holes: 36 Holes (2 Eighteen Courses: Champions/Players Course)
  • Course Architects: Rees Jones/George Cobb/John LaFoy
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Champions:                           75.6 Rating/141 Slope           
    Players:                                    73.6 Rating/131 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Wedge Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers
  • Course Description-Champions
  • Course Description-Players
  • GolfDay Rating: 95.1
  • Location
Rustic Canyon Golf Course, CA
  1. Rustic Canyon Golf Course/Moorpark, CA

      Ventura County

Thunderhawk Golf Club, IL
  1. Thunderhawk Golf Club/Beach Park, IL

      Lake County Forest Preserve

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Robert Trent Jones, Jr.
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.6 Rating/143 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 95.0
  • Location
Silver Lakes, AL
  1. Silver Lakes/Glencoe, AL

      Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail/Sunbelt Golf

  • Holes: 36 Holes (3 Nine Hole Regulation Courses: Backbreaker/Heartbreaker/Mindbreaker and Nine Par 3 Short Course)
  • Course Architects: Robert Trent Jones, Jr./Roger Rulewich
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Backbreaker:                           38.5/143 Slope
    Heartbreaker:                          38.2 Rating/140 Slope
    Mindbreaker:                           37.7 Rating/151 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 95.0
  • Location
Arrowhead Golf Club, IL
  1. Arrowhead Golf Club/Wheaton, IL

      Wheaton Park District

  • Holes: 27 (3 Nine Hole Courses: East/West/South)
  • Course Architects: Stanley Pelchar/David Gill/Ken Killian/Greg Martin
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    East:                             37.0 Rating/130 Slope
    North:                          37.5 Rating/137 Slope
    South:                          37.0 Rating/141 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.9
  • Location
Breckenridge Golf Club, CO
  1. Breckenridge Golf Club/Breckenridge, CO

      Town of Breckenridge

  • Holes: 27 (3 Nine Hole Courses: Beaver/Bear/Elk
  • Course Architect: Jack Nicklaus
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Beaver:          36.9 Rating/155 Slope
    Bear:               37.0 Rating/147 Slope
    Elk:                  36.3 Rating/145 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.8
  • Location
Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club, WY
  1. Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club/Jackson, WY

      Grand Teton National Park

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Robert E. Baldock/Robert Trent Jones Sr./Robert Trent Jones Jr.
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.9 Rating/137 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets and Fairway Bunker (flight restricted balls), Wedge Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker. Range Balls included with Green Fees.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.8
  • Location
Memorial Park Golf Course, TX
  1. Memorial Park Golf Course/Houston, TX

      City of Houston

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: John Bredemus/Joe Finger/Ken Dye/Baxter Spann/Tom Doak
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.2 Rating/128 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Two Level Lighted Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens.
  • Course Description
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.6
  • Location
Pinon Hills Golf Course, NM
  1. Pinon Hills Golf Course/Farmington, NM

      City of Farmington

Monroe Country Club, NC
  1. Monroe Country Club/Monroe, NC

      City of Monroe

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Donald Ross/Tom Jackson/Richard Mandell/Tyler Rae
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 72.2 Rating/132 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.5
  • Location
The Wilderness, TX
  1. The Wilderness/Lake Johnson, TX

      City of Lake Jackson/KemperSports

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Jeffrey Brauer
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.9 Rating/134 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets and Fairway Bunker, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Layout
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.5
  • Location
Neshanic Valley Golf Course, NJ
  1. Neshanic Valley Golf Course/Brachburg, NJ

      Somerset County

  • Holes: 38 (3 Nine Hole Courses: Lake/Ridge/Meadow and Nine Hole Academy Course)
  • Course Architects: Michael Hurdzan/Dana Fry
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Lake:                                       37.1 Rating/129 Slope
    Ridge:                                     36.4 Rating/133 Slope
    Meadow:                                36.6 Rating/130 Slope
    Academy:                               30.2 Rating/94 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Expansive Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers (2) and Two Practice Holes.
  • Layout
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.9
  • Location
Mooresville, NC
  1. Mooresville/Mooresville, NC

      Town of Mooresville

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Donald Ross/J. Porter Gibson/Kris Spence
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.0 Rating/135 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers.
  • Course Description
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.9
  • Location
Texas Star Golf Course, TX
  1. Texas Star Golf Course/Euless, TX

      City of Euless

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Keith Foster/Robert McNeil
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.6 Rating/139 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.8
  • Location

The GolfDay rating is based on a variety of criteria, including the stature of the architect(s) who did the original design(s), updates that have been done on the course(s), USGA Course and Slope Ratings, the quality and diversity of practice facilities, general course conditioning and current reviews.

 

 

Share this Article:

Top 40 Private Clubs—California 2025

Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades

The California landscape is amazingly diverse, from the rocky northern pacific coast of Monterey to the mountains of Lake Tahoe, the desert beauty of Palm Springs and the sandy beaches of Southern California—and also home to many of the greatest golf courses in the world.

We’ve included our Top 40 California Private Clubs below, or you can spin through all of the private courses in California listed by GolfDay Rating.

Clubs are listed on the basis of GolfDay Rating, and listings include a link to the club website, the year founded, course architect(s), current USGA course and slope ratings as well as a link to Google Maps for each location.

Alistair Mackenzie

Our California Top 40 include four original Dr. Alistair Mackenzie designs, who became perhaps the most celebrated golf course architect in history when he collaborated with Bobby Jones to create Augusta National. Many believe, however, that his greatest work may be Cypress Point Club in Pebble Beach—Number 1 in our Top 40.

In addition to Cypress Point, Dr. Mackenzie also did the original design at The Valley Club of Montecito in Santa Barbara (#11), Green Hills Country Club (#17) and Meadow Club (#27).

William “Willie” Watson

Although not quite as famous as Allister Mackenzie, William “Willie” Watson was another Scott who made his way to the western United States in the early 1900’s and created a great many wonderful layouts, four of which are among our Top 40–including both courses at the iconic Olympic Club in San Francisco (#4).

In addition to classic courses steeped in history, our Top 40 private clubs also include four modern designs by Tom Fazio, including The Quarry (#9) and The Madison Club (#12) in the desert at La Quinta, Martis Camp near Lake Tahoe (#10), and The Preserve (#15) in Carmel—about as different as can be from the standpoint of climate and topography. 

Tom Fazio

To view courses by location, use the GolfDay Search Engine and select “where you are” or where you plan to be (by entering the city or zip code). You can also refine your search and save time by adding a description and the features you are looking for. 

Cypress Point Club
  1. Cypress Point Club/Pebble Beach
  • Founded: 1928
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Alister MacKenzie/Robert Hunter
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.1 Rating/141 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 100
  • Location
Monterey Peninsula Country Club
  1. Monterey Peninsula Country Club/Pebble Beach
  • Founded: 2001
  • Holes: 36 (2-Eighteen Hole Courses)
  • Course Architects: Seth Raynor/Charles Banks/Alister MacKenzie/Robert Hunter/Robert E. Baldock/Jack Neville/Robert Bruce Harris/Mike Strantz/Rees Jones/Tom Fazio/Tim Jackson/David Kahn
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Dunes: 74.6 Rating/140 Slope
    Fazio:   73.7 Rating/134 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 100
  • Location
The Los Angeles Country Club
  1. The Los Angeles Country Club/Los Angeles
  • Founded: 1897
  • Holes: 36 (2-Eighteen Hole Courses)
  • Course Architects: George Thomas/William Herbert Fowler/William P. Bell/Robert Muir Graves/John Harbottle III/Gil Hanse/Geoff Shackelford
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    North:             75.7 Rating/143 Slope
    South:             71.9 Rating/129 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 100
  • Location
The Olympic Club
  1. The Olympic Club/San Francisco
  • Founded: 1860
  • Holes: 45 (2 Eighteen Hole Courses: Lake/Ocean and Nine Hole Cliffs Par 3
  • Course Architects: Willie Watson/Max Behr/Sam Whiting/Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Jack Flemming/John Flemming/Robert Muir Graves/Gil Hanse/Jim Wagner
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Lake:                 76.2 Rating/143 Slope
    Ocean:               74.3 Rating/133 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 100
  • Location
The Riviera Country Club
  1. The Riviera Country Club/Pacific Palisades
  • Founded: 1926
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: George Thomas/William P. Bell/Ted Robinson, Sr./Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw/Tom Fazio/Ron Forse
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 76.3 Rating/144 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 100
  • Location
San Francisco Golf Club
  1. San Francisco Golf Club/San Francisco
  • Founded: 1915
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: A. W. Tillinghast/William P. Bell/Jim Urbina
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.6 Rating/133 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 97.9
  • Location
California Golf Club of San Francisco
  1. California Golf Club of San Francisco/South San Francisco
  • Founded: 1918
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Vernon Macan/Alister MacKenzie/Robert Hunter/Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Kyle Phillips/George Waters
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.6 Rating/139 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 97.0
  • Location
Lake Merced Golf Club
  1. Lake Merced Golf Club/Daly City
  • Founded: 1922
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Willie Lock/Alister MacKenzie/Robert Hunter/Robert Muir Graves/Rees Jones/Gil Hanse
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.3 Rating/142 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 96.8
  • Location
The Quarry
  1. The Quarry/La Quinta
  • Founded: 1994
  • Holes: 28 (Eighteen Hole Course and Ten Hole Par 3)
  • Course Architects: Tom Fazio
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.2 Rating/136 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.3
  • Location
Martis Camp Golf Club
  1. Martis Camp Golf Club/Truckee
  • Founded: 2008
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Tom Fazio
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 76.8 Rating/146 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 95.6
  • Location
The Valley Club of Montecito
  1. The Valley Club of Montecito/ Santa Barbara
  • Founded: 1929
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Alister MacKenzie/Robert Hunter/William P. Bell/Tom Doak/Jim Urbina/Todd Eckenrode
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 8 Rating/133 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 95.2
  • Location
The Madison Club
  1. The Madison Club/ La Quinta
  • Founded: 2007
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Tom Fazio
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.6 Rating/143 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.6
  • Location
Mayacama Golf Club
  1. Mayacama Golf Club/ Santa Rosa
  • Founded: 2001
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Jack Nicklaus
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.1 Rating/154 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.5
  • Location
Stanford Golf Course
  1. Stanford Golf Course/Stanford
  • Founded: 1930
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: George Thomas/William P. Bell/Robert Trent Jones, Sr./John Harbottle III
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.7 Rating/138 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.5
  • Location
The Preserve
  1. The Preserve Golf Club/Carmel
  • Founded: 2000
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Tom Fazio/J. Michael Poellot/Sandy Tatum
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.3 Rating/142 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.2
  • Location
Bel-Air Country Club
  1. Bel-Air Country Club/Los Angeles
  • Founded: 1925
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: George Thomas/William P. Bell/Jack Neville/William H. Johnson/William F. Bell/Dick Wilson/George Fazio/Robert Trent Jones, Jr./Tom Doak
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.3 Slope/138 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.7
  • Location
Green Hills Country Club
  1. Green Hills Country Club/Millbrae
  • Founded: 1930
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Alister MacKenzie/Robert Hunter/Chandler Egan/Robert Muir Graves/Gary Roger Baird/Todd Eckenrode/George Waters
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 70.7 Slope/138 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.2
  • Location
Stone Eagle Golf Club
  1. Stone Eagle Golf Club/Palm Desert
  • Founded: 2005
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Tom Doak
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.7 Rating/139 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.9
  • Location
Tradition Golf Club
  1. Tradition Golf Club/La Quinta
  • Founded: 1998
  • Holes: 27 (Eighteen Hole Course and Nine Hole Par 3)
  • Course Architects: Arnold Palmer/Ed Seay/Harrison Minchew
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 0 Rating/137 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.9
  • Location
The Reserve Golf Club
  1. The Reserve Club/Indian Wells
  • Founded: 1998
  • Holes: 21 (Eighteen Hole Course and 3 Hole Practice)
  • Course Architects: Tom Weiskopf/Jay Morrish
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.5 Rating/138 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.5
  • Location
Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club
  1. Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club/Rancho Santa Fe
  • Founded: 1929
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Max Behr/Harry Rainville/David Rainville/Perry Dye/David McLay Kidd
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.2 Rating/140 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.3
  • Location
Sherwood Country Club
  1. Sherwood Country Club/Thousand Oaks
  • Founded: 1989
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Jack Nicklaus
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.4 Rating/144 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.2
  • Location
Hillcrest Country Club
  1. Hillcrest Country Club/Los Angeles
  • Founded: 1920
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Willie Watson/William P. Bell/William F. Bell/Robert Muir Graves/Kyle Phillips
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.7 Rating/133 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.7
  • Location
Mission Hills Country Club
  1. Mission Hills Country Club/Rancho Mirage
  • Founded: 1970
  • Holes: 54 (Three Eighteen-Hole Courses)
  • Course Architects: Arnold Palmer/Pete Dye/Desmond Muirhead
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating
    Palmer:                             72.7 Rating/132 Slope
    Dinah Shore:                    75.3 Rating/142 Slope
    Dye:                                  73.8 Rating/142 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.6
  • Location
Hacienda Golf Club
  1. Hacienda Golf Club/La Habra Heights
  • Founded: 1920
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Willie Watson/William P. Bell/George Von Elm/Ted Robinson, Sr./Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Peter Thomson/Michael Wolveridge/Ronald Fream/John Harbottle III
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.2 Rating/137 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.6
  • Location
North Ridge Country Club
  1. North Ridge Country Club/Fair Oaks
  • Founded: 1952
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: William P. Bell/William F. Bell/Robert Muir Graves/Robert Trent Jones, Jr.
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.9 Rating/140 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.5
  • Location
Meadow Club
  1. Meadow Club/Fairfax
  • Founded: 1927
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Alister MacKenzie/Robert Hunter/Robert Muir Graves/Mike DeVries
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 72.8 Rating/136 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.5
  • Location
Berkeley Country Club
  1. Berkeley Country Club/El Cerrito
  • Founded: 1920
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Willie Watson/Robert Hunter/Forrest Richardson/Mark Fine
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 72.6 Rating/133 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.4
  • Location
Hideaway Golf Club
  1. Hideaway Golf Club/La Quinta
  • Founded: 2001
  • Holes: 36 (2 Eighteen-Hole Courses)
  • Course Architects: Clive Clark/Pete Dye
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating
    Clark:              73.6 Rating/135 Slope
    Dye:                74.7 Rating/142 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.4
  • Location
La Jolla Country Club
  1. La Jolla Country Club/La Jolla
  • Founded: 1927
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: William P. Bell/Arthur Jack Snyder/Ted Robinson, Sr./Rees Jones/Todd Eckenrode
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.5 Rating/135 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.4
  • Location
Shady Canyon Golf Club
  1. Shady Canyon Golf Club/Irvine
  • Founded: 2002
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Tom Fazio/David Kahn/Tim Jackson
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.8 Rating/144 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.2
  • Location
Menlo Country Club
  1. Menlo Country Club/Woodside
  • Founded: 1904
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Tom Nicoll/William Herbert Fowler/Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Robert Trent Jones, Jr./Kyle Phillips
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:2 Rating/137 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.1
  • Location
The Vintage Club
  1. The Vintage Club/Indian Wells
  • Founded: 1984
  • Holes: 36
  • Course Architects: Tom Fazio/Tim Jackson/David Kahn
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Desert:             72.0 Rating/134 Slope
    Mountain:        74.7 Rating/140 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.0
  • Location
Rolling Hills Country Club
  1. Rolling Hills Country Club/Rolling Hills Estates
  • Founded: 1965
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Ted Robinson/David McLay Kidd
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.8 Rating/135 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.0
  • Location
Virginia Country Club
  1. Virginia Country Club/Long Beach
  • Founded: 1909
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: William P. Bell/A.W. Tillinghast/Edward Dearie/Robert Muir Gaves/John Harbottle III/Todd Eckenrode
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 72.3 Rating/130 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.0
  • Location
Big Horn Golf Club
  1. Bighorn Golf Club
  • Founded: 1991
  • Holes: 36
  • Course Architects: Arthur Hills/Tom Fazio
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Mountains:                  74.1 Rating/142 Slope
  • Canyons                      73.6 Rating/140 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.9
  • Location
Diablo Country Club
  1. Diablo Country Club/Diablo
  • Founded: 1914
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Jack Neville/Willie Watson/Todd Eckenrode
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.0 Rating/135 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.9
  • Location
Silver Creek Valley Country Club
  1. Silver Creek Valley Country Club/San Jose
  • Founded: 1992
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Ted Robinson, Sr./Mike Strantz
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.1 Rating/139 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.7
  • Location
Claremont Country Club
  1. Claremont Country Club/Oakland
  • Founded: 1897
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Jim Smith/Alister MacKenzie/Robert Hunter/J. Michael Poellot/Bradford Benz/Robert Muir Graves/George Waters/Jim Urbina
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 67.7 Rating/125 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.6
  • Location
Montecito Club
  1. Montecito Club/Santa Barbara
  • Founded: 1918
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Max Behr/Jack Nicklaus
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 72.2 Rating/132 Slope
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.6
  • Location

The GolfDay private club rating is based on a variety of criteria, including the stature of the architect(s) who did the original design(s), updates that have been done on the course(s), the variety of courses located at the property, USGA Course and Slope Ratings, current local and national rankings by Golf Digest, as well as club longevity and prestige. 

 

 

Share this Article:

Top 25 Municipal Courses in Texas 2025

Moody Gardens, Galveston, TX

With the Texas Children’s Houston Open coming up later this month at Memorial Park, a fantastic municipal layout where Stephan Jaeger nipped Scottie by a shot in 2024, it seemed an appropriate moment to take a look at the best municipal golf in the state of Texas.

Texas offers 140 municipal venues, second only to Illinois (146), with 12 receiving a GolfDay rating above 90 (excellent–the most of any state), while 42 are rated at 80 or higher (very good). For this list, we have compiled the top 25 municipal courses in Texas.

Houston Native Joe Finger did the original design on 5 of our Top 25 (with long time associates Ken Dye and Baxter Spann) including No. 6 (Cedar Creek) and No. 12 Landa Park). 

Joe Finger

Texas native Jeff Brauer designed 2 of our Top-25 (No. 2–The Wilderness and No. 7–Tangle Ridge), while Steve Wolfard (The Colony, TX) in association with PGA Tour professional turned golf course architect D.A Weibring renovated 4 of the Top-25 (including Pecan Hollow and Grapevine GC).

Keith Foster, renowned for his work restoring and renovating Colonial Country Club designed Texas Star (No. 9), while PGA Tour veterans Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy, another Houston Native, teamed up to lay out Moody Gardens in Galveston (No. 5).

Tom Doak, who designed Pacific Dunes in Oregon (year after year a Golf Digest Top 100 course) did the renovation at Memorial Park, giving the course plenty of teeth to withstand PGA Tour competition.

You can also click Texas Municipal Courses for a comprehensive list of TX courses you can play.

To view courses by location, use the GolfDay Search Engine and enter the city where you plan to be.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 4667_Memorial_Park_GC-1024x662.jpg
Memorial Park Golf Course
  1. Memorial Park Golf Course/Houston

City of Houston

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: John Bredemus/Joe Finger/Ken Dye/Baxter Spann/Tom Doak
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.2 Rating/128 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Two Level Lighted Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.6
  • Location
The Wilderness
  1. The Wilderness/Lake Jackson

City of Lake Jackson/KemperSports

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Jeffrey Brauer
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.9 Rating/134 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets and Fairway Bunker, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.5
  • Location
Texas Star Golf Course
  1. Texas Star Golf Course/Euless

City of Euless

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Keith Foster/Robert McNeil
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.6 Rating/139 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Course Description Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.8
  • Location
Tierra Verde Golf Club
  1. Tierra Verde Golf Club/Arlington

 City of Arlington

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Gary Panks
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.8 Rating/135 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description/Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.5
  • Location
Moody Gardens Golf Course
  1. Moody Gardens Golf Course/Galveston

City of Galveston

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Peter Jacobsen/Jim Hardy
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.0 Rating/134 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.1
  • Location
Cedar Creek Golf Course
  1. Cedar Creek Golf Course/San Antonio

 City of San Antonio/Alamo City Golf Trail

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Joe Finger/Ken Dye/Baxter Spann/Jeffrey Blume/Billy Ray Brown
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.5 Rating/136 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Green.
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.2
  • Location
Tangle Ridge Golf Club
  1. Tangle Ridge Golf Club/Grand Prairie

 City of Grand Prairie

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Jeffrey Brauer
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.6 Rating/136 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.0
  • Location
The Max
  1. The Max/Laredo

 City of Laredo

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Robert Trent Jones, Jr.
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.6 Rating/ 134 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.8
  • Location
Grey Rock Golf Club
  1. Grey Rock Golf Club/Austin

      City of Austin/Golf ATX

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Jay Morrish/Roy Bechtol
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.6 Rating/139 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Driving Range (Grass Friday-Sunday/Mats Monday-Thursday), Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker
  • Course Description
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.5
  • Location
Pecan Hollow Golf Corse
  1. Pecan Hollow Golf Course/Plano

        City of Plano

  • Holes: 23 (Eighteen Hole Regulation Course and Five Hole Lighted Par 3)
  • Course Architects: Billy Martindale/Don January/Jeffrey Brauer/Jim Colbert/D. A. Weibring/Steve Wolfard
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.4 Rating/141 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Lighted Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers (3).
  • Course Description
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.7
  • Location
Forest Creek Golf Club
  1. Forest Creek Golf Club/Round Rock

        City of Round Rock/Kemper Sports

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Richard Phelps/John Colligan
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.8 Rating/139 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Fairway Bunker, Putting and Chipping Greens.
  • Video Tour
  • Photos
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.4
  • Location
Landa Park Golf Course
  1. Landa Park Golf Course/New Braunfels

        City of New Braunfels

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Joe Finger/Ken Dye/Baxter Spann
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 70.5 Rating/129 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.3
  • Location
Mesquite Golf Club
  1. Mesquite Golf Club/Mesquite

        City of Mesquite

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Leon Howard/Garrett Gill/George Williams/Jeffrey Brauer
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.2 Rating/128 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Driving Range (Grass Saturday/Sunday, Mats on Weekdays), Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Photos
  • Ladies/Senior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 89.7
  • Location
Indian Creek Golf Club
  1. Indian Creek Golf Club/Carrollton

        City of Carrollton

  • Holes: 36 (2 Eighteen Hole Courses: Creek/Lakes)
  • Course Architects: Bradford Benz/Richard Phelps/Jeffrey Brauer
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Creek:                         75.5 Rating/141 Slope
    Lakes:                         74.0 Rating/132 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens.
  • Course Descriptions
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 89.6
  • Location
Prairie Lakes Golf Course
  1. Prairie Lakes Golf Course/Grand Prairie

        City of Grand Prairie

  • Holes: 27 )3 Nine Hole Courses: Red/White/Blue)
  • Course Architects: Ralph Plummer/John Colligan
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Red:                            36.4 Rating/130 Slope
    White:                        35.0 Rating/122 Slope
    Blue:                           36.1 Rating/122 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 88.6
  • Location
Eagle Pointe Golf Club
  1. Eagle Pointe Golf Club/Mont Belvieu

         City of Mont Belvieu

Clay Kizer Golf Complex
  1. Clay Kizer Golf Complex/Austin

        Golf ATX/City of Austin

  • Holes: 36 (2 Eighteen Hole Courses)
  • Course Architects: Joe Finger/Randy Russell
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Clay:                73.8 Rating/126 Slope
    Kizer:              72.4 Rating/124 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Target Greens, 4 Hole Par 3 Course with Bunkers, Putting and Chipping Green.
  • Course Description-Clay
  • Course Description-Kizer
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 88.1
  • Location
Cleburne Golf Links
  1. Cleburne Golf Links/Cleburne

        City of Cleburne

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Leon Howard/John Colligan
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.7 Rating/128 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving with Target Greens, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers (2).
  • Course Description
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 87.9
  • Location
Grapevine Golf Course
  1. Grapevine Golf Course/Grapevine

        City of Grapevine

  • Holes: 27 (3 Nine Hole Courses: Bluebonnet/Pecan/Mockingbird)
  • Course Architects: Joe Finger/Ken Dye/Byron Nelson/Jeffrey Brauer/D. A. Weibring/Steve Wolfard
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Bluebonnet:                         36.8 Rating/127 Slope
    Pecan:                                     37.6 Rating/139 Slope
    Mockingbird:                      36.7 Rating/133 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Lighted Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens (2) with Bunker
  • Course Description
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 87.9
  • Location
Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course
  1. Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course/Fredericksburg

      City of Fredericksville/Lady Bird RV Park

Cedar Crest Park Golf Course
  1. Cedar Crest Park Golf Course/Dallas

        City of Dallas

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: A. W. Tillinghast/John Bredemus/D. A. Weibring
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.8 Rating/134 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Green.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 87.3
  • Location
Gus Wortham Park Golf Course
  1. Gus Wortham Park Golf Course/Houston

         City of Houston

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: John Maguire/John Bredemus/Ralph Plummer/Baxter Spann
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 71.2 Rating/126 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Driving Range (Grass Friday-Sunday/Mats Monday-Thursday) and Putting Green.
  • Junior Golf
  • GolfDay Rating: 86.9
  • Location
Ross Rogers Golf Complex
  1. Ross Rogers Golf Complex/Amarillo

        City of Amarillo

  • Holes: 36 (2 Eighteen Hole Regulation Courses: Wild Horse/Mustang)
  • Course Architects: Leon Howard/Charles Howard/John Colligan/Trey Kemp/D. A. Weibring/Steve Wolfard
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Wild Horse:     73.5 Rating/130 Slope
    Mustang:         73.6 Rating/129 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Driving Range (Grass/Mats), Putting and Chipping Greens.
  • Course Description
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 86.5
  • Location
San Saba River Golf Course
  1. San Saba River Golf Course/San Saba

        City of San Saba

Cottonwood Creek Golf Course
  1. Cottonwood Creek Golf Course/Waco

         City of Waco

  • Holes: 27 (Eighteen Hole Regulation Course and Nine Hole “Junior” Par 3 Course)
  • Course Architects: Joe Finger/Ken Dye
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.1 Rating/135 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 85.5
  • Location

The GolfDay rating is based on a variety of criteria, including the stature of the architect(s) who did the original design(s), updates that have been done on the course(s), USGA Course and Slope Ratings, the quality and diversity of practice facilities, general course conditioning and current reviews.

 

 

Share this Article:

Top 15 Resorts­­–Michigan 2025

Arcadia Bluffs

As Spring approaches and the weather warms up there are few places that can match Michigan in May for stunning views and fabulous golf. While first rate public golf is a Michigan trademark, what sets it apart as a premier golf destination is the quantity, quality and diversity of great golf resorts to be found.

Our Top 15 Resorts­­–Michigan include more than 700 holes, with design by some of the giants of golf course architecture including Tom Doak (“The Loop” at Forest Dunes and “Stoatin Brae” at Gull Lake View), and Robert Trent Jones (“Masterpiece” at Treetops and “Heather” at The Highlands Harbor Springs).

Tom Weiskopf: Forest Dunes

Tom Weiskopf, who provided so many memorable duels with Jack, designed Forest Dunes, our #1 Resort course as well as “Cedar River” at Shanty Creek (No. 6). And speaking of Jack, Nicklaus Design created Harbor Shores (No. 5) as well as “The Bear” at Grand Traverse (No. 9).

Now is the time to start making plans because it won’t be long before perfect weather arrives along the Great Lakes and the upper peninsula.

Our Top 15 Michigan Golf Resorts are below, listed by GolfDay Rating. We’ve included links to the Resort Website, as well as direct links for course description and accommodations.

We have also provided current USGA course and slope ratings, course architect(s), a practice facility overview, and a link to Google Map and Directions for each location. 

You can also click Michigan Public for a comprehensive list of public tracks shown by GolfDay Rating.

To view courses by location, use the GolfDay Search Engine and enter the city where you plan to be.

Forest Dunes
  1. Forest Dunes/Roscommon
  • Holes: 36 (2-Eighteen Hole courses)
  • Course Architects: Tom Weiskopf/Tom Doak
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Forest Dunes:         75.6 Rating/150 Slope
    The Loop (Black): 71.5 Rating/125 Slope
    The Loop (Red):    72.3 Rating/126 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Accommodations
  • GolfDay Rating: 100.0
  • Location
Treetops
  1. Treetops/Gaylord
  • Holes: 81 (4-Eighteen Hole Courses and Nine Hole “Threetops” Par 3)
  • Course Architects: Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Tom Fazio/Rick Smith
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Masterpiece: 75.0 Rating/150 Slope
    Premier:        73.3 Rating/142 Slope
    Signature:     72.9 Rating/140 Slope
    Memorial:     70.0 Rating/130 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: 2 Grass Driving Ranges with Targets (Masterpiece and Treetops North), Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers (both facilities).
  • Course Description
  • Accommodations
  • Golf Packages
  • GolfDay Rating: 97.0
  • Location
Arcadia Bluffs
  1. Arcadia Bluffs/Arcadia
The Highlands
  1. The Highlands/Harbor Springs
    Boyne Golf
  • Holes: 81 (4-Eighteen Hole courses and Nine Hole “Doon Brae” Par 3)
  • Course Architects: Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Arthur Hills/William Newcomb/Everett Kircher/Stephen Kircher/Jim Flick/Mike DeVries/Raymond Hearn
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Heather Hills:   75.4 Rating/147 Slope
    Hills:                   75.5 Rating/147 Slope
    Moore:                73.5 Rating/144 Slope
    Ross Memorial: 73.9 Rating/143 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Ranges with Targets (2), Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker. Golf Academy with GEARS 3-D Body and Club Tracking System and Junior Golf Program.
  • Course Description
  • Accommodations
  • Golf Academy
  • GolfDay Rating: 97.4
  • Location
Harbor Shores
  1. Harbor Shores/Benton
Shanty Creek
  1. Shanty Creek/Bellaire
  • Holes: 90 (5 -Eighteen Hole courses)
  • Course Architects: Tom Weiskopf/Warner Bowen/William Diddel/Arnold Palmer/Ed Seay/John Robinson
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Cedar River:          74.0 Rating/138 Slope
    Schuss Mountain:  73.5 Rating/130 Slope
    Summit:                 70.4 Rating/131 Slope
    Legend:                  73.2 Rating/137 Slope
    Hawk’s Eye:          74.9 Rating/148 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Ranges with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers (3 Ranges-Cedar River, Schuss Mountain and Summit/Legend).
  • Course Description
  • Accommodations
  • Junior Golf
  • Golf Packages
  • GolfDay Rating: 96.3
  • Location
Tullymore
  1. Tullymore/Stanwood
Bay Harbor
  1. Bay Harbor/Bay Harbor
    Boyne Golf
  • Holes: 27 (3-Nine Hole Courses)
  • Course Architects: Arthur Hills/Stephen Kircher
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Links:      37.2 Rating/141 Slope
    Quarry:    37.1 Rating/150 Slope
    Preserve:  36.4 Rating/142 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Green with Bunker.
  • Course Descriptions
  • Accommodations
  • Golf Packages
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.5
  • Location
Grand Traverse
  1. Grand Traverse/Acme
  • Holes: 54 (3-Eighteen Hole Courses)
  • Course Architects: Jack Nicklaus/William Newcomb/Bob Cupp/John Robinson/Gary Player
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    The Bear:      76.3 Rating/150 Slope
    Spruce Run:  71.2 Rating/136 Slope
    Wolverine:    74.5 Rating/140 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens.
  • Course Description
  • Accommodations
  • Golf Academy
  • Golf Packages
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.1
  • Location
Sweetgrass
  1. Sweetgrass/Harris
    Island Resort & Casino
Sage Run Golf Club

11. Sage Run Golf Club/Bark River
Island Resort & Casino

Timber Stone Golf Course

12. Timber Stone Golf Course/Iron Mountain
Pine Mountain Resort

The Loon Golf Resort

13. The Loon Golf Resort/Gaylord

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Jerry Matthews/Bruce Matthews III/Butch Harmon
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    The Lakes:                   70.8 Rating/136 Slope
    The Ridge:                  70.6 Rating/137 Slope
    The Loon:                    72.8 Rating/139 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Accommodations
  • Golf Packages
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.8
  • Location
Gull Lake View

14. Gull Lake View/Augusta

  • Holes: 108
  • Course Architects: Darl Scott/Chaarles Scott/Jim Scott/Jon Scott/William Mitchell/Tom Doek/Eric Iverson/Brian Schneider
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Stoatin Brae:                       71.17 Rating/123 Slope
    East:                                        69.0 Rating/130 Slope
    West:                                       70.7 Rating/137 Slope
    Stonehedge North:           72.9 Rating/135 Slope
    Stonehedge South:           72.9 Rating/135 Slope
    Bedford Valley:                   74.2 Rating/137 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets at each course, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker at each course (Stonehedge does not include a Bunker).
  • Course Descriptions
  • Accommodations
  • Golf Packages
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.7
  • Location
Boyne Mountain Resort
  1. Boyne Mountain/Boyne Falls
    Boyne Golf
  • Holes: 36
  • Course Architects: William Newcomb
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Alpine:         73.6 Rating/140 Slope
    Monument:  73.9 Rating/141 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Accommodations
  • Golf Packages
  • GolfDay Rating: 90.1
  • Location

The GolfDay Resort rating is based on a variety of criteria, including the stature of the origial architect(s), the variety of courses located at the property, updates that have been done on the course(s), USGA Course and Slope Ratings, current local and national rankings by Golf Digest and Golfweek, the quality and diversity of practice facilities, general course conditioning and current reviews, as well as the quality of accommodations and level of service.

  

Share this Article:

Top 25 Public Courses–Texas 2025

Memorial Park

There are some fantastic Golf Resorts in the state of Texas, including Barton Creek, Horseshoe Bay and the brand-new courses at Fields Ranch–but there are a whole lot of terrific daily fee public courses in TX as well. So, we have compiled a list of the Top 25 public courses in Texas.

You always want to look for a good deal, but its key to find one at a solid track so you don’t end up wasting a precious day on the links. For a head start on that, we’ve compiled a list of our 25 highest rated TX public daily fee courses—with details including a link to the course website, course descriptions, paractice facility detail, and google maps for location and directions.

Texas native Jeff Brauer designed 4 of our Top-25, including The Bridges (#5–with Fred Couples), The Wilderness (#6), Tempest Golf Club (#15) and Tangle Ridge (#22).

Keith Foster, renowned for his work restoring and renovating classic courses such as Colonial and Southern Hills, contributed a pair of original designs on our Top-25 (#9 Texas Star and #13 The Quarry).

Tom Doak

Tom Doak, who laid out Pacific Dunes in Oregon (a perennial Golf Digest Top 100 course) designed The Rawls Course at Texas Tech (#2) as well as the renovations at Memorial Park (#4) where the Houston Open will be played at the end of March.

Our #1 Texas Public course, The Golf Club of Houston, is a Rees Jones masterpiece designed in collaboration with PGA Tour player David Toms, while Robert Trent Jones II contributed a terrific municipal layout in Laredo (The Max–#23).

You can also click Texas Public Courses for a comprehensive list of TX courses you can play. To view courses by location, use the GolfDay Search Engine and enter the city where you plan to be.

The Golf Club of Houston
  1. The Golf Club of Houston/Humble

Escalante Golf

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Rees Jones/David Toms/Greg Muirhead
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 76.4 Rating/148 Slope (Tournament)
  • Practice Facilities: Double Sided Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 99.2
  • Location
The Rawls Course
  1. The Rawls Course/Lubbock

Texas Tech University/Troon Golf

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Tom Doak/Jim Urbina
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.2 Rating/138 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Wedge Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers (3).
  • Course Description
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 97.8
  • Location
White Bluff Golf Club
  1. White Bluff Golf Club/Whitney

Arcis Golf Management

The Bridges Golf Club
  1. The Bridges Golf Club/Gunter

City of Scottsdale/PGA Tour Properties

Memorial Park Golf Course
  1. Memorial Park Golf Course/Houston

City of Houston

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: John Bredemus/Joe Finger/Ken Dye/Baxter Spann/Tom Doak
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.2 Rating/128 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Two Level Lighted Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.6
  • Location
The Wilderness
  1. The Wilderness/Lake Jackson

City of Lake Jackson/KemperSports

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Jeffrey Brauer
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.9 Rating/134 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets and Fairway Bunker, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.5
  • Location
Buffalo Creek Golf Club
  1. Buffalo Creek Golf Club/Heath

KemperSports

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Tom Weiskopf/Jay Morrish
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.9 Rating/132 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 94.0
  • Location
The Golf Clubs at the Tribute
  1. The Golf Clubs at the Tribute/The Colony
  • Holes: 36 (2-Eighteen Hole Courses)
  • Course Architects: Tripp Davis/Justin Leonard
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Old American:  75.2 Rating/145
    The Tribute:      73.9 Rating/130
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Descriptions
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.9
  • Location
Texas Star Golf Course
  1. Texas Star Golf Course/Euless

City of Euless

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Keith Foster/Robert McNeil
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.6 Rating/139 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Course Description Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.8
  • Location
Tierra Verde Golf Club
  1. Tierra Verde Golf Club/Arlington

 City of Arlington

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Gary Panks
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.8 Rating/135 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description/Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.5
  • Location
The Golf Club at Texas A&M
  1. The Golf Club at Texas A&M/College Station

 Texas A&M University/Sterling Golf

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Ralph Plummer/Bruce Littell/Jeffrey Blume
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.8 Rating/130 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Driving Range (Grass and Mats), Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.5
  • Location
Southern Oaks Golf & Tennis Club
  1. Southern Oaks Golf & Tennis Club/Burleson
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Mark Brooks/Britt Logan
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.8 Rating/136 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Course Description Expansive Lighted Grass Driving Range with Target Greens, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers.
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.4
  • Location
The Quarry Golf Club
  1. The Quarry Golf Club/San Antonio
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Keith Foster
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 72.9 Rating/131 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.3
  • Location
Moody Gardens Golf Course
  1. Moody Gardens Golf Course/Galveston

City of Galveston

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Peter Jacobsen/Jim Hardy
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.0 Rating/134 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.1
  • Location
Tempest Golf Club
  1. Tempest Golf Club/Gladewater
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Jeffrey Brauer
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.2 Rating/139 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.1
  • Location
Heritage Ranch Golf & Country Club
  1. Heritage Ranch Golf & Country Club/Fairview
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Arthur Hills
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.6 Rating/133 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets and Fairway Bunker, Putting and Chipping Greens.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.0
  • Location
Live Oak Golf Club
  1. Live Oak Golf Club/Abilene
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Charles Coody
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.7 Rating/134 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Expansive Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers (2).
  • Course Description/Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.0
  • Location
Pecan Hollow Golf Course
  1. Pecan Hollow Golf Course/Plano

City of Plano

  • Holes: 23 (Eighteen Hole Regulation Course and Five Hole Par 3)
  • Course Architects: Billy Martindale/Don January/Jeffrey Brauer/Jim Colbert/D. A. Weibring/Steve Wolfard
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.4 Rating/141 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Lighted Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers (3).
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 93.0
  • Location
Golf Club at Star Ranch
  1. Golf Club at Star Ranch/Hutto
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Roy Bechtol/Randy Russell
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.4 Rating/130 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Course Description
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.6
  • Location
Tour 18-Houston
  1. Tour 18-Houston/Humble

 CBIGG Management

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Dave Edsall
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.5 Rating/135 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Driving Range with Targets and Toptracer Technology, Putting and Chipping Greens.
  • Course Description
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.5
  • Location
Cedar Creek Golf Course
  1. Cedar Creek Golf Course/San Antonio

 City of San Antonio/Alamo City Golf Trail

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architects: Joe Finger/Ken Dye/Baxter Spann/Jeffrey Blume/Billy Ray Brown
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.5 Rating/136 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Green.
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.2
  • Location
Tangle Ridge Golf Club
  1. Tangle Ridge Golf Club/Grand Prairie

 City of Grand Prairie

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Jeffrey Brauer
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.6 Rating/136 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
  • Photos
  • GolfDay Rating: 92.0
  • Location
The Max
  1. The Max/Laredo

 City of Laredo

  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Robert Trent Jones, Jr.
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.6 Rating/ 134 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.8
  • Location
Cypresswood Golf Club
  1. Cypresswood Golf Club/Spring

 Foresight Golf

  • Holes: 36 (2-Eighteen Hole Courses)
  • Course Architects: Rick Forester/Keith Foster/Kevin Hargrave
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    Tradition:       74.2 Rating/140 Slope
    Cypress:         74.1 Rating/129 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers (Separate Putting and Chipping Greens with grasses to match each course).
  • Course Descriptions
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.4
  • Location
Vaaler Creek at Rockin Ranch
  1. Vaaler Creek at Rockin Ranch/Blanco
  • Holes: 18
  • Course Architect: Michael Lowry
  • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.1 Rating/139 Slope
  • Practice Facilities: Expansive Grass Driving Range with Target Greens, Putting and Chipping Greens.
  • Course Description
  • GolfDay Rating: 91.4
  • Location

The GolfDay rating is based on a variety of criteria, including the stature of the architect(s) who did the original design(s), updates that have been done on the course(s), USGA Course and Slope Ratings, the quality and diversity of practice facilities, general course conditioning and current reviews.

 

 

Share this Article: