10 U.S. destinations with three or more top-ranked resort courses
What do you really want in a golf trip? If your answer is golf, golf, then more golf in one spot, sometimes followed by a wee bit of extra golf, we have you covered.
Golfweek’s Best ranks courses around the world by various categories, ranging from modern courses to the best in each state. One of our most popular rankings is the top 200 resort courses in the U.S.
Any of the layouts on the list would make for a great getaway. More than three dozen resorts have two courses on the list, always begging for a comparison between layouts over a nice cold drink and dinner after a full day of golf.
But if you’re looking for more, keep reading. Because 10 resorts are home to three or more courses on Golfweek’s Best ranking of top resorts in the U.S. From coastal Oregon to inland Florida, these destinations have the holes — and the pedigrees — to keep golfers swinging for days.
Pinehurst No. 4 (Courtesy of Pinehurst Resort)
Six of these resorts have three courses ranked among the top 200. They are Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri, Firestone Country Club in Ohio, Pebble Beach Resorts in California, the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama, Sea Pines in Georgia and Streamsong in Florida.
Two of these are not traditional resorts. The first is Firestone, which for the most part is a private members club. But Firestone offers stay-and-play packages open to the public. That qualifies it as a resort based on Golfweek’s Best standards in which any course that offers tee times to the public, even if the club is mostly a private facility, is deemed to be public-access.
The other in question is the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, which offers golf at 11 sites around the state. Because all the facilities are managed under one umbrella and offer great opportunities to bounce from one site to another with relative ease, we opted to include the Trail on this list.
Next up are the resorts with four courses ranked among the top 200 — rarefied air. They are Destination Kohler in Wisconsin (Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run are two clubs, each with two courses, that are part of one resort) and Reynolds Lake Oconee in Georgia, which is a sprawling resort and residential community.
Only two resorts in the U.S. have five courses among the top 200 in the U.S.: Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon and Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. Both of them are bucket-list destinations that every golfer should see, hopefully more than once. They offer all the golf most players would ever want on one vacation — playing one round on each course would take days, and one round on each course is never enough.
The resorts with three or more ranked courses have gone about their development in multiple ways. Some were established more than a century ago and have added courses through the decades — these resorts often feature courses designed by multiple architects, offering an array of styles and architectural features. Others feature several courses by one designer, with the resorts sticking with the architects who proved to work best for them.
Either way, you can’t go wrong with a trip to any of these locations listed on the following pages. Included for each resort are its top-200 courses listed with their average rating on a scale of 1 to 10 as assigned by Golfweek’s Best rater program, their designers, the years they opened and their rankings on various Golfweek’s Best lists. We hope you enjoy perusing these elite resorts, both on these pages and in real life.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort
Bandon, Oregon
Pacific Dunes, 8.57: Tom Doak (2001); No. 2 resort course in U.S., No. 1 public-access in Oregon, T-2 modern in U.S.
Old Macdonald, 8.14: Tom Doak, Jim Urbina (2010); No. 4 resort course in U.S., No. 2 public-access in Oregon, No. 7 modern in U.S.
Bandon Dunes, 8.05: David McLay Kidd (1999); No. 6 resort course in U.S., No. 3 public-access in Oregon, No. 10 modern in U.S.
Bandon Trails, 8.03: Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw (2005); No. 7 resort course in U.S., No. 4 public-access in Oregon, T-11 modern in U.S.
Sheep Ranch, 7.80: Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw (2020); No. 10 resort course in U.S., No. 5 public-access in Oregon, T-19 modern in U.S.
Pinehurst Resort
Pinehurst, North Carolina
No. 2, 8.27: Donald Ross (1907); No. 3 resort course in U.S., No. 1 public-access in North Carolina, No. 17 classic in U.S.
No. 4, 7.07: Gil Hanse, Jim Wagner (2018); No. 29 resort course in U.S., No. 2 public-access in North Carolina, T-93 modern in U.S.
No. 8, 6.51: Tom Fazio (1996); No. 74 resort course in U.S., No. 7 public-access in North Carolina
No. 9, 6.06: Jack Nicklaus (1989); T-149 resort course in U.S., No. 12 public-access in North Carolina
No. 7, 6.02: Rees Jones (1986); T-160 resort course in U.S., No. 14 public-access in North Carolina
Destination Kohler
Kohler, Wisconsin
Whistling Straits (Straits), 8.11: Pete Dye (1998); No. 5 resort course in U.S., No. 1 public-access in Wisconsin, No. 9 modern in U.S.
Blackwolf Run (River), 6.91: Pete Dye (1988); No. 33 resort course in U.S., No. 6 public-access in Wisconsin, T-123 modern in U.S.
Whistling Straits (Irish), 6.68: Pete Dye (2000); T-50 resort course in U.S., No. 7 public-access in Wisconsin, T-186 modern in U.S.
Blackwolf Run (Meadow Valleys), 6.17: Pete Dye (1988); T-125 resort course in U.S., No. 11 public-access in Wisconsin
Reynolds Lake Oconee
Greensboro, Georgia
Great Waters, 6.59: Jack Nicklaus (1992); T-62 resort course in U.S., No. 2 public-access in Georgia
Oconee, 6.29: Rees Jones (2002); T-108 resort course in U.S., No. 5 public-access in Georgia
Preserve, 6.01: Bob Cupp (1988); T-165 resort course in U.S., T-9 public-access in Georgia
National, 5.92: Tom Fazio (1997); T-187 resort course in U.S., No. 11 public-access in Georgia
Big Cedar Lodge
Hollister, Missouri
Ozarks National, 6.83: Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw (2018); T-38 resort course in U.S., No. 1 public-access in Missouri, T-150 modern in U.S.
Buffalo Ridge, 6.61: Tom Fazio (1999); T-58 resort course in U.S., No. 2 public-access in Missouri
Payne’s Valley, 6.54: Tiger Woods (2020); T-68 resort course in U.S., No. 3 public-access in Missouri
Firestone Country Club
Akron, Ohio
South, 6.71: Bert Way, Robert Trent Jones Sr. (1929); No. 48 resort course in U.S., No. 1 public-access in Ohio, T-156 classic in U.S.
North, 6.45: Robert Trent Jones Sr. (1969); T-82 resort course in U.S., No. 2 public-access in Ohio
Fazio (formerly West), 5.95: Tom Fazio (2001); T-181 resort course in U.S., No. 6 public-access in Ohio
Editor’s note: Firestone is largely a member’s club, but it does operate stay-and-play packages. That qualifies the club as a resort based on Golfweek’s Best standards of openness to public play.
Pebble Beach Resorts
Pebble Beach, California
Pebble Beach Golf Links, 8.75: Douglas Grant, Jack Neville (1919); No. 1 resort course in U.S., No. 1 public-access in California, No. 10 classic in U.S.
Spyglass Hill, 7.66: Robert Trent Jones Sr. (1966); No. 12 resort course in U.S., No. 3 public-access in California, T-26 modern in U.S.
Links at Spanish Bay, 6.65: Robert Trent Jones Jr., Sandy Tatum, Tom Watson (1987); T-55 resort course in U.S., No. 8 public-access in California, T-198 modern in U.S.
Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail
Alabama
Capitol Hill (Judge), 6.44: (Prattville) Robert Trent Jones Sr., Roger Rulewich (2000); T-85 resort course in U.S., No. 2 public-access in Alabama
Grand National (Lake), 6.36: (Opelika) Robert Trent Jones Sr., Roger Rulewich (1992); T-95 resort course in U.S., No. 3 public-access in Alabama
Ross Bridge, 6.24: (Hoover) Roger Rulewich (2005); T-117 resort course in U.S., No. 4 public-access in Alabama
Editor’s note: The Trail doesn’t operate as a standard resort with one location, instead having courses at 11 sites across the state. Because they operate within the management of Retirement Systems of Alabama and can be booked as one trip as several locations, Golfweek opted to count them as one destination in the case of this story.
Sea Pines Resort
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Harbour Town Golf Links, 7.29: Pete Dye (1969); No. 21 resort course in U.S., No. 2 public-access in South Carolina, T-59 modern in U.S.
Atlantic Dunes, 6.17: Davis Love III (2016); T-125 resort course in U.S., No. 6 public-access in South Carolina
Heron Point, 6.05: Pete Dye (2007); T-152 resort course in U.S., No. 8 public-access in South Carolina
Streamsong Resort
Bowling Green, Florida
Red, 7.50: Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw (2012); No. 16 resort course in U.S., No. 2 public-access in Florida, T-37 modern in U.S.
Blue, 7.32: Tom Doak (2012); No. 19 resort course in U.S., No. 3 public-access in Florida, T-53 modern in U.S.
Black, 7.30: Gil Hanse, Jim Wagner (2017); No. 20 resort course in U.S., No. 4 public-access in Florida, T-56 modern in U.S.
